Thanks, alku05 and bill for the clarification. I have been reading up more on through body porcelain and I guess its not really what we want for the wall. One more q-is glazed ceramic ok for shower wall? It turns out that the Keraben tile we picked is a glazed ceramic tile(NOT porcelain as the tile shop said) and the technical data says that the water absorption is greater than 10%. Wouldn't such high water absorption rate make it bad for showers? The other tile we were considering is a Florida Renaissance tile that is also a glazed ceramic. I can't find the water absorption rate listed anywhere for that. So the basic question is can a glazed ceramic tile be used for walls? Thank you for any input-I am going crazy trying to sort through the terminology here. Vinaya

There was a problem a few years back with a spray sealer from Tile Perfect being sold thru Home Depot. Even before an health problems surfaced, I wasn't crazy about the idea of a spray sealer for a couple of reasons. First, they say you can get it on the tile-- it doesn't hurt it, that it evaporates off. If that's the case, then how can it evaporate off the tile, and not the grout? Secondly, like Jayco, I didn't care for the idea of breathing that crap. I didn't need almost 70 people to go to the hospital, and two to die before I realised it wasn't a good thing. Now, for legality sake, I have to add that those people allegedly went to the hospital because of a chemical that was added to the sealer and shouldn't have. But there are enough other chemicals in them to still make me personally shy away from them.

@JuneKnow interesting tip on dipping the tile. How long do you let the seal dry? They don't stick to the paper when stacked?

Thank you for all the replies. Vinyl rugs are not something I was aware of. Good to know about them. However, they are not an inexpensive option. I am going to decorate my entire house back (put the pictures and decorations up) and see how I feel about the kitchen tiles. I did create a backup plan. I identified another tile and LVT that I like. I also found somebody who will demolish and replace my tiles for $1000. In Bay Area that is a good price. I will keep looking for a better deal and until then give the current tiles a chance. In the hindsight, I would have chosen an absolutely plain countertop so that the Grey color was something I would need to factor in the floor. Also colors go-in and out of fashion. Learned an important lesson.