The granite is beautiful. I think the second tile pic looks the best, but not sure it's the one. I don't like the travertine or the first pic. Good luck, it's such a hard decision! I'm sure you'll get lots of advice!

I think any of the cleft or stacked products detract from the granite. I would probably try to find a glazed tile that picked up on one of the colors in the granite.

I like the second one the best. I like the last two color wise but worry about being able to keep these rough surfaces clean, especially behind the sink and stove.

I would paint the walls first and give yourself a little break from thinking about the backsplash. In fact, force yourself not to think about the backsplash. It sounds like you have a lot going on in your life right now. I like all your tile choices. I also think your granite is really very beautiful.

I agree with Pal. Try to find a simple glazed tile that matches with the granite. I would go with the lightest color possible.

In the mean time, take jentrex's suggestion and take a step back. The BS is often the hardest part of the kitchen. Especially if you did not choose the tile and the granite together.

What happened to you is what has happened to many of us here. You find the granite and after it is installed, you are confused as to how to proceed. In your case, you are disappointed with your granite choice as well.

By finding the right backsplash, you will become happier with your granite. Maybe it was not what you envisioned, but I think you can believe all of us here that is is a nice choice.

IMHO, your granite has too much going on to make the back splash the star of the show. I do think your granite is lovely. If it were me, I would go with a clean and simple glazed tile as some of the others have suggested. Maybe you could go with the larger format subway tiles if you are worried about a "brick wall" look (personally, I love subway tiles, and while they are laid in a brick pattern, glazed tiles won't look like a brick wall ... but stone tiles might!). You don't want your counter tops and back splash fighting each other for attention. You could toss a few stone or glass dots in here and there for a bit of contrast.

Ditto on taking a step back. Live with kitchen with painted walls until you find what you really want. Best of luck.

The granite is beautiful. I agree that a simple glazed tile would be best. The beautiful granite is the only star.

I LOVE your granite. It will always be the star of the kitchen because of how stunningly beautiful it is.

I agree that you should just give yourself a break and just have your kitchen painted for now.

When you do decide to move forward with the back splash you could consider doing a quilted look stainless steel that would be easy to clean. That may not be at all the look you are going for though. Do you prefer a traditional or contemporary look?

Honestly I think your kitchen is lovely but you are yearning for your old kitchen. The cabinets in your new home are beautiful, the granite is stunning, both of your paint choices are lovely.

Do you have any other projects in your new home? If you do have the kitchen painted, move onto another project and come back to the kitchen project after you have time away from it.

My very best wishes to you both.

I agree with the other posters. Get rid of all your present backsplash selections and give yourself some time to find the right item. Live with the lovely granite for a time. The right decision will eventually appear.

It maybe be simple glazed tile or a glass tiles that pick up the various colors in the granite, but the current selections are definitely not right for everything else that is going on in the room. The beadboard is too casual for the quality of your cabinets & tops. The stacked stone is just not the right product for this traditional kitchen. Give yourself and your husband a break. Best of luck.

I think your new kitchen is going to be lovely.

The current paint color will affect your perception of color interactions between cabs and tile anyway, so I would encourage you to get your painting done first. Then you can get a more accurate feel for any proposed backsplash materials.

Looking forward to seeing more progress pics!

Paint first like many others have mentioned. Didn't you say you have issues with the red? GET RID OF IT, and I bet you'll sleep at night.

I agree with some of the others, take a step back and paint the kitchen (or even just primer it to get rid of the red). The red color that's in there now is skewing your perception of the space, and nothing you put in there to look at will look right to you.

That granite is really lovely. I hope that you will feel better about it after the kitchen is painted. It does have a lot of personality, which makes choosing the backsplash more difficult. I think the rough stacked stone is not the right match for the traditional style of cabinets you have. I can see it more with a modern or rustic style. As others have said, a glazed tile would probably work best. You might check out some of the crackle finish tiles, or maybe some that have slight variations in the color that make them look handmade.

Check out the numerous other threads here about backsplashes. You might find something you like, and you'll see that you're not alone. Many of us took a long time finding a backsplash.

Painting over the red will make you feel so much better. Do it yourself if at all possible, it will turn your adrenaline in a constructive direction.

