The best thing to do would be sell it to me and buy something totally different for yourself;-)

I know exactly what you're going through. I had my heart set on Ann Sacks but the price was, well, you know. and then I found other tiles I really, really liked.......in my price range BUT when I looked at everything in the brochure I found an Ann Sacks look alike.......Sort of in my price range. And then I got the nostolgia bug again and while looking for a great table cloth on eBay, found a really cool vintage primary color table cloth that mimiced the wall paper I wish I could buy. Money, money, money. But the primary colors nixed the brown tiles. SO I really, really need your white ones.

Hello Kathec,
The exaggerated octagon-and-dot mosaic is really cool but sometimes you just have to let somethings go rather than hold on to them and make a mess of things. An old girlfriend taught me that once. ;^)
What specifically are you looking at in the Sonoma Tilemaker's catalog? I'm pretty familiar with their lines and might be able to help you put something together? You can also give them a call and find out who in your area is carrying their product who might also be able to help you bring together the perfect design for your room?
Here's a kitchen I recently completed here in Seattle. The client fell in love with this mosaic panel. She knew beyond a doubt that whatever she did for this kitchen, it would involve this medallion.
What we ended up doing was using some specific Sonoma Tilemakers pieces for details and the field background was a much more affordable tile from Crossville, Inc. I cut down the 4"x8" field tiles to 2"x8" for a more unique look and we were able to keep the whole project closer to their original budget.

Looked at your mosaics again and a thought occurred to me. I think you should give Subway Ceramics a phone call and ask them about remaking this mosaic using their bisque and glazes. There was something about the crispness of your mosaic's edges that reminded me of them and I know from experience that they will custom cut, shape or glaze their tiles for a nominal extra fee.
Never hurts to ask, right?

Here is a link that might be useful: Subway Ceramics

Pinch me, I know exactly how you feel. It can easily snowball. Ann Sachs is definitetely pricey. I'm curious, what did you end up going with?

As for me, I don't think I need anymore of the mosaic. I've got about 6 sq ft and only intend to use it behind the range. The rest will be field tile. My range has a tall back, so I probably won't use everything I've got. I'll keep you in mind Pinch me ; ).

I was just looking for trim pieces to set off the mosaic. Since the original company is out of business, I need to find it elsewhere and coordinate it.

I don't have a lot of wall space to do either. I have some cabinets that will go all the way to the counter, so not much real estate to work with.

Once all my cabinets are in, which can't happen until the roofer comes to fix a hole in my roof, I'll start looking more seriously at a final design. Who knows, I might be able to splurge in this area since I've been so cheap, I mean frugal elsewhere.

In the mean time, I just love looking, and lusting. I wish I could rub my hands over the shiny glaze. I don't dare go to the showroom, they won't appreciate having to wipe the drool from the floor ; )

Thanks for the subway ceramics link. I'll definitely check them out too.

I was just thinking how many stores I missed today and Expo was one of them. Beautiful tile!!!

vampiressrn, I miss Expo too. It was such a great place to poke around lots of different kitchens without the heavy sales intervention.

I'm just spinning my wheels. This one is at the top of the list......unless I DO go nostolgic and do the red/blue/yellow to match my table cloth. I don't see the table cloth with this tile.

This is the Almost Ann Sacks

This is THE Ann Sacks

And the table cloth that ruined it all!
{{!gwi}}

I had found a wallpaper in this style/colors a couple of years ago but I didn't want to work with the genuine old paper even if I could afford it and the new stuff cost the same so....abandoned that idea. I DID find those colors in a wallpaper on eBay, bought it. Used a couple of strips of it and realized I didn't want to have a nervous breakdown working with it. Thin, fragile, and would never hold up to scrubbing. So now I'll either do the brown backsplash and get a crochet lace cloth or leave it painted white and change my curtains to go with the bl/rd/yl table cloth. I'll never be done with that kitchen!

