Agree with everyone who says to wait if possible..you should look at the materials as they're to be installed..tile will be vertical-you should place it perpendicular to the countertop..or to the sample of the countertop:) When everything is just lying together horizontally you can't get a true picture..the color of the surfaces changes with the light, the light changes with a different angle. And in a different time of a day. Also, photos are often deceiving, as was already mentioned. It's not that the backsplash can't be chosen on an earlier stage-I did chose mine before I even knew the countertops etc. But yes, it was hard. If you can wait-wait. Also, about the beveled tile. In case you decide to go with it. Harder to work with, because of the cuts..something to plan on in advance, ask the installers how they'll go about it, etc. Actually, whatever you choose-think how you're going to finish the tile. Not one person mentioned it to us during the whole remodel, not the GC, not his subs, not the designer in the store(she was magnificent btw-but has she ever been to our house? no, she just advises about tiles-)and I didn't know about these forums yet:) Then months go by, lol, and they come to install the backsplash. We have the tile for several months already, so we're thinking we're good. Then it appears we need to order additional tiles to finish nicely, and it being a custom tile. takes another three weeks.

Thanks for your comments. acm, I feel like the mosaics I want for the entry space are too busy for the kitchen, which is quite large. I also want to be able to splurge on something really special in the entry and for the kitchen just do a big cheap field tile, since I've seen a bunch that I liked. Sina, if I can't find any way to coordinate I'll probably do hardwood in the entry and plain tile in the kitchen. The layout is not open-plan, though, you can see from one room to another only through a doorway, and you can't see all three areas at once. I'm also very concerned about dirt since I have kids and bad weather. In a previous apartment we had a hardwood foyer and you could easily see the dirt embedded in the grain where people walked frequently (and yes, I washed it regularly!) I would never do hardwood in the kitchen, that is one trend I just do not understand even though it looks beautiful.

Hi Everyone - thank you for the responses! @User, We did a ton of research on this company before hiring and he had 5star reviews across the board (all previous work we reviewed looked great), which is why we've been questioning if we're being unreasonable in what we expected. Our GUESS now (through some conversations, of course he hasn't said this outright) is that the contractor may have given this job to one of his new guys or even hired someone (that doesn't typically work for him) to do the job, since we were on a timeframe and he wanted our business. We can't be sure, but it just seems odd that such poor work came out of this company. Either way, thank you for the link you provided - we will definitely be using that in the future! @SJ McCarthy Thank you! You're correct - the original floor was hardwood (which was sadly too damaged to refinish) with a basement underneath. We had tiles over it previously that had been there for years and never moved. They were all perfectly leveled, no grout was cracking anywhere, and nothing even squeaked in the kitchen when you walked. If the subfloor wasn't up to snuff (which could be the case!), shouldn't it be the responsibility of the installer to correct/prep prior to laying the backer board, or at least telling us what needs to be done in order for the tile to be laid correctly (perhaps having to increase the cost to us - which would have been fine)? When the job was quoted, they said the place looked fine and they could just lay backer board over the hardwood. @hallettco@millworkman Thanks for the info! I'm trying to do some research on liquid nails but am finding all sorts of information. Those tiles pictured are the ones he had to relay (which had originally been moving). I'm wondering if he used liquid nails to speed up the install process - is that why they would generally be used? If they are in fact liquid nails, should we expect those tiles to start shifting around much more quickly than if he had installed with a mortar? The company is willing to come regrout for us now (to at least get it all the same color), he said he will chip away some of the old grout in between each tile and just regrout over the top throughout the entire kitchen. We're hesitant on this solution, but really don't have it in our budget to hire someone else to redo this entire floor. We're debating between using grout paint ourselves (since we're worried about these guys making more mistakes when they regrout) or just letting them do it and see what happens. Of course, the company will not give us any money back so we're either stuck trying to fix this ourselves (and grout paint is really our only option we can think of) or letting them take another stab at it and see what they can do (or mess up :) ) THANK YOU everyone for your input! It is so helpful!

SO MUCH BAD ADVICE! I'm a wood floor person and even I know that you're not supposed to use harsh chemical, basic or acidic cleaners on stone. I initially wondered it this was real stone or a glazed marble-look tile. The bigger picture shows a random patterning with no repeats so I'm pretty sure it's real stone. Real stone floors require a neutral pH cleaner. In addition to not cleaning your floors properly, the products you have used are probably making the problem worse. The floor needs to be resealed after a thorough cleaning. I suggest you engage a professional to use the proper cleaner and a floor scrubber to remove all the grime from your floor, then apply a proper sealer. This will make your floor look nearly new and be much easier to clean with the correct neutral pH cleaner. If you're hardcore DIY, you can likely find the correct cleaner and polish, and rent a scrubbing machine, which I think will be necessary to do the job right.