Can you take a photo with the empty counter top? What color is the countertop? Also take a wider angle photo to see the upper and lower cabs , floor and counter.

Based on the pictures you posted above, I think it looks beautiful. However it's sort of hard to get the feel of how the whole kitchen will look without a better picture as pharoah suggests.

It blends making the brown theme of our house even more overwhelming.
Do you meant there's an overwhelming amount of brown color in your house? Maybe you can give us a description/pictures of what else is brown, and what other colors are in the mix.

If you're thinking you want more contrast, what other color are you thinking of for the backsplash that might work better? Do you have particular tiles in mind?

it's brown. your cabinets are brown, your bricks are brown, and your timber beams are brown.

it's not going to contrast.

Of course photos can be deceptive, but I'm thinking, having followed your story, that you were expecting something maybe more reflective and, well, metallic-looking. I know I was, from the photos we all looked at in your previous thread.

If it doesn't have that wow-factor you were excited about, doesn't provide the contrast you expected (and I do see what you mean about it just being more brown), and it's not glued up on the wall, then follow your instincts, cancel the installer, and return it.

I do understand the tendency to second-guess a decision like that, and my friends aren't taking my calls since they're all so tired of "what do you think of this" over and over. I was telling someone that this is an art, not a science, so there is never just one right answer. The choices can be overwhelming. But, at the end of the day, if it doesn't make YOUR heart sing, then kick it to the curb.

I know you must want it to be over and done. The tiles are here, the installer is coming, and it might be good enough. But I'm hearing you aren't loving it. Of course, it would be great if you did have some particular other options in mind that you prefer. But you just haven't found them yet.

If there are any decent tile places within driving distance, pack a sample of your cabinets, one of your granite, (and your floor if you have it) and go play. Or, if you see something on-line that appeals, find out where the closest place is where you can see it in person. I think ordering tile without having actually seen it is a crapshoot, but it might be you live somewhere where there are not a lot of resources.

In any case, sorry to be so long-winded, and let us know what you decide.

I love copper, but can see how the patina adds to the brown overwhelm. What about keeping the copper tiles, but interspersing same-size glowing red or green glass mosaic tiles for some pop?

I will go ahead and post some more pictures before I head out for the day so you can see my house and kitchen.

I am heading to the big boxes!

Sorry, I'm not feeling it. If you like copper, what about a shiny, non-patina copper tile? I have a photo of mine with 5" tiles if you want to see it.

I like the copper with the countertops, but I don't think I like it with the cabinets. The cabinets are much more of a red shade, the copper more earth tone. It's hard to tell, but it looks like they may contrast, and not in a good way. Can you take a picture of the tiles next to the cabinets?

here's a head on of the kitchen::

Here's the house

And here's what based on a very kind member's photoshopping abilities, we thought it would look like (based on Costco's picture at its website): (It looks stunning)

And now I am just feeling like we are going to be swimming in brown, brown, brown. If anyone at all has suggestions to where I can find lighter tiles, goldish even, please let me know. I am hitting the three big boxes today, and my guy is free all week. I'd really love to conquer this before I start teaching summer school. :(

Do you guys agree with the brown problem? I want to lighten things up!

If you like it, please do let me know that as well!

I had this place bookmarked.

Click on the link for tile patterns...

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.mechanicalmetals.com/tiles.html

I still feel (I replied in your previous post) you should cool things down with some grays. Perhaps with a little brown or red-tones mixed in.

Jodi-

I agree, you need a lighter tone. Otherwise it will end up looking like a wall of brown. Something in travertine (although that is overdone). You could use honed crema marfil. Limestone! something light and honed... small 1"x2" tiles...

Oh, those are the costco copper tiles! I just received a sample of those myself - I was considering them for another project. I have to agree that they're disappointing in person; I decided not to use them for my project too. I do love the mixed stone and glass tiles from that same company though and will be using it in another area (KoreL).

Ok, yeah, I can see that you do have a lot of brown. You could go with a travertine type of tile, but to me, that's just more brown, albeit a much ligher shade. I have two ideas. What about gold/yellow? Take a look at the beautiful honey onyx in femmelady's kitchen in the FKB. That sort of thing could be beautiful in your kitchen. OR if you're trying to get in more color contrast, what about an aqua colored tile? Aqua would look pretty cool with the brown and you could easly play off that color with accessories, maybe a rug, that sort of thing, which would tie in.

