We just recently finished our bathroom and I'll be posting pics soon. We wanted a "white" bathroom with subway tile wainscoating. We love the look of marble, but we wanted something that was warmer and a little less formal looking. We decided to use a wood countertop and travertine floors. We also used a slightly off-white subway matte finish subway tile to "soften" the look and feel. We used larger format tiles on the floor and a herringbone pattern on the shower floor. Picking the right tile was difficult, but we found an "ancient" tumble travertine that is perfect for the look we wanted. We are extremely pleased with the finished look. It achieves the clean, fresh feeling of a white bathroom, but its also warm, soothing, and has a subtle warm energy to it. I'll probably be posting finished pics this coming week if you're interested in seeing it.

We have stained beadboard next to the mixer. As long as splashes are wiped away right away, they come off easily. I'm not a terribly vigilant cleaner but I am pretty good with taking care of the mixer splatter. I've found no problem with the painted beadboard backsplash in the rest of our kitchen. We have 4" of stone backsplash (matching the counters) before the beadboard starts. The strip of stone is the only backsplash behind our sinks since the windows come down quite low. We have stainless steel behind the range. Except for the baking area, we do most food prep on a peninsula so maybe that's why cleaning the beadboard hasn't been an issue....at all. We have beadboard in our powder room also. We get more shrinkage there, near the radiator, than we do in the kitchen. I love the beadboard and any gapping between boards is in character with our older farmhouse. Our beadboard has been up for 6 years and I don't remember pricing. The stained beadboard in our kitchen is part of the cabinetry and it is true beadboard. Dh put up the backsplash beadboard and it was the kind that came in long strips about 6" across (2-3 beaded units across). He bought it at a big box store. We didn't need a lot of it so it wasn't very pricey (sorry, I can't remember a ballpark amount). He primed all sides. We put 2 coats of paint on the fronts and that was it. We never had a vent hood before our reno. It's made a huge difference on the amount of gunk that accumulates on the backsplash.

There is actually something called a baseboard buddy? or something like that sold at BBB. Im not giving deign advice but to clear some things up. Most bead board or ship lap is made from cheap pine which is probably the lowest on the hardness scale in regards to wood In other words it dents and scratches very easily. Sheetrock is very easily repaired so if damages are your worry I would pic sheetrock any day of the week. Repairing wood isn't as easily repaired. Us a satin or above sheen such as SW Cashmere and it can be repaired or spotted in very easily. That said the higher the gloss as used on trim becomes harder to blend in. You can use every product on the planet if you use wood you will get bleed through and it might show up a year later. I am a wood worker and love working with wood and also like seeing the defects as that is the look i prefer. That said if you do not like that look use MDF. It is more stable and you won't get all the shrinking in between the boards and no bleeding through. Do not let anyone caulk in between the boards. This will make shrinkage show 10xs as much when the caulk fails. Anything used in moderation is acceptable. Pic an accent wall or two and use either. They have both been around for a 100 years. The problem comes when you have headboard in every room or shiplap everywhere. Pick and accent wall and in three years you will be glad you did!!!

@cat_ky, it's in the design phase and nothing is built. It's a new home that hasn't started yet. So I don't have a photos to share.