One thing your inspiration images have in common is white cabinetry. Perhaps the Google search “white cabinets green backsplash” will yield some inspirational images.

But here’s the thing. Glass tile is a very different look and a very different material than handpainted ceramic tile. It’s fine to like them both, but choosing is the art of elimination, and at some point you have to decide which look grabs you. Start by collecting images that appeal to you, then whittle their number down to looks you want to live with for the next twenty+ years.

"That would explain why 90% of surfaces on the market are white, gray, or beige."

Often it’s the long term commitment to one color vs. the ability to change one’s mind over time that drives the neutral bs selection.

eam44 Oh, I definitely prefer glazed ceramic over glass. I'm noticing that in showrooms, almost all of what is being shown with any color is glass; I tend to notice it from across the room and then when I get up close, say, "D'oh! Glass again!" Lovely, but not the feel I'm going for.

Often it’s the long term commitment to one color vs. the ability to change one’s mind over time that drives the neutral bs selection.

I agree that this is it, but I wonder why this has happened. Does somebody like a color and then not like it? I can understand if you were picking out a backsplash when you were a four year old girl addicted to pepto bismol pink, that you might regret it as a grownup. But if you like green in 2017, are you not going to like it by 2024? Because if you are the average American, supposedly you will live in a different house after that.

I think the addiction to dullness is what really leaves people dissatisfied and wanting to "change it up" with accent colors to begin with. It's never quite committal enough to be satisfying. I thing that's where the boredom really originates although most people will disagree with me.

Yeah, I'm on Team Pal for this one.

In fact, if my reno happens I'm not quite sure I can part with the 16 y.o. teal iridescent backsplash many assured me I'd tire of back when I was weighing options!

I blame the 1970’s orange-yellow-brown trend, actually. It made people realize they are the product of their generation and their tastes can be trend driven. One would really have to commit to the paper below, and many people did. Is it boring? No. Seizure inducing? Possibly. No one wants to choose the 2010’s version of this paper in tile.

house, you can have your tile removed instead of demolished, and re use it in your new space.

I grew up in a house designed by old-fashioned parents and completely missed the yellow brown avocado thing even though it was built in 1969, so perhaps I don't have the visceral reaction that some people have to that.

But honestly although I am completely on board with the white thing, because white is just white, I think the beige neutrals thing that is probably in first place in many markets and second behind white in many others might be even worse than the above, once it's given a historical perspective, because people mix beiges of too many tints together and think it's all good, because it's all neutral. Grey which is supplanting the beige I suppose, is at least generally based upon black, which is the absence of color.

A vote for Team Pal. Fwiw, the tiles I am visually (and sometimes really) collecting are colors and patterns that I've loved through three houses and coming on 25 years, and I keep coming back to them. Greens as a field element are new for me, but as a design element in mutlicolored tiles, not. Upshot: I may be falling victim to my own weird taste, but it's my long-term weird taste, not my passing fancy weird taste. And I am *definitely* not falling victim to current fashion, or I'd be having easier conversations with Tile Showroom Guy!

I noticed, btw, that when I spread out my batch of Fireclay samples on my ottoman, they all coordinated beautifully with my ottoman fabric. I do seem to run in certain themes.

(Like probably a lot of THS-ers, I've kept the decorating magazines that inspired me 25 years ago, more or less pre-internet. And I bet if we could access my identity and photos from the early days of THS, we'd see a lot of consistency!)

I also think there is a lot of miles between the colorway of that paper and white, cream or beige tile. I still think most people are in bland cop-out mode.

Not tile, but color related. When I did my master bedroom 2 years ago my search for colorful inspiration photos yielded very little here on Houzz, everything was white/beige and so dull. When I would take my samples and swatches to a store/showroom the sales people would tell me how daring I was to go with real color! Recently color started showing up again in design publications, so we might see a change.

My bathrooms tiles are neutrals with interesting patterns, but I have lots of color in upholstery, drapes, rugs and art.

Went looking at tiles this afternoon, being in LA I have a large selection of very nice tile stores. Might have found a good candidate for my backsplash ... nothing like the photos I have been adding to my ideabooks. It can be customized, so I'll see if it can be tweaked to be "the one".

chispa From what I can tell, California seems to have abundant interesting tile choices compared to the east coast. I may need to take a tile-tourism vacation there. I even found a great tile company whose catalog tags all the interesting patterns as "stocked only in west"! I do see

On the plus side, I got a lot of support here especially in the decorating forum when I was looking at ideas for strong/deep blues in my bedroom. And six years later, blue and white seems to be co-leading the return of color to decorating magazines and blogs.

