Mine wasn't installed for several months after we moved in - postponed finding/ordering. There wasn't any mess, and my tile guy came back to do the backsplash. He cleaned up after himself really well. No touch up paint needed, no dust.

Having just done the backsplash (sealer still to go this afternoon), here's my take:

-All the tile dust from cutting happens outside and that is where the remnants end up, so that isn't an issue.

-We did have newish paint around the tile area and new cabs, but that wasn't a problem. You do get some thinset and grout on the walls and cabs where you don't want it, but it wipes off with no difficulty. We saw one horrible install here not long ago where the installer didn't wipe off as he went-that's a problem. For normal people who wipe off the overage with plain water and a large sponge within half an hour or so, it's not an issue.

-The indoor mess is negligible as long as you have an outdoor place to empty and fill water buckets and to mix thinset and grout. We threw the water from the tile saw (lots of water!) and the water from the wipe-up bucket out on the lawn and bank, trying not to dump too much in one place. Thinset and grout also splot onto your counters, so you can either cover them or just wipe it up after - our counters are granite, these products aren't going to hurt them. Since our stove and fridge aren't in yet, we also got some on the floor. If your good floor is in, definitely cover them. In our case it's still the old vinyl, so who cares? Just more wiping up.

-I would not have liked to work around installed appliances, but if yours are already in you can just pull them back to reach the wall.

-If this is a DIY, having two people working is very helpful.

We waited over a year. I agree with the others. We DIY'd ours (mostly my husband with a little logistical help from me, and water-bucket hauling). Tile cutting was done outside or in the garage. We covered our counters really well. The only mess for us really was water. We don't have a very good sink in the garage so we had to lug buckets of water outide to the hose.

We did not, however, have to tile around a range or any other appliances since our cooktop is in the island. We just dealt with walls between the counters and upper cabinets.

Hope this helps.

Thanks so much for the responses. They are very helpful. I'm having a bit of backsplash trouble, so it's good to know that it doesn't have to hold up the painting.

Allison0704 - I managed to look at the Status Ceramics tile today (you had responded to my other post). They are so pretty. I'm looking for a bright white crackle tile, which they didn't have, but the tile store called and found out they just started making one. They're sending a sample for me to see if it works with my cabinets.

Suzannes1 - Thanks for all the detailed information. Thankfully we have an outdoor water source right off the kitchen.

Thanks, Julieh1926. (I think we cross-posted.) The water mess stayed in your garage, though? Or did you have excess water in the kitchen from wiping down the grout?

We will have someone install the backsplash, although we have DIYed before. We have the cabinets and range hood to worry about. The range top can be pulled out before the install.

Thanks so much!

Tile cutter and water was in the garage. A few splashes on the floor, but nothing more than when we wash dishes :)

For laying the tile, I think the main mess is the dust from mixing thinset & grout, cutting tile, and water from cutting tiles. All of these were done outside or in the garage.

For grouting, we mixed it outside and then used a couple of buckets of water for rinsing. We would haul these outside to dump out and get new water. Any spills were due to my own issues with hauling buckets of water :)

I really didn't find the process to be messy at all. We had the occasional thinset/grout drop onto the counters. They were either covered with paper, or were quickly mopped up. Any thinset/grout that got onto neighboring cabinets was also quickly and easily wiped up. The stuff takes a while to dry, so you've got time. Easier to clean up errors in thinset/grout than dripped paint!

Thanks for the extra info, Julieh1926!