First...to Jterrilynn....an apology for repeatedly misspelling your name. KK, I did not tape up the tile. They are so heavy and so expensive! I am really afraid one will break. I ordered extras, but not with the extra course under the windows in mind. So, I did a mock-up using paper and it looks darn good when I squint my eyes to get a sense of what it will look like. Circuspeanut, thanks so much for that picture! That says it all! At first I thought, "yeah, but her counter matches the window trim." Then I realized mine does, too. doh (Are you a her, btw?) Thanks for cheering us on, davidro! Blfenton, I plan to take this all one step at a time. I won't paint the window trim unless I really need to. I still think the uppers could benefit from paint and the truth is I always wanted a painted kitchen but my builder didn't offer it. I just ordered the espresso (almost three years ago now!) and figured I could paint later if I wanted to. The tile is two colors which, in combination, look like a third color somewhere in the middle. So I will probably use one of the two actual colors, so there will be some variation from the visual blending of the two. (Did that make any sense at all?!) Anyway, I need the tile on the wall before I get too crazy picking colors. The tile will run under the cabs on the L side of the kitchen. The opposite (fridge) wall will just be paint. The tile will end at the lower edge of the hood. I will remove the apron from both windows. Like you, I want the easy clean-up. Thanks for all your input!

Looks great! I am the worst at picking tile and I think they all look great so go with your gut... I did the white on white look and it was so white I ended up doing grey grout to balance it out. I think a grey tile probably would have balanced the counter better but I fell in love with that white herringbone I ended up doing. I also picked a matte tile and kind of wish I had picked something with a glossier finish for some more sparkle. Your choices look like they will do that and have more dimension. Good luck!

@diane7151 Thank you! We actually just went with the stock white through the semi-custom cabinet manufacturer, there was a warm white (too creamy) and ice type white, I wanted it crisp and didn't have a need for a custom white because the ice white sample looked good with all of our other swatches. The wall color is BM Pale Oak, with bright white trim, which helps the cabinets pop. I do think a custom paint job can provide a yummier texture and finish, just something I've thought about after the fact because we have a custom vanity in our master that seems smoother, but it's a rich blue gray which might be why it feels more luxurious? With white kitchen cabinets and two hound dogs...I'm sure the cabinets will need to be repainted at some point anyway LOL, so we'll see if a custom white feels any different.

I'm cross posting this to "Paint" to get more opinions on the idea of painting the window trip glossy Clear Skies (BM) vs. keeping it white (to match the cabinets).