Never fear - if you love it, that's all that matters. It took 5 years to decide what I wanted (& could afford) for a backsplash & then it hit me: If I use copper on my bs, stainless will be perfect behind the stove. Materials for both are not overly expensive (I have a very small bs) & I can do the installation so overall cost is low & the look goes with anything (& looks like it cost a lot more than it did!). And it's timeless - & easy to care for. You're gonna love it. Hester

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 can't figure out how to copy and paste on the iPad, it just takes me back to this thread so I can't see exactly which pattern. But anyway, there is probably a prefabricated tile you can use. You can probably find them for less somewhere, but these are pretty reasonable when you consider how long it will take to cut all those tiles and smooth the edges. Here is a link that might be useful: SS tiles

Posted by budgeteer_s (My Page) on Wed, Dec 31, 08 at 18:18 Thanks for all your suggestions. I wanted so much to follow with ci_lantro's suggestion because then I'm done. I'll gladly let you snatch that paint brush out of my hand. ha ha. But at the same time if a little tiling will tie up the project, then I'm game. jodi_socal: I'm a little disappointed when you said fire and ice won't work. I just LOVE that F&I BS. But then agin, I think I know all along it's a little too much for my kitchen. Caryscott & petra: Thanks for the picture petra, it says a thousand words. Is spectralight glass tiles? Prices are pretty reasonable. What about that milk green color? will it work? maybe with some garnet pieces sparingly mixed in. I will take some pictures and post two HD Behr's paint card to aid in the discussion of color. Thanks again ALL! Correction: My tiles were Alfagres: Gema4x4: different from what caryscott posted: I loved what caryscott linked: