didn't have time to read all the answers. I have no backsplash and have never regretted it...been over 6 yrs. It is painted with BM matte...which has ceramic in it. It is as beautiful now as it was when first painted. I love the fact that I can showcase other things ...art etc in my kitchen and no competition. Also if I ever want to change it is as quick as a paint brush...expense is minimal..paint only ! All in all I think it is serene as you point out . Here is one pick. Since I have a lot of high heat cooking in my kitchen..built in deep fat fryer as well as gas cook top I can definitely speak to the longevity of paint only. c ( more at this album )

Have you considered wallpaper? You can bring in color, as well as a design, if that's your 'schtick'. Just throwing another consideration in the mix. I personally *hate* a backsplast covered in tile or granite from countertop to bottom of cabinets, or even further up. I've gone *about* 3/4 up the wall, with the remained just the neutral color thruout the rest of my home, but only on the interior cabs, so above the stove and sink areas. On the perimeter bank of cabinets, it's just a painted wall, where I had planned to use wallpaper, but haven't done so yet. I also picked up at an auction a painted canvass, which is long and narrow, and thought of using it here. It's a vintage French scene of a girl feeding chickens in a barn, done in dark colors, which is my preference. I just don't want to leave it should I sell. ;)

So we finally decided and the tile went up earlier this week. We are living about 40 minutes away from the house right now, I stopped by the house last evening. We ended up using the suggestion of taping up paper with pictures of the tile - thank you for that suggestion!!! I tried to do photoshop, but I wasn't doing a great job. Seeing it in person helped. We ended up tiling the area above the range and then the 18 inch area between the uppers and counter. In the open shelf area the 18 inches below the lowest shelf are tile, but then above the shelves is paint. Sorry for the poor quality cell phone pictures. It was dusk and the electricity wasn't on. I was also holding my 1 year old at the time.

mayflowers: point well taken. Thank you. On the glass front cabinets... ugh. There's another issue. This kitchen and butler's pantry have too many. I am considering replacing some with regular doors. These might be lovely for someone with loads of things to display, but that's not really me. I have wonderful pieces in the formal dining room in two built in cabinets, a breakfront, and a curio... but not a lot of cool stuff to display in the kitchen, and - honestly - I don't feel like buying pieces just to fill them. Having said that, I'll probably leave the glass fronts on the hood wall for that zing factor... but replace some of the others. So, what do you think of the idea of running the TM for the bs?