alouwomack I just posted a response on newsouthernbelle's thread "am I crazy to want this as a b.s."

I think it may be helpful : )

It's waaaaay down at the bottom of her thread.

Thank Judy! It is so true that the backsplash is like the icing on the cake! We've already purchased, painted, and/or installed most aspects of the kitchen. I'm a little embarrassed by our half way finished mess of a kitchen but here's a photo to at least give everyone an idea...

This photo is a little outdated. I've really had a hard time trying to combine the new wall of cabinets to the old. Before we installed these cabs this wall housed only a hot water heater and a single old cabinet that held the original built in oven. It was all an oddity that we've yet to make sense of! ((I ask "why" around this 1952 model home A LOT!)) I've painted the old cabs a chocolate brown that does not match the new cabs but does compliment them...I think :)

Here's another photo that shows the OLD cabinets...

And a better shot of the new countertops...

I forgot to mention also...

No, the rose wallpaper and yellow/green pebble stone floor are NOT part of the "keep" plan!

We're doing new drywall over the wallpaper and already purchased Pergo flooring to cover the pebble stone :) What a relief to see it all go!!!

--Amber

Alouwomack - I would say if you have a long way to do (I do too) collect ideas for backsplashes but don't agonize over them yet. I, too, love the 3x6 subways but also like something a little more interesting or with pop. I think a stripe of 6x12 would probably be great but I wouldn't do it on the bottom right next to the counter top. It would get lost - in part b/c there are always things on the CCtop. I would do it 1/3 or 2/3's up the BS - not the middle though (too static). And of course, see where your current love lies in 6, 9, 12 months or whenever a LONG ways off it.

I will add Celting comment on my BS question (Am I crazy to want this as BS":
A little OT, I think you got it right here. Pick the BS 1st and then the counter. There are many posts here with people, including myself, that have picked the counter 1st and then agonized over the BS decision. Sometimes years later.

And on another post I read a while back (recently?), someone, a designer, whose name and post I can't find for the life of me, said something to the effect of
she "thinks people give too little thought to the backsplash until the very end and it becomes an after thought and perhaps that is why people have so much trouble figuring out one that works. But rather one should be thinking about it and incorporating it into the overall design and feel of the kitchen from the very beginning to avoid being "stuck" later." I am certainly trying to go that route. We will see how it works. Maybe I will just get "stuck" on a different element, whatever decision is the last to be made perhaps.
Hope that helps.

Thanks for your thoughts SouthernBelle! I know I need to focus on the tasks at hand rather than the backsplash. I promise not to lose sleep over it...for now :)

Honestly, dreaming of my backsplash is a fun diversion for me I guess. There isnt anything fun going on in that kitchen right now. I hadn't thought of items on the counter obstructing the very bottom of the backsplash. With my countertop being fairly sandy and dark brown cabinets, I envisioned maybe a 6 X 12 gray/silver glass tile as a contrast to the white tiles. With the bottom tile being twice as tall I wondered if i could pull it off. I often see the typical 3 X 6 subway tiles with a smaller accent tile somewhere in the mid section but I can't find any pics of the opposite composition being used. I want to do something a little off the usual and customary list. On the other hand, if it looks silly what's the point, huh?

I just can't imagine picking my countertop as an after thought to my backsplash...but I guess it would save many, many kitchen renovators a lot of worrying over a backsplash. I like that I can change my mind everyday (for now) about the BS though.

Again, thank you for your thoughts! --Amber