Is that first rectangular tile affordable? If so, I recommend that you save the tablecloth for the deck and employ kitchen colors that work with the tile palette. Why? Because I like the tile. :-)

I'm a child of the 50s and those bright printed primary color tablecloths strike a chord with my memories, but they're really not good for current color schemes, unless you're very very bold or you're doing a nostalgia kitchen. I have a number of these tablecoths and the only place I can use them is on the deck. Even in my old kitchen with the red accents (and no table) it would have been a "tail that wags the dog." Fast forward ten years. Which palette would you more enjoy growing a little older with?

Those bright colors remind me of being a very young child. I don't know why as the real colors of my childhood are the washed out green/pink/maroon/blue/gray. I do remember green ivy and something red. Geraniums? I was born in '46 so I was a child of the 50's, too. I was trying for a nostalgia kitchen but got side tracked with tile. The browns are in my price range. I need two kitchens so I can have the primary colors one and the soothing brown one.

pinch me
maybe it's me, but does the table cloth HAVE to match? I think the tiles are gorgeous. All of them, but they're neutral in color. So it's kinda like a having a designer brown leather purse, but wear a gorgeous printed top. It goes, it looks dressy. Some days you just want to wear jeans and a t-shirt, and that same purse looks great with that too.

If you have glass front cabinets, maybe line some foam core board with that wall paper you mentioned and put in the back of the cabinets behind the shelves. It's there, it's subtle and a little bit of beauty. When you get tired of the look, you can take them out.

I can't remember where I heard about this, maybe HGTV or a magazine. I'm planning to do solid color painted boards for the back of my glass front cabs. In the fall/winter I want a rusty orange, and in the spring/summer, maybe a light aqua.

Here's a link where the blogger lined her cabinets with fabric.

Here is a link that might be useful: Fabric lined glass cabinets

At the moment, the table is not near a potential backsplash wall, I have the table cloth on it and it will probably stay there until I get tired of adjusting it and/or I just get tired of having it there. A chrochet lace cloth would be best with the brown tile. I even refinished the table top a couple of weeks ago after a major moving accident 6 YEARS ago.

shaughnn, I'd like to pick your brain on a tile arangement using the browns. I'll start a new thread.

florantha, I would be happy to give your table cloths a happy home! Buying them on eBay has turned costly! I don't have a deck :-(
The gal featured this month on Retro Renovation says after she has three of anything she considers it a collection. I collect bright colored table cloths these days! Each one would have paid for a foot of tile.

kathec, how are you going to deal with behind the stove? After lusting after the Kenmore slide in induction (Sears pricing) for several months, I went with a stand up -or what ever you call them- gas. The back doesn't leave a lot of space for pretties behind it so I'm not doing anything special there. The window over the sink comes to the counter. I still have nearly 26 linear feet of backsplash wall. $$$$$$$$$$$$

florantha, do any of these look familiar? I WANT!!

Here is a link that might be useful: To die for retro wallpaper

The ivy on the right in the top row looks very much the wallpaper in my aunt's house.

In our house, we had a wallpaper border at top of dinette side of kitchen which showed Swedish folk painting--18th century men with kneebritches and the women in stylized folk costumes with aprons over the skirts. Colors were in yellow, light blue, light red, perhaps a green, with white ground. Mom had Red Wing "Brittany" dishes until we smashed half of them. Then the durable but dull blue melmac and yellow melmac. Sure wish I could find that wallpaper today--I did quite a Net search before we made a different decorating decision for the new kitchen.

I won't share my 40s-50s large border print tablecloths no matter how you beg; I haul them out for certain occasions and sometimes just to please myself. I buy them when they're really cheap. I buy white formal tablecloths much more often, usually with a dozen napkins (half without stains). And rough handwoven linen ones if they're at all affordable. I am a handwoven linen addict. Such incredible towels and tablecloths were in my father's extended family and I snatched up all the red and white ones and oatmeal ones I could find when the old women gave up housekeeping.

Enough on this birdwalk. Go back to cathec's tile topic... :-)