I'm lucky to have moral support from a decorator friend with the fantastic business name Bossy Color. :-)

If glazed ceramic tile is what you want, then leave the glass tiles alone for now. What is your tile budget in $/sf?

Pal, what bs do you have in your kitchen? Is it still a back-painted sheet glass that matches your wall color? I’m sure you gave your choice meticulous thought. Might someone else see that choice as “bland”? I don’t think you copped out. If I remember correctly, it was a perfect choice for the space.

I think people gravitate to neutrals because they are afraid of making mistakes, and in our ever more nomadic society, they have to consider re-sale, even in their “forever” homes. Would they be happier with a bold tile? Maybe, maybe not. Color fills a space, and that can be overwhelming for some. Keep in mind, most of us aren’t artists. That we choose not to duel with chartreuse and alizarin crimson is more blessing than curse.

House Vixen I forgot to say thank you for reminding me about Seneca and telling me about Busby Gilbert, which I hadn't known about.

Maddy, I certainly would have considered your designer friend if she was in this area. I have used some of the same fabrics she showed in her portfolio. You can't be afraid of color if she is going to help you out!

eam44 I'm at far too early a stage of imagining this kitchen into existence to have a broken-down budget, and there will be a LOT of factors – not least the horrors we find when we open the walls of the old house. However, for perspective: If I tiled the entire run of backsplash between counter and cabs, around all three sides of the kitchen, assuming 18" between counter and cabs, it would be 37.5 sf of tiled surface, plus ~4.5 sf max for the additional height between range and hood, for a total of 42 sf. A lot of the lines of tile that I'm looking at seem to be in the ~$30 range for field tile, which would make that area $1260 just for the tile. Add another ~$500 or so to do something ultra-special at twice the cost psf for the range backsplash and we're still under $2000. I'm comfortable with that – recognizing that it doesn't include labor and other ancillary costs, which would be part of a major, complex project. I figure if this whole project is motivated by my lust for tile, I'm willing to splash out. :-) I'm not a fancy-appliances gal.

Awesome! That gives us time and a wonderful array of beautiful, handmade tiles to consider.

I foresee months of happy tile-hunting ahead! ;-)

One advantage to a very small kitchen: not so much surface to cover.

If you want tile eye-candy then look at New Ravenna. Don't fall in love though because you are looking at $100/sq.ft as a starting price.
http://www.newravenna.com/

Pal, what bs do you have in your kitchen? Is it still a back-painted sheet glass that matches your wall color? I’m sure you gave your choice meticulous thought. Might someone else see that choice as “bland”? I don’t think you copped out. If I remember correctly, it was a perfect choice for the space.

They might see it as bland, but they would be missing the point. And actually I think a fair number of people disliked that kitchen anyway because it was the anti-kitchen in appearance. It was supposed to disappear.

That backsplash ended up being a nearly irreversible commitment to a specific color, Ocean Air by Benjamin Moore. The walls in the entire downstairs were Ocean Air, so the upper cabinets were Ocean Air (and any outlet on plaster was Lutron Palladium, another pale blue which was not a match but an okay blend).

So there were two essential choices for backsplash. It could have been soapstone like the counters, which were chosen to match the Nero Portoro fireplaces, as were the dark grey lower cabinets. (Or I could have gotten Nero Portoro I suppose), or the backsplash could match the upper cabinets were were the blue Ocean Air. So I went with the Ocean Air.

The safe choice, the non-committal choice all around would have been to make the cabinets the trim color, China white, so they didn't match the walls. Then if you wanted to repaint the walls, you wouldn't have to paint the cabinets. As it is now the backsplash would probably break if you took it down to strip it and repaint it.

So if complete commitment to a restricted color plan is "bland" so be it, but it's the opposite of choosing neutrals so you have flexibility, because it's the opposite of flexibility and requires a lot of discipline.

I no longer live in that house so I don't know what's happened since.

In my current house I am carrying this a bit further. The main bathroom has colored fixtures that match the colored tile and custom countertops, shelves recessed toilet paper holder, waste basket and cat tunnel all in Corian that matches the fixtures and the tile. It's bland, but it's a background for wallpaper. I am actually thinking of buying an extra colored toilet and storing it in the basement so I don't end up with a single white fixture in years to come.

If Kohler had not discontinued their real colors in 2012, The fixtures in that bathroom either would have been Innocent Blush (pink) or Skylight (blue).

So I am not against, plain, or bland or subtle or whatever you want to call it, but I am against non-committal.

chispa "New Ravenna" is quite a name for a tile company! Way to raise expectations – and they do not disappoint. Fortunately, I am ignoring glass, stone, and gold. ;-) But wow!