Here is a link that might be useful: Some iridescant aqua tiles

I like it: doing a room in several shades of a neutral like brown, with a single strong accent color is an easy way of creating a co-ordinated color scheme that still has some life to it.

I'm wondering what kind of finish is on the copper, and whether it could be brought to a little brighter polish. Are you doing any under cab lights? To me, part of the issue here is lighting.

A lighter stone might get you to a better level of contrast, but it would also look like you picked kitchen #6 from a catalogue-- such a universal look these days that I'd perfer the copper.

I almost used these exact tiles from Costco! They're quite beautiful - They are copper veneer on a porcelain or ceramic backing if I remember correctly.

The reason I didn't end up using them is that my first granite broke and I chose a different color afterwards.

I like the warmth of your home's colors. I think the tiles will develop a patina with age and will change all the time. They have a natural variegation (?) that is interesting and adds depth and sheen.

Did you find anything else you liked at the box stores?

A few observations/suggestions:

Do you have undercabinet lighting? If not, that may lighten them up and make the copper sing.

When I look at your colors, I feel like stainless would look good. Maybe not as your backsplash but as your accent pieces and "counter things" I thing the red KA things are distracting but if you love them you must have them. :)

Btw, LOVE your place. It looks so cozy and inviting.

My trip was futile and frustrating. The few stores that have anything in need special order. So I took a few more pics of the kitchen with additional samples on the wall. I am thinking of just doing it. IDK. What do you think:

The plastic give it a lighter glow. This isn't our permanent home, of course, but I still don't want to live with something horrible.

Follow your instincts - they will never lead you astray. I agree that while the tiles may be lovely in their own right, they don't work in your kitchen. I agree with Lowspark - you need the other end of the spectrum. Green! Look at green glass and see what you can come up with in a light-to-medium value. - you need the contrast in both color and value, which will make your cabinets sing!

Sorry, I wouldn't install those. They would look awesome with white cabinets, but I think it is just too much dark in your kitchen. I'd personally go with a light colored glass tile, probably in some sort of pale blue or green shade. The house does look wonderful, but that backsplash is important in not making the kitchen into a cave.

They go great with the counter but clash with the cabinets. If you want to stick with neutrals, I'd go with a creamy color.

I would return them if you can. They are way too dark for your kitchen

I too would go lighter with your kitchen. I know you are feeling desperate to get it done and move on with your life. But wait and order something you will love. It will get done. You can live without a backsplash for a bit.

You may want to check out oceanside tile. They have lots of combinations of glass and stone that could give you ideas as to what direction to take and what colors to look for locally. I was trying to see the colors in your counter but it looks like black and tanish brown?

Here is a link that might be useful: oceanside tile

I can see why you are so torn- at first I thought it was too dark, then when you took more photos, at least the one in the middle, it looked good again. I think though overall, that while it might work, it really looks like it will just be too dark.

still don't want to live with something horrible.

They won't look horrible. They just won't look, well, spectacluar. I'm just seeing a lot of brown in your pictures, which, in and of itself, isn't horrible at all. But what I am also seeing is the absence of any other color. You need some kind of accent color somewhere. The brown itself as a dominant color works beautifully. It's warm and homey. But the missing accent color has made it sort of monotone.

Introducing another color to the scheme will liven things up, and you can carry that color into other elements both in the kitchen and in your family room. Rugs, throw pillows, a vase, a picture on the wall, that sort of thing. You'd be surprised what a few well placed accent pieces in a contrasting color can do to really jazz things up.

I don't know your time contraints, it sounds like you can't do special order. Is that because you just want to get it over and done with? Or is there some other reason you can't wait? My mantra during a remodel (and for that matter, whenever any work is being done in my house) is: I'm not in a hurry, I just want it done right. Sometimes a delay is worth it to get the right look.

I have similar colors to yours and I agree too much dark, dark, dark is just well, too dark! I went with a lighter tumbled marble backsplash because I knew that I didn't want the closed in feel I would have with dark granite, cabinets and backsplash.

I also have taupe painted walls, dark brown leather sofas and a dark wood furniture in the family room, which is right beside the kitchen. Sorry I don't have pictures of the whole area, but here are some. I think a dark backsplash would have given it a very different look. I am really happy with the colors we chose.