Agree with paint and see how you feel then. That red is so bright, possibly it is reflecting off of things and causing the colors to look not as expected? I also think your granite looks too busy for a busy backsplash.

Yes, get rid of the red first. I like the beadboard and the subway tiles the best, but that might be because the red dictates that you use something very calm. I think the stacked stone would be a nightmare to take care of, so that would be a no.

Paint your walls a warm white or very light cream color, and I bet you will suddenly fall in love with your granite all over again. Right now it's fighting with the wall color for attention. Then bring home lots and lots of samples of light colored glazed tiles, and see which one works best.

Actually, you might try a matte subway style. Your counters are polished, so I think a subdued backsplash could be the answer. Maybe pick up on one of the colors in the granite.

Karen

Actually, you might try a matte subway style. Your counters are polished, so I think a subdued backsplash could be the answer. Maybe pick up on one of the colors in the granite.

Karen

Paint changes the mood of a room the most- colors reflect- things change in a crazy ways- often in ways you would never expect. Red and green tones will make a room seem gray.
Paint the ceiling a very bright white- that will brighten everything! Even if you think it looks white a new coat will do a lot. Paint the walls one of the beautiful colors you picked including the backsplash. Install the new lighting, including the pendants.

Relax, in a month, after you have lived with the new coloring go back to the tile place and select some crackle glazed tile- look at color first and shape second- consider a pencil line of Mother of pearl or something to add a little bling and tie in at the same time. Take the sample, scan it to replicate and tape the copies up. Live with for a week or more. By then you will be more comfortable with your decision or you will go back and try again.

Good Luck!
Heather

I want to offer my opinion on the strategy of making multiple paper copies of a tile using a scanned image. I don't think photo copying tiles to see how the color will look will be of much help. Because copy machines will not create the color perfectly, depending on the machine, just like monitors. I think it could be an excellent tool if you are trying to see if the shapes will work. I would only use mass production copying if I wanted to see shapes, line, contrast, and tile pattern layouts. But not color choice.

Your granite is beautiful. I have been looking at the crackle tiles with a dark grout.With the darker grout it seems to give warth to the room. The crackle can pick of the color that you like in the granite.

I'm gonna sound like a broken record. :)

First of all, your granite is lovely. The red walls have to go. I love red, but could never live with red walls. Once they're a nice calm, lighter color, you will sigh with relief.

I don't care for any of the tiles you've shown, esp. not with your granite, which isn't going anywhere. Whether you like it or not, the granite is going to be the star of the kitchen. I would like a simple ceramic b/s tile in the shape of your choice, picking up one of the lighter shades of your granite.

Before you go any farther, paint that awful red. Your eye is drawn to it rather than the beautiful granite. Once you have painted it, then live with it for a week or so. See it in all different kinds of lights. This change of lighting will affect the granite, the paint, and the backsplash. Use the three you have already, look at them in different lights as well. Then choose. In the long run, you will thank yourself for getting rid of the hideous red (especially up against that green granite and the dark cabinets) and for allowing yourself time to choose your backsplash.

I have surf green granite in my kitchen, although I have cream colored cabinets. We struggled with a back splash also, it was a very tough decision and caused a lot of angst! I agree with what everyone else is saying about painting the walls to get rid of that red. You will never be able to accurately assess the color scheme with that distraction. I would never select the rough stone due to the cleaning issues. We were looking at using beadboard as well but decided against it because our cabinets are so light but it may work in your favor. What we finally decided on was a mix of glass and limestone. We installed it vertically and we are very happy with how it turned out. The colors work perfectly with the granite.

More pics:

Not sure how to post multiple pictures to the message!

One more...

I'll join the chorus voting for simple ceramic in a light color. Maybe subways, maybe not. With grout close to the tile color, you don't get so much of the "brick wall" feeling. What about either large tiles or oversized subway shapes? But simple and light-colored is going to be the key, at least to my eye.

I think your granite is beautiful and you should choose a backsplash that compliments rather than compete with it. I'm not a fan of any of your choices. How about mother of pearl?

http://www.motherofpearltiles.com/designer-tile-mother-of-pearl-mosaics

I think a crackled subway tile will also look nice. Not a fan of the glass mosaic tile mixed with other stone. It's too busy and competes with your beautiful granite.

Good luck!

