Hi. We installed out kitchen in 2012. We still haven't chosen or decided on a backslpash - it's the painted wall. I have a creamy Egyptian marble, - don't remember the name. I like unstructured European vintage-y kitchens. Many of them don't have backsplashes either. My stainless range has a stainless backsplash directly behind it. I had picked out some mini-clear glass subway tile for the backsplash that coincidentally matches my Prescott Green paint color perfectly but what if I decide to change wall color one day? Just this week I started thinking maybe I made my backsplash tile decision three years ago which was to have none. Our marble installers tried very hard to discourage us from marble in the kitchen but I have not regretted it. All those kitchens in southern Europe can't be wrong. FYI - If you are considering glass backsplash look at a product call 3-Form it comes in an amazing variety of colors,textures and imbedded items, two good friends used it in their kitchens. http://www.3-form.com/ Do what speaks to you in your home. Best.

Thank you to everyone for all the feedback! This has been awesome. Mcps, that looks really great with the glass and tumbled marble combo with the blue pearl. I would not normally think that those would go so well together. They do make small 2 x 2" glass tiles in the same family, although I think just the lightest blue. That light color is actually a very pale blue and not white, although it looks white on the computer screen. If I go with the stainless, I would use them sparingly as we did with accent tile in the half bath. Just need to call Lowe's and find probably 4 more sheets of the glass mosaics. They seem to be very popular. Example of accents in the bath:

Ooooh, you have me a little worried. I am planning a white on white kitchen...but back to the topic at hand. No I definitely don't think a lip of a backsplash is at all unfinished. In fact, i think most houses just have a lip? I wonder if the wall of a BS is a new thing. In fact i just took a quick look at property listings (no I am not a realtor, haha) and the 3 houses I clicked on (close to a million$) all had a lip of a backsplash. I think it is personal preference. And your right it is a dust catcher=). but better to have dust than me rub off my wall every time I wipe my counters down. (good paint may well solve that dilemma) but I do think that it looks naked with nothing. We cook alot ( and I am messy) so I have to have something behind my stove...and personally i do like the full wall of backsplash. If you have soapstone, that may break up the white enough to not make it so stark. You could possibly consider the lip of soapstone and then tile above that....? Best of luck

So tired of hearing " but that will make it look dated" or "it wouldn't be good for resale" Everything is going to be dated at some point, the kitchen designers, cabinet companies and appliance companies make sure of that. Example: stainless steel appliances were just coming on the market 15 years ago when we gutted our kitchen for a remodel. It was hard for me to find stainless in my area at that time, I live in a small mid western town. So, have you noticed in the past few years appliance companies have been trying to bring out new colors, grayed looking stainless, now ice white etc. they are trying to make people think their stainless appliances are soon going to be "dated". But I have read in several articles that stainless is still the number one choice. I chose a cinnamon stained cherry wood for our new build. I thought about white because that is the trend right now, but I reasoned cherry cabinets will always be in style while the white trend Has just a few more years. I won't be a slave to trends. Just my opinion.