Update: Though I posted this basically to snark at myself, it's been a useful exercise. Thank you everybody! Things I'm realizing: despite my documented interest in colorful countertops, I am realizing that wood counters would be really fabulous with all the tile colors I'm considering. It really helps to lay out the palette and see it all in one place. (I'm also pruning my kitchen ideabook, because 240 pics is too many to make any sense of. If I can't remember why I saved something...)

maddy I apologize if it's too much of me here(too passionate about handmade tile and definitely get too giddy and talkative)..

just to add couple things I didn't know myself but found out the hard way..if you have the open edge somewhere in the kitchen where your backsplash will stop, take it into account-you'll need either trim pieces (which I like less) or tiles with glazed edges(which I like more) that will cost a bit more. Of course I found out all that mid installation because never thought to ask(and nobody thought to ask me either until installing). OK. Ordering tiles with glazed edges. Waiting. Tiles come. Then one tile guy is great and looks what he's doing. Another one is less pro, pays no attention, puts all my expensive extra-ordered glazed edge tile inside the backsplash..

(the wait for tiles is 5-6 weeks, unless a mistake of the company; then they really try to expedite everything)

also don't forget the shipping costs as these are really annoying.

on the other hand they do pack everything amazingly well. delivery is impeccable too.

depends on a store of course.

one small shop in San Diego-I was very pleased with them by the way-purely refused to ship, they preferred customers or their contractors to deal with all this shipping-delivery thing themselves

(that's how I know I have 40 sq feet of spare floor tile still waiting for me in sunny Sun Diego..or still in Mexico where they probably make the tile..))

and if you ever in California for a tile trip-don't forget to visit Mission Tile West..Their website is poorly designed and doesn't provide a true impression of what they carry and how it looks IRL, but their stores(a smaller family chain) is like a tile lovers Mecca

Thanks for the mention of New Ravenna. I've been smitten with their climbing vine backsplash for a long time, but never knew who made it. It wouldn't be appropriate for me and I couldn't afford it if it were, but it's nice to know where it came from.

April, good point about trim pieces. I learnt very quickly to look for those details. I don't like the Schluter trims and they seem like the easy/lazy way to fix a problem that wasn't a problem before. I always buy from lines that have trim pieces.

They know me by name at Mission Tile since I've been doing house projects for the last 7 years!

Writers, we can all appreciate their beautiful and creative tile designs. Amazing the products and materials that are available today in tile design.

Here are a few more tile companies that I came across during my showroom visits.
https://www.stoneimpressions.com/
http://akdo.com/

Amazing the products and materials that are available today in tile design.

Very true, but on the other hand, I yearn for this tile from an inexpensive idea for a fill-in-the-end-of-the-hall bath from a 1930 Standard Plumbing catalog, and can't even imagine what that tile would cost to duplicate today:

This image is from a DIY renovation using Fireclay Tile that the homeowners installed themselves. You can follow the link to their homepage where they discuss the process and the home renovation business they started from the experience. I love the tile, love the color - because it fits the space, elevates it, brings in beauty not for its own “look at me” sake, but the kind of beauty that helps you appreciate the wood veneer, the sliding doors, the whole enchilada, as it were.

@OneRidgeOff -- please share photos asap! I was knocked out by the 4 Seneca Studio in Waterlily samples I received...can't wait to see your 80 sf!

@oneridgeoff, gorgeous! I can't wait to see more pics and will definitely put them on my list to consider, esp for my bathroom where I will have more sf to cover. When I lived in OH, I was so happy to be able to use an OH tilemaker for my then-renovation — a maker now sadly defunct.

This is a weekends/DIY type of endeavor, so the big reveal won’t be this week. But here’s a work in progress shot- we plan to take it up to ceiling, around hood and window, this was just a good stopping point for a Sunday night. Then start the other wall to the left, not in frame. But we’re very happy with it so far, the shades of blue are even more vivid and saturated than an old cell phone camera can capture. Really complements the many tones of blue in the granite (Volga Blue). Now just have to figure out grout color, really like how it looks ungrouted, don’t want a high contrast look, maybe a medium gray?

Oh wow -- gorgeous in progress!

Your photo does a great job illustrating their glaze -- I find the "splatter" for lack of a better word different than most of the artisan companies. More like the encaustic fireplace tiles of yore (the ones with the blobs of color ((technical term)).

Yes to a medium or dark grey grout!

eam44: back again to your question about where I envision decorative tiles going. I was browsing for tile samples and happened across this picture, which is a good image for what I'd had in mind – a band of decorative tiles used with a field tile that picks up one of the main colors. This kitchen doesn't have upper cabs, and precise placement would be tbd, but this jumped out at me because it was exactly the kind of thing I'd been picturing and it's one of the few pics I've seen that has a fairly substantial band of decorative tiles in a context of white + a saturated field tile color.