You can see a bit of the sofa in this photo

You can see the wall unit in this photo

You can see the brown paint color of the wall in this photo

I hope this helps gives you some idea of all the browns together. Good Luck and keep us posted! Susan

Thanks for posting pictures and links.

The only thing I'd really like to stick to is the glass mosaic tile. While I like the marble and other suggestions (Jody and the poster before me), I've had my heart set on glass tile.

Our accent colors are red (we live in a loft and overhead beams are red, I'll grab a picture now). We also have a bright yellow chair, but I'm really afraid the yellow backsplash would be too bright.

for those suggesting green and yellow, I'd love to follow up on this, but do you have links? I am really afraid of having the green look wildly out of place with the red accent walls and red appliances. That said, this morning I saw a member's new backsplash and I loved it. Her post is a couple up (see link).

Another thought is just doing the stainless steel at Costco.

the big mirror is red:

Here's the backsplash I liked

Here is a link that might be useful: Member's kitchen

I think they look awesome with your counter but I would like to see something lighter/brighter with your cabs.

I have to throw my vote in with a light green glass tile--say celedon in color. I think your red accents would play very well off of it and the green w/ all of your brown will give you a very natural feel. I agree that the copper tile is just too much brown (although as originally posted when you first found, I thought it looked great).

nasalzak, have you seen raynags backsplash a few postings down, check it out, not sure what color your granite is but they might work for you :)

OK I'm going to be the oddball here and say I like it. Once you put all the undercabinet lighting it will be fine. I think the lighting would shine wonderfully off the copper. I would add more copper accessories along with alot of red to tie it in with the living room.
I also love Member's backsplash in red but not sure how it would look with your granite. Maybe solid red glass tile.
Would it look better if the copper was lighter? Yes. But it's not and I think you have the makings of a wonderful, classic, fancy kitchen. (like Susans...which I LOVE!!!!)

Don't forget that you said this isn't your forever house. If you put some crazy backsplash it might hurt your resale value.

I was on GW last night and Hubby was looking in. The first words out of his mouth when he saw the mock-up: "Not enough contrast". This from a man who lives for shades of beige.

What I'm thinking is a neutral-ish creamy tan tile and then use some of the copper (which really sparkles with your granite) and some maybe some dark red glass tiles for accent pieces.

I like what I see in your pictures. I think these will work in your kitchen. I also agree with the person who said you may want to get some under-cab lighting. If you are worried about overall darkness, do more lighting. I think the copper mosaic tiles are unique and dramatic.

Another suggestion from someone I liked is to use some spot colored tile in a garnet or golden glass in each square to get everything to pop.

you need contrast for that backsplash. CONTRAST!

get yourself a color wheel and dial it up to the tones present in your room--the reddish browns that are so prevalent. then go to the complete opposite side of the wheel.

know what you'll find? gray-blue.

slate. that backsplash is crying out for slate. the color is right, the natural stone feel of slate is right in your space (glass is too clean, too mod, too perfectly straight). you have naturally uneven unclean lines in your brick, timbers, and floor wood-grain. glass tiles will feel artificial in that context. you need a natural stone.

i already said this in the other topic, but i'll keep saying it. gray-blue slate. it'll have some rusty red accents in it as well to tie things together. trust me. that's what the space wants.

Edlakin - Yea, I am a big fan of slate myself and think it would look great there. Not sure if the OP wants to go that way - but I added a link to Jodi in So Cal's backsplash thread that shows what this would look like with the same general shade cabinets and counters

Here is a link that might be useful: check this out

For sounding like a broken record, lol. While I love the slate look in some kitchens, I am so overwhelmed by exposed brick at this point in my life. That's the first thing ppl love and notice when they come in the door. When you live with it day in and day out, it sort of becomes overwhelming. Believe me, I still like the brick, but honestly, I don't want anything even slightly reminiscent of exposed brick; when I look at the pics of slate, I think, "Oh, that has a faux brick look," (KWIM). I'd LOVE that in a drywall situation.

Okay, I am going to annoy the board one last time with a request for a few mock ups. I'm going to put a blue in there like you guys have suggested. You guys are the experts, so I say this with reservations, but I just can't imagine the blue not clashing!!!!!!

Why don't you buy some red and green glass mosaic and "sprinkle" some in with the copper?

