i like what fern4 posted. it makes the subway tile a little more interesting. i still stand by my basketweave!!!! i think you need to decide how unique you want to make your kitchen. the subway tile (or marble subways which would be nice) will certainly look great and will be the classic white kitchen. if you want that look, than go for the subways. i liked the basketweave because it is still traditional but it is something you don't see often. i also don't think it will be too busy.....mine isnt' busy at all and it is not busier than the minibricks or glass mosaics out there. have you seen vic's kitchen..... white cabinets, costa esmerelda countertops (same as my kitchen) but she chose a terracotta patterned tile. i love how it makes her kitchen "hers"...... and it looks totally different than mine. i would say decide what look you are going for, and then make your decision, because all of the ideas sound great....it's just what you want the feel to be.....

Yes. People do tile only one wall and it can look great. That wall is more often than not the stove wall, although people are getting awfully sink-proud these days too. It sounds like one looks into your kitchen perhaps diagonally toward the log wall and straight-on toward the stove--?? Since you have logs all around your home, does your design lend itself to making your one wall an attractive focus in this area, letting the logs just be background? Or would it be best to allow the eye to just benignly skim over this area and move on? One entire wall laid out specifically to create a good picture can look fantastic. If you can't imagine that wall featured in a magazine or at least copied by your friends no matter what you do with it, though, you might just do a quiet tile or other backsplash, that, as you say, blends with the rest of the background.

Ack, sorry again for my very delayed reply. As usual, LIFE got in the way - how annoying! ;) rebunky: I was so disappointed by how pricey the Calacatta tiles were that I didn't even want to take photos of them! Wow - I didn't know that $20/sq ft was on the low end for Calacatta. I think that nixes it for me then. :( namarie: I know your kitchen so well! ;) I didn't realize your tiles were Calacatta Gold - I always thought that CG had more brown tones than grey? I did some Googling and I see lots of tiles with the same colours as your tiles so it looks like I assumed wrong! I think your choice to do tile with very narrow grout lines makes for a nearly-slab-like look! I'd love to get the slab look too but it is WAY too pricey, and I wonder how the heck to remove a slab BS should I ever tire of it?? Kitchen Magic: I did really like the look of some mini bricks I saw at the tile stores I visited. I like how the ones like in your photo have muted colours so it gives me a multi coloured backsplash without being too busy. cpartist: how gorgeous are those cement tiles?? I've never seen cement tiles before and it looks like the design possibilities are endless, if you get them with some graphic design printed on. smm5525: Good idea. I will do that instead of dragging all of you along with me as I think aloud!! Sorry for that... I just really love to see all the different ideas you all share! mayflowers: Hmm... I agree that I can't have both the BS and the counters look busy. The London Grey is staying so I think I'll be going with a solid BS for most of the kitchen... but I'll still consider putting in a more "busy" mosaic tile somewhere, most likely in the hutch area. :) barncatz: I agree - I love the tiles everyone's shared! It helps me figure out and narrow down what I want for my BS tile.

Well Mitchell, I think your kitchen and home are lovely. Your floors are really cool too! I know the mosaic is bugging you, and it probably would me too, however, it is still very pretty and will probably never be given a second thought by anyone but you and your fiancee. And like a few suggested, once you accessorize, get your hardware in, etc...it's not going to be such a focal point to you like it is now. So, if it turns out not to be such an easy fix, please don't stress about it. Your home is gorgeous! I'm a Texan too, going through a Harvey remodel, so maybe I've just finally learned to not sweat the small stuff with all this house business...as a matter of fact, I've got some "TX hacks" working downstairs in my kitchen right now. ;) Congratulations on your beautiful new home.