OneRidgeOff - I have had volga blue in my kitchen for 20 years - it's a VERY fun granite and you will never tire of it. The colors and fish eyes are so interesting.

Your tile choice with it is AWESOME - I should change mine out!

sorry for the late followup, had a hard time finding the thread - even though I go through the ths.gardenweb links, I'm getting the new-not improved format of Kitchens, with too many other random posts thrown in - is it just me?

Thanks jannicone - I adore my counters, its like a daily treasure hunt, finding new inclusions depending on angles and lighting and time of day.

Anyway, didn't want to totally hijack your thread Maddybeagle - I really like your last inspiration shot, blue with the patterned tile, reminds me of Polish pottery. When I did a Google image search for "Polish pottery tile", I got some very beautiful tiles come up. This is how I found my tile. I live in a rural area without tile showcases less than 2 hours away, so lots of google image searching worked for me. My only other advice is, I don't think you'll regret going bold and colorful, it truly makes my kitchen a happier place for me to work in! My previous house I did a minor kitchen facelift, went very neutral with beige travertine backsplash, as we knew we'd be transferred out before too long. It was generally appealing for resale, but oh was it boring. We are now in our 10 years plus location, so this time, this kitchen renovation is all about what WE want and love. Go for something WOW!

Thanks, OneRidgeOff, and no problem about hijacking! It's really helpful to see Polish pottery is a great idea to explore. I have a Polish pottery soapdish of which I'm very fond.

This post resurfaced in my feed this morning because of a new “like” (thank you!) and I realized I never posted a follow up. We were definitely on the slow track for the kitchen Reno, but now all the chaos is a distant memory. It took us several months to pick the final choice, paint color, and get on our busy painters schedule.

We still love our vibrant blue backsplash and zero regrets about going with what we love. Maddybeagle and any others reading, if you know you love bold and beautiful, go for it! I’d be interested to see what direction you went, Maddy.

Heres mine:

Stunning One Ridge. Can I ask the cost of the tile? thanks

I pulled out my invoice and in late summer 2017 it was $18 per square foot, (2 1/2 x 8 brick) and in stock so it was delivered to my door in less than a week. This is called the Seneca Studio line and comes in other colors too. My first choice was a similar Fireclay company tile, but the order time of 4-8 weeks had me look for other options; fireclay cost more as well.

Ooh-la-la! I'm smitten!

OneRidgeOff thanks! I'm still planning. The scope of the project has, predictably, expanded, partly for because the need to make the house more senior-friendly has become more pressing, so I am making plans for back entrance and bathroom remodels at the same time. Updates as they occur!

I well understand “expanded timeline” and “project creep”. We moved in 3 years ago, lived with the many issues in the original 1982 kitchen, contemplated a facelift, but ultimately decided to blow it all up and start from scratch, and why not improve the kitchen adjacent areas- laundry, foyer, powder room- while we’re at it. Planning/dreaming stage was about two years! But the end result was far better for the extended planning and dreaming. So I often join in the gardenweb chorus of “don’t start the reno right away”, when people post about kitchen reno before even moving in. Looking back now, it was well worth the timeline expansion.

OneRidgeOff Yup – I've been in my house seven years. Some of my thoughts about what I want to change date from the very first time I saw the house, but other priorities have shifted as I've actually lived in it, and started to age in it. And the planning and dreaming part is the most fun, so I wouldn't want to cut that short!

Absolutely gorgeous OneRidge. So wonderful to see COLOR too!

Thanks cpartist, coming from a Kitchen Goddess such as yourself is high praise indeed :)

I'm really getting tired of people scaring off folks embracing color. My colorful tile and granite bring me much joy!

People like white on white, not because it's pretty but because it's inoffensive and makes it easier to sell the house to the next owner. It's quite literally a blank slate.

If you actually plan on living in the place, go for bold colors. Much prettier

That blue Seneca tile is beyond gorgeous! We are going with Calacatta Gold subways for our kitchen backsplash, but I am dying to go with a handmade ceramic on my fireplace or possibly my bathroom backsplash or SOMEWHERE in my house or patio ;)

Thank you so much for sharing the photos of your beautiful kitchen.

I also love color. If it were only up to me I would pick a beautiful Talavera/Mexican type of tile or one of the cool ceramic tiles that we see so much of nowadays. They are very popular here in California. My husband is much more conservative, so finding a compromise can be challenging. I love that that there are so many choices so everyone can have what she/he enjoys.