Believe me, I still like the brick, but honestly, I don't want anything even slightly reminiscent of exposed brick; when I look at the pics of slate, I think, "Oh, that has a faux brick look," (KWIM).

there are many different slates in many different shapes. you could do a larger format slate tile that would look nothing like brick. you could run the tiles on a diagonal. you could get a less rustic, more smoothly polished slate, or any combination of the above.

i mean, it's obviously your home, so you should do what suits your tastes, but i'm not sure how slate has a faux brick look. it doesn't have a faux anything look. it's slate.

here are a few images i got from a quick google search:

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

Okay, two questions. Is slate available at the big boxes? I'd like to keep the project within a smaller budget (for example, the costco tiles, all said and done, would have cost around 350--yes, that's it!). Of course, there's the install fee, but that's not bad.

Secondly, for those who keep suggesting that I mix the copper with red, how do I go about buying separate sheets of red and from where? Then do I hand mix them on the square foot sheets they came on? I like the idea of having some copper and some red. I just don't know where to buy a few sheets of glass mosaic red.

I'm sure you can special order them at any HD at Lowes or I've seen them online. Plus any tile shop. You don't need much. This would be my favorite option. You can mix, red, red and green or even more colors. Maybe some clear (glass color-green). I know they have those at HD just on the shelves.

I have the small multicolored slate (natural) on my fireplace. It's beautiful, very rustic, very porous and it also chips easily. You'll need to seal it well. Also unlike ceramic tiles - you won't find end bullnose pieces, so the edges will have to be sanded down on the end run pieces.

Agree with lighter backsplash. Both the gray-blue and the pale greenish color ideas play off well against reddish-brown cabinets, or some combination.

I wonder at the wisdom of copper tiles at all, if is real copper? Maybe it is sealed with a varnish. Copper that "ages" to me is a pain in a kitchen, because you've got to clean grease and grime off of it and then you no longer have patina and you'd have to watch how some sections clean up and/or age differently.

nasalzak,
The tiles you have should be mesh backed. You can "peel" individual tiles off and replace them with tiles of the same size. This can be done while still doing the install as a 12x12 sheet. I believe jodi in ca did this with her Jeffrey Court Fire and Ice backsplash. She took off some darker ones and added lighter glass tiles to brighten it up. Make sure the little tiles are the same size (they often say they are 1x1 but are actually 5/8 x5/8) and the same thickness (1/4 or 1/8). If you then wanted to get really creative you could insert/sprinkle some red glass in the copper, create a 3" or so wide strip of border, and continue with the copper above that. You wouldn't need that much redish glass tile depending on how much backsplash space you have. HOpe that helps a little.

Okay, two questions. Is slate available at the big boxes? I'd like to keep the project within a smaller budget (for example, the costco tiles, all said and done, would have cost around 350--yes, that's it!). Of course, there's the install fee, but that's not bad.

"big boxes" don't usually represent the best bargain and you're limiting yourself severely to what they have in stock or are displaying.

go to a tile store. better yet, find yourself a local tile outlet-type store. where do you live? i could probably google something up for you in no time.

$350 for backsplash materials is not that cheap. if you're doing 25 sq ft., that means you're running at $14/sq ft. i bought my carrara marble subways for $7.50/sq ft.

don't limit yourself before you find out all the information.

ebay is another great source for good deals on tiles.

oh, yes. good point. ebay is a great resource. we recently re-did a shower stall with glass mosaics that we bought for $3.50/sq foot on ebay and it looks great.

i did a quick search on ebay ("tile slate") and found this one, which i think would look awesome in this kitchen. the tiles are 2x2's and might work really well if laid on the diagonal.

{{!gwi}}

Here is a link that might be useful: here's the ebay seller's listing

I really really like what you've posted. I think I may just try that. I am going to post that on my request for mock ups. I wonder if it comes in square ft. Thats what my installer wants.

Oh, and I live in Chicago. Any tile outlets would be helpful. After the old hour 3 hour glucose test (I am six months pregnant and failed the one hour), I plan to run around all day.

oooh...sorry to hear about that. my wife is pregnant right now as well and had to do the three-hour test also.

i answered you in the other topic, but tile outlet on fullerton just west of the kennedy is a great resource. i also worked with century tile (multiple locations) which has a very nice array of inexpensive options.

(oh, and, yes, the tile i posted above does come in 1'x1' sheets. if you're interested, they're priced per sheet by the ebay seller, so you can just order up one square foot and check it out in person)