As Enduring mentioned, I went with wainscoting in a paneled style because I wanted to mimic the paneling on my staircase downstairs and the door style and side paneling on the vanity I chose. It was very inexpensive and easy for my contractor to do. He basically used 1" x 4" pre-primed wood to make boxes and then trimmed the inner part with a 1.5" ovolo moulding with mitered edges. Not hard and very cheap. Tile would have been a fortune and I didn't think that bead board wouldn't have fit with my style of house.

Are you planning to cut your tile around the outlet itself and let the outlet cover sit on top of the tile, or are you sinking the cover into the tile, so it sits on top of the wall? If you do not presently have tile on the walls, your outlets are flush with the wallboard surface, and when your tile goes up they'll be sunk into the tile surface. I would bring the outlets out a bit so they are flush with the surface of the tile. I have no idea how to do this; my GC handled all that, but I'm sure it's possible, and most likely not all that difficult.

Yes, I had the same thing happen to me in one corner, my granite was not right up againest the wall so my tile installer said I couldn't use my beveled subway tile, there would have been no countertop under some tile. I called the fabricator, who cut a piece of granite 1/2 inch by 10 inches, it was glued to the countertop, using a cotraption my contractor made up, (looked a bit like a sling, so that it could be held up when it was glued to the countertop, think it was made from aluminum, the granite was glued to the countertop, while the aluminum was I think glued to the wall. It is in the corner, but even when I look close I can't detect it. I have my beveled subway BS, and I love it! There were a couple of days before they figured out what to do when they were all blaming eacy other for the problem one suggested the tile installer put more glue on the tiles to "bring out the wall", I said NO, another suggestion was to "stuff a sponge so that there was something to build up the area so the tile could rest on it, I said no to that one too, imagining mold forming under my countertop. So, my suggestion is to get the fabricator involved, it is his responsibility since he did the temp plate and should have aloted for an uneven wall if that is the problem. oh, the best was when someone blamed me for picking a "tile that was not thick enough...because if I picked a thicker tile there would have been no problem". So my suggestion is for you to tell them you have your heart set on this tile, have your tile installer, and contractor call the fabricator, and you too speak to the fabricator, tell him how much you love your countertops, and want this BS to finish your kitchen off. There is a way around this, I wish I had a picture to send you of the sling type contraption my contractor made to put the granite in, but am sure someone else can figure this out too. Good luck and I hope you get to use the tile you want!

I got a 20x40 white fluffy microfiber towel from the Rag Co. and have been using it for about a week. It has its plusses and I don't regret buying it, but I'm a bit on the fence with it. First of all, I didn't really hate using my squeegee. For flat, unbroken surfaces, a squeegee excels in moving water quickly and easily. It sits relatively inconspicuously in my tub/shower. It's not so good at the fixture end of the shower and you can't use it to wipe chrome. I think one problem I'm having with the 20x40 towel is its size. It's unwieldy. I wonder if I can just cut it in half. I think that's all I would need even if I used it on its own. I've been hanging it over the tub to dry, but I'm not wild about how it looks. This may sound crazy but I think using the squeegee to chase the drops off the tub surround walls and along the tub ledge, followed by a polish with the fluffy towel, would be the best for me. It takes less than 1 minute (you can do a lot in 60 seconds, which is how long I swish my mouthwash).