I disagree, you do not have to tile on cement board in an application like this. We're talking *one single row* of thin, lightweight, small tiles for a decorative backsplash, not a huge wall of tile! You can do single rows of tile on good-condition drywall using thinset. You can add a moisture barrier if it's a high use / wet area. A thin sticker-like sheet of stone is definitely not the look we're going for, plus I imagine it would leave weird gaps with the beadboard grooves. And there's no way I'm buying an awful sheet of that cheap tile board to cover my gorgeous beadboard with. We're talking one single row of tile, here, did you misread my post? I called a couple of tiling professionals I know and have worked with in the past. They said cement board would be complete overkill in my application which is just a 3" high strip around my small vanity. I saw the two tile guys at church this morning, and they gave me these instructions for tiling a single decorative row over painted MDF beadboard, and said it will work for tiling over regular wood beadboard as well. So here is the info if anyone else is looking: 1. Make sure the beadboard is secured to the wall properly, you don't want to tile over loose beadboard. Also inspect the beadboard to make sure it's in good condition. No warping, mold, peeling paint, or anything of that nature. 2. Lightly sand the area and wipe clean. 3. Trowel on pre-prepared thinset mortar for small projects. Fill in the grooves of the beadboard with the trowel, and smooth it out. You can use a moisture barrier membrane at this point. 4. Let it dry over night. Apply the tiles by 'buttering' more thinset on the back of each tile and pressing to the wall. After it's dry, grout as you normally would, and seal the grout. They did agree with me that grouting neatly with those ridges / grooves in the beadboard will be a bit tricky at the top, and thought taping off with painters tape was a good solution. Anyway, maybe it'll be a disaster, and I'll come back to eat crow butterfly, but I'm definitely trying these instructions.

I've only used Azek outdoors for trim. But we have a bathroom that we re-did with 'beadboard.' Our (lousy) GC used stuff that is a thin (maybe 1/4-inch thick) strip with the beads milled in it. On our walls, it's nailed over plywood. Depending on your perspective, it either looks rustic or crappy (lots of unfilled knots and imperfections). I'd avoid this stuff in favor of actual T&G boards with beaded edges. As for the Azek, it's expensive and doesn't get you out of all the care/maintenance. You still ought to fill the nail holes and paint it, just like wood. It'll still scratch/dent. If your current stuff is actual boards, I'd leave it, fill the nicks, and re-paint. Durham's water putty and a putty knife is cheap stuff. If you're hell bent on replacing, I'd go with the real wood for less expense. Be sure it gets primed (after cutting) on all sides to help keep the T&G joints from moving so much with moisture/seasonal changes. One of these days, I'm going to use the Azek beaded boards to replace a bad-looking plywood-and-batten ceiling on our porch.

Thanks, actually I almost purchased that same light for the dining room, but instead bought another JCP chandelier for about $10 more. My kitchen & dining room are open and across from each other...would it look silly to have 2 very similar chandeliers hanging across the room from each other? I'm wanting to do a couple of pendant lights over the peninsula and maybe one over the sink, but that still leaves a light fixture for the center of my kitchen. I will also have recessed lighting, so I guess I could actually just do a ceiling fan with no light kit in the center of the room...I know what you're thinking, a ceiling fan?? But I'm extremely hot natured and I think I might really enjoy having it in the kitchen. What do you think? IF not the ceiling fan, what about a pot rack? Would that look goofy hanging in the center of the room or must you always hang it OVER something...like an island? THANKS! Here is a link that might be useful: Pottery Barn Pendant Light

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.