I'm not sure how I came across this post, I think it was displayed on the right side and I clicked on it being intrigued by the tile making. I was at one time interested in working with papercrete and hypertufa. But after enlisting my brother, who wasn't as enthusiastic, and my niece, who poured cement down my laundry room sink, which original to the house had lasted 70 years, and ruining three blenders, my interest waned. True to form, if I come upon difficulty in a project, I think of it as a sign for me not to continue. And really, after all these years of trying various crafts that result in crap, I should know better. I also should have known better than to ask my brother, who always says it can't be done to any of my unique design ideas. And I should have known better than to ask my niece, who once stayed up all night before having to drive to LA for an art show, cutting mat after mat after measuring once, twice, sometimes ten times, but always coming out with the wrong size. I think we both have math dyslexia. I should video us trying anything crafty to see where we go wrong. I think both of us having ADHD might have something to do with it. Sorry for the backstory and run on sentences. So, I just wanted to see if you continued with your venture. And to say sorry for whatever tragedy occurred to cause you to have to move to Florida. Not that there is anything wrong with Florida, but it isn't Panama. Which is one of my favorite places in the western hemisphere. I hope no one is upset that I brought up a seven year old post.

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.

It depends on a couple of things - your personal taste and your intentions for the home. Backsplash can be tricky - depending on what you put in, it could become outdated and make it harder to sell if that is your intent. On the flip side, if this is a home you are in for the long haul, do what makes your eyes happy! The great thing is you could start off without it and add it in after. You could go to a Lowes to pick up a couple sheets of their peel and stick backsplash just to get an idea of how it will look. Hope that helps! ~Rachel www.homesweethomestore.com

I say tile first then shelving. Should be able to install the brackets/anchors when tiling. That is what I did with my tile work in my master bath for the mirrors. That is what I have seen done by tilers doing work for me as well. Cabinet maker likely does not want to deal with cracking any tiles /drilling into tiles is my guess.