yep that's my kitchen. Sorry it's not in your budget, but gpraceman does have a good idea about granite tiles. I have seen these used in place of granite slabs for the counter, when a budget dictated it. "To Me", they did not look that bad. I had to redo the area of the granite where the cook top is, due to a bad choice I made about cooktops, a 36" semi-circle Caldera. It died in about a year and the company went broke, so I had to replace it with a rectangular induction cooktop, Hence the granite rework. Well I could find Granite remnants (Arandis Gold) for next to nothing, (I paid about $75 for a little less than a half slab. So you may be able to do that too, and then have it cut to sizes you want for the tile, myself, the bigger the better, and the less grout lines. Thanks for your kind words about my kitchen, it is pretty unique, and as we tell folks here, Do what makes you happy, after all, it's your kitchen. For those of you that do like tiles and grout, that's great, as long as it's what you want, and you're not following others or doing what you "Think", might help sell the house later. Gary

I know! I know! Okay, I don't know the person or the kitchen, but I was just in HD today and saw this tile (mesh backing) backsplash. HD has 6 sample tile backsplashes to go with the four most popular granites. This one is paired with Uba Tuba, which is what I think is in the pic.

Ooooh, you have me a little worried. I am planning a white on white kitchen...but back to the topic at hand. No I definitely don't think a lip of a backsplash is at all unfinished. In fact, i think most houses just have a lip? I wonder if the wall of a BS is a new thing. In fact i just took a quick look at property listings (no I am not a realtor, haha) and the 3 houses I clicked on (close to a million$) all had a lip of a backsplash. I think it is personal preference. And your right it is a dust catcher=). but better to have dust than me rub off my wall every time I wipe my counters down. (good paint may well solve that dilemma) but I do think that it looks naked with nothing. We cook alot ( and I am messy) so I have to have something behind my stove...and personally i do like the full wall of backsplash. If you have soapstone, that may break up the white enough to not make it so stark. You could possibly consider the lip of soapstone and then tile above that....? Best of luck

Slabs differ to some extent, so if you've chosen yours, perhaps you can post an image of it, and your wall color. Also, it would help to know what kind of feeling you want in your kitchen - contemporary, traditional, modern, etc... But New Venetian Gold has lots of earth tones in it that allow it to coordinate well with many materials, and while it has a lot of speckles, they're pretty small, giving the stone a greater uniformity of color overall than many granites. The top image is a slab view, with progressive magnification. With white cabs and black appliances, you might want to consider a cool brown or a warm grey color tile. If you like the subway look but want to keep it modern, play with the tile size. Fireclay Crush glass tile in 2" x 8" format, or in a smaller mosaic sheet, in gloss Camelia or Willow, for example: Here is a link that might be useful: Fireclay Crush