I have two mosaics (thank you for the compliment by the way lagrant) :o) One is installed on the floor in our entry hall and the other is behind our range. The two mosaics, which are really important design features in each space, were also among the cheapest items in the space by far! I ordered them from Phonecian Artists on ebay. The chickens were made for me in a larger size than they normally sell. I ordered 3 mosaics, they combined shipping (90 bucks for all three and they're HUGE and heavy) and they showed up super super fast! I will do business with that seller again I'm quite sure :) This is before I did an enhancement on the entry "rug" enhanced: (we had to enhance twice because the stupid contractor let in the drywall crew after...right after, it was finished by my tile guy the first time, despite having to move the "Do not walk on tile" tape and sign to get them in...) The issue of staining for a busy cook...it's not really a problem at all :) My husband is the chef in the family...and frankly, his food is fabulous, but his technique...it's like watching five monkeys attempt to both climb the kitchen walls and dance the momba at the same time...the man's a pig LOL. He gets spots on the back splash all the time. It's a mix of travertine, granite and marble and of course lots of grout, but I sealed it very well when it was installed, and a quick cleanup every once in a while and another enhance and seal and it's good as new. All the spots go away :) This pic is a bit blurry but shows the finished mosaic and trim after install: here are a couple of construction pics: The mosaic is actually glued to a thin board with liquid nails, then it was allowed to dry flat (with weights on it) and after that was hung and grouted. I don't believe in forever homes, so personally, I don't shy away from fun design because I'd tire of it...but I also don't mind a little bit of demo if I do feel it has to go :) But because of the possible issue of future bordome with the mosaic, I'd suggest going with something fairly obscure or classic, pretty much like the ones you see above from the other posters. If you do something crazy like lizards dancing with the pope you might tire of it pretty quickly! We did for ohhh maybe fifteen mins consider doing a mosaic of the pope for the carpet...just for the fun shock value :oP We could take pics whenever someone walked in and then sell them to them like in disneyland heh heh (sanity won thank goodness) ;OP Instead we bought the Medusa...

Thank you to everyone for all the feedback! This has been awesome. Mcps, that looks really great with the glass and tumbled marble combo with the blue pearl. I would not normally think that those would go so well together. They do make small 2 x 2" glass tiles in the same family, although I think just the lightest blue. That light color is actually a very pale blue and not white, although it looks white on the computer screen. If I go with the stainless, I would use them sparingly as we did with accent tile in the half bath. Just need to call Lowe's and find probably 4 more sheets of the glass mosaics. They seem to be very popular. Example of accents in the bath:

I did something very similar to yours, which I love. If you don't like the rhomboid shape, it is probably not going to appeal to you, but I will describe it. Sorry, no working digital camera at the moment. My insert behind the cooktop is all glass rhomboids (same Tantrum from Sonoma). I used the same burgundy and khaki colors that you selected, and I also used green. Those three colors are randomly arranged. The field tile is a yellowish limestone 3X6, which provides a nice contrast to the sparkly niche. As you have done with the small decorative squares in your field tile, I used the 1X1 tantrum glass squares in the same khaki, green and burgundy colors, to spread the color and sparkle around the room. I remember that the tantrum glass tiles also came in larger squares (2X2). Maybe you could use those in burgundy in some kind of simple pattern behind the cooktop. Of the three class colors you've chosen, the burgundy stands out. I love the burgundy liner and how it looks with your field tiles. Definitely keep some color or sparkle there for a bit of contrast. Good luck. Tile options are endless, making it tough to decide.

Here are some products that give more protection in high heat situations. This was in regard to wood stove hearth and wall protection. Sweepy Sweep's Library: R Values of common hearth materials Q: My new woodstove's installation manual calls for a non-combustible hearth (floor protection) extending so many inches beyond the rear and sides of the stove and in front of the loading door. This much I understand. The manual also states this floor protection must have an "R" value of at least 0.800. This part I don't understand: what is an R value, and how do I ensure that my hearth material meets the minimum requirement? Sweepy R-value is a measurement of the insulating properties of a given material at a given thickness. Here's a chart showning the R-values of several common hearth materials: Material Thickness R-Value Ceramic Board ( Micore 160 ) 1/2" 1.270 Ceramic Board ( Rescor 360 ) 1/2" 1.110 Ceramic Board ( Fiberfrax Duraboard LD ) 1/2" 1.100 Ceramic Board ( Micore 300 ) 1/2" 1.030 Common Brick 4" 0.800 Common Brick 2-1/4" 0.450 Gypsum or Plaster Board 1/2" 0.450 Cement Board ( Wonderboard ) 1/2" 0.200 Cement Board ( Durock ) 1/2" 0.200 Cement Board ( Hardibacker 500 ) .42" 0.200 Cement Board ( Hardibacker ) 1/4" 0.130 Limestone 1" 0.153 Cement Mortar 1/2" 0.100 Slate 1" 0.100 Concrete 1" 0.095 Marble 1" 0.090 Granite 1" 0.083 Ceramic Pavers 1" 0.080 Flagstone 1" 0.079 Sandstone 1" 0.079 Ceramic Tile 1/4" 0.020 Sweepy As the chart shows, you can achieve the required R-value of 0.800 with 1/2" of Fibrefrax or Micore, 8-1/2" of poured concrete, or one layer of 4" brick. You can also meet your requirement by stacking layers of the materials listed: ie, 4 layers (2") of 1/2" Durorock would give you the 0.800 R-value you require.