You can attack it from a couple of different angles... If the crown is all the same, then you can consider it all "room crown", and you can then paint it all creamy white. I have seen instances where the crown is all the same and the color simply transitions to blue at the soffit-to-cabinet crown miters. Your choice. I prefer to make the two crowns different though, making the cabinet crown smaller than the room crown. With the cabinet crown minor to the more major room crown, cope the cabinet crown to butt into the room crown. Paint the room crown white and the cabinet crown blue. Much depends on the size and styles of the crowns, etc, how they meet up, how they relate, etc. But it really boils down to your personal preference. The good news? It's only paint. Easy to change if you decide to change your mind.

Thanks, everyone! This tile is Bella Ceramic. The link to their website is at the bottom of the post, which will give you a list of dealers. The colors on their site look washed out;they are much more vibrant in real life. You need to see a sample or see it in person. I loved the blue and the blonde, but the red was IT. All of the colors are fabulous. Steal away! Raehelen - I have a huge collection of vintage tins, but the coffee and tea ones are my favorites. I also have vintage wonderful signs that I may put up when the kitchen has been finished and painted. Mary and Amy - the soapstone is holding up. Island is still light and beautiful; counters have darkened all by themselves in places and are starting to get - uh - patina (aka dings and fine scratches). And I don't mind a bit because the gestalt is so amazing. Caroline - are you back home? Jane - I love my vintage tins - been collecting since the '60s when they cost 50 cents- $2 each because nobody wanted them. Leslie - Michael's on another job and sent Billy the tile guy to do the job. He is terrific - so make sure you request him if you are using Michael. The electricians were here and now I have power in the island - but the ivory switch plates on the backsplash will probably be replaced at some point, maybe with stainless. For the moment, it's fine. The tile guys are back, doing the grout as we speak. In closing, I have to say that it took me forever to find tile. I was in every tile store in Northern NJ, plus Ann Sacks in NY. I sent for samples on the Internet, none of which looked like they did on the computer screen. Bleh. Customer service ran the gamut -- mostly abysmal to non-existent: sales people who were too busy talking to each other to be bothered with me, others who apparently didn't think I was dressed well enough to be their customer, and still others who didn't actually know anything about their products. Of the 20 places I went to in NJ, there were two where the sales people were knowledgeable and patient: Nancy at Fuda Tile on Route 46 in Lodi, and Nella at Apex Tile on Route 46 in Parsippany. Nella gets the prize; I must have been there 8 times and she was terrific. This is where I found the red tile - and only because she had previously showed me one of the other colors (the blonde or the blue, I think)on the sample board. I would never have thought about it if she hadn't shown it to me. And I didn't look twice at the red, even when I brought the board home to audition the other color. In the end, when I realized I needed the energy and the complement to the green counter and stainless serenity (really, too laid back and boring for me), the red jumped at me. I ordered it from Nella and she spent a lot of time on the phone with the warehouse in Indiana or wherever, getting the best shipping price for me. I was 1 ft short (aarrgh) and just called her to see if I could get 1 sheet. She ordered it and had them add it to their next order so I don't have to pay shipping for one sheet. She bent over backwards and customer service like that is so rare. I just e-mailed her the picture from above. Oops - short a foot of tile and short about 1 cup of grout. Well, Billy will be back to finish the job when I get back from Ohio and my cousins from Paris have left for home. Meantime, tonight we will have to eat out. It's soft shell crab season! Here is a link that might be useful: Bella Ceramic Tiramola Mosaic

I am not sure if this helps, but in our recently finished remodel, we chose to take the tile to the ceiling on the sink / range run. The portion under the hood stopped at the hood because it is cabinets all the way around that area. However, around the large window over the sink we took the tile to the ceiling. Although the window isn't painted in this picture and we don't have window treatments up yet, I love how it turned out. In the other areas of our kitchen, the tile is only between the cabinets and counter as the uppers have crown to the ceiling.

Hi Lisa, Your kitchen is gonna be GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!! I think honed travertine is too mediterranean for the way it sounds like you're going with your kitchen. Also, I think the travertine would be a bit too busy with the roped cabs. My vote is for a cream (same or close to cream in floor) porcelain 4x4 set diagonally or a cream subway tile. Something simple to relate the cream in the floor to the rest of the kitchen. Your floor and cabs are going to be the stars, I'd keep the backsplash very simple to coordinate. Hope I helped!