I had written a bunch and then lost it. To recap:

(1) I agree with many others: Paint first. I'll give you dollars to doughnuts that the red paint is why you aren't liking your granite. I think a cream or pale gray-green would work really well.

(2) If you paint and STILL don't like your granite, try changing the lighting. Do you think your kitchen looks better in daylight that at night under artificial lights? Incandescent lamps have a color temperature (measured in kelvin) around 2700 K. Daylight is more like 6500 K. Cooler lamps get a bit of a bad rap, but I think that is because a lot of older tube fluorescent had cool temperatures AND bad color rendering. So if you do change your lamps, look for something that has a high color rendering index (scale goes to 100, look for something above 80, higher is better).

Hopefully by that point you will like your granite. If not, you will have done pretty much all you easily can to change that. THEN you can think about your backsplash.

Hi Duba,

I don't know when I've seen such consistent feedback on this forum. You're getting some very wise advice and I hope you are listening. I will echo some of the main points, which are spot-on.

First get rid of the red paint. Now I love red, but those walls are fighting with your gorgeous granite. Yes, gorgeous. Once the red is gone, take some time to get comfortable with the granite before you zero in on the backsplash.

I love the look of stacked stone and was tempted to use it for my backsplash. But I knew it would be a cleaning nightmare, especially around the sink and cooktop. Cooking oil and tomato sauce splatters in all those nooks and crannies would not be good. And in your case, it brings a lot of texture that competes with the granite.

I think a cream colored porcelain or ceramic tile would be great for your backsplash. Maybe you can find one that echoes your new paint color. If you go with subways, keeping the grout color consistent with the tile color will help avoid the "brick wall" look you don't like. Accent tiles, either scattered or in a border, could pick up a little pale green or grey or beige from the granite. If you decide to pursue glass tile remember that it tends to bring a modern sensibility, where your kitchen has a very traditional style. So tread lightly.

You have the makings of a really lovely kitchen there. Step back and take a few deep breaths and you'll see it. :-) Ruby

Oh, forgot to mention that the beadboard backsplash is probably too country or cottage for your traditional style cabinets. IMHO. Good luck!

WOW! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU for all of the replies! I printed off the thread and I am going to read through them this weekend!

I returned all of the stacked stone tile yesterday, and while I was there I tried again to find another tile. I found a few and I am going to test them out in the kitchen this weekend.

I sincerely appreciate all of your opinions and all of you taking the time to help me out.

I'll post a few more pictures of the new samples and will look forward to your opinions again! :) Thanks SO much!

that granite is horrible - HORRIBLE - with the red walls. It makes my ears ring just looking at it.

Picturing soft cream walls, this becomes a different granite. I see it as warm, soothing, with slow movement, like watching a wave recess from the beach.

Like everyone else said, get rid of the red walls and you should fall back in love with the granite. I truly believe it will look like a completely different slab.

I think the feedback has been pretty consistent, but it does seem like you want to finish off this task. It also seems that you like texture and want to avoid a traditional subway shape. I'll echo all the advice above (paint first!) and then I would then suggest shapes or dimensional tiles from Sonoma Tile. They have wonderful shapes like diamonds or trapezoids or some really nice relief and dimensional tiles. They can be ordered in a wide range of glazes that will complement your granite wonderfully. If you keep the tile and the grout monochromatic, the added pattern should blend okay.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sonoma Artisan, Tribeca and Stellar

I agree with everyone - that red paint has to go. I would do a pale cream or even a light creamy green to pick up on the green in that beautiful granite. Like many have said, I think your granite will be the star of the show.
I have to tell you, when we recently did a mini-reno of our kitchen (new desert green granite countertops, SS appliances, SS Blanco sink and Hansgrohe faucet, textured pale green glass BS tiles), I did not want a glass backsplash at first. My cabinets are a mid honey colour maple shaker style, I would say transitional. I thought the glass would be too modern, but actually it looks great, and is so easy to clean.
It updates the look of the kitchen. We did a pale linen colour grout for contrast, which tied in with my linen/taupe/ivory stone looking Pergo vinyl tile floating floor.

IMHO, I would pick a simple tile, and not go with anything too patterned. There are subway tiles with textures, crackles, glazes that would be beautiful and elegant.

Good luck!

This post was edited by Caya26 on Sat, Aug 3, 13 at 8:45