White subway tiles would be a "classic" look and best yet-you can find them for reasonable $$. It will make your kitchen look like you spent more than you did.

Does the concept of using larger tiles to make an area seem larger apply for choosing backsplash tiles? I'm thinking of our tiny powder room where we chose large floor tiles and liked the look. Our kitchen is so tiny that I wouldn't want to make it look any smaller!

A backsplash will definitely dress up your space, and if you can do the work yourself, it will be a small amount of money for a big look.

If you're thinking of the typically-sized (rectangular) white subway tiles... I'm just not sure that the white tile and the white cabinets will work together. Too much white? What about white and another color that will reflect one of the colors in your laminate countertop?

The plus of a larger tile is less seam-work. :) My main kitchen wall is also rather small and I hope to use 12x12 slate, as the smaller tiles look too busy.

I have 4x4 white ceramic tile backsplash now and for my next one I too am thinking about using larger tiles with a row or two of smaller tiles (maybe 1x1) for an accent row. I personally don't care for all the grout that the smaller tiles need.

If this is a refresh, how long until the real deal? Will putting the tiles up delay the big update or will it make the many years until you re-do more pleasant and help you be patient?
None of us can answer those questions for you.
I think they would be pretty and if you want to do it simply with a little added zing, go look at Shelayne's on the backsplash thread (I think I am officially her publicist now, lol).

I don't think we'll ever fully redo this kitchen. We'll probably only be in this house for another 2-5 years, and we're really just looking to make the space more enjoyable for us and up the resale value a bit. Our kitchen is very small, especially for a 4 bedroom house. So without knocking down walls and changing the whole layout of the 1st floor, we're not going to have a gourmet kitchen. And we're just not prepared to put that kind of money in the house given the state of the market, and I don't think our neighboorhood can support the kind of increase in price that we'd want to see to make it worth it.
Sorry for all that rambling! Long story short, I think we're going to try to keep it simple for now, and save all these beautiful kitchen ideas for our next house.

emily928 I think that the regular white subway tile with white cabinets and dark laminate counters is going to look stunning. If you layers them like bricks it will be best with very light grout.
The backsplash will be the cavans for anything decorative items left on your counters. Imagine red carnation flowers in a nice crystal vase! You will have the WOW effect that you are looking for and the price is right!
Good luck

We just removed a double postformed laminate counter and you really can feel the difference in counter space which was more than two inches.

Large tiles on the wall in a small kitchen wouldn't really make the kitchen look or feel more spacious as they do on the floor. They might just look oddly out of scale especially since you are more aware of the cuts when they are on the wall. I like the subway tile idea. Very classic and nice in a small area.

If you are not going to stay long, do it simply but make it have a little interest. An accent tile in the same shade as the subways will give it a little more style and yet let the new people personalize easier. Since you won't be there long, I would not put as much personalization in the permanent fixtures as I would otherwise. Just don't do bland because no one falls in love with boring.

Not to sound like a broken record, but I think Shelayne did an amazing bs and she said it was with inexpensive tile from one of the "big box" stores. That is a lot of bang for the buck and definitely a selling feature, IMHO.

Danielle, that is exactly what I was thinking, of popping some color in with accessories. My husband thinks it will be too plain, and he thinks having the tan paint color in between teh cabinets and countertops would add contrast. I like that the tiles themselves are cheap, and we can probably have someone install them fairly inexpensively, but I'm worried what this is doing to our countertop price. I'm still confused about the countertop company telling me they would have to chop off the backsplash part of the postform counters - because wouldn't that cause the front end of the counters to be pushed back further, leaving me with less (if any) overhang over the cabs?

FYI, here are a few pics of the kitchen from before we bought the house. We've since painted the cabinets white but we're ready for the green counters to go! (Why anyone would choose that color "scheme" is beyond me). I don't have any pics of the kitchen currently, but this might give a sense of the kitchen's smallness.

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