Pictures?

Anglophilia, I'm planning to write a post asking for advice about my options very soon. I have a couple of tile samples coming that I want to commune with before I ask the garden web community. For now, I'm just hoping to see relevant examples of what others have done with dark backsplashes. Thanks. I'll be eager to hear your thoughts on my ideas soon.

Don't do it!

When we bought our current house it had dark counters and dark backsplash with medium stained cabinets. The dark backsplash created a dark hole effect and made the whole kitchen look dark, even with good lighting and a large skylight.

Remodeled kitchen has dark stained cabinets, light counters and a very light backsplash and the difference is amazing. The biggest difference is due to the light backsplash.

chispa, that's my concern. Our kitchen was very dark when we bought the house. We added two skylights (game changers!) and I just replaced shiny black granite counters. The last thing I want to do is to create a new dark hole effect with my backsplash. But at the same time, if done right couldn't it look amazing?

I still say don't do it!!! :-)

Did you search on Houzz photos? I searched for "matte charcoal backsplash" in Kitchen Photos.

Here are some of the ones I came across. Personally I don't think that color backsplash looks good or is a design feature. I thought most of the kitchens that made that choice were a bit odd looking and failed with the overall look.

Another one. This kitchen could have been amazing with the right countertop and backsplash. A dark Tudor made even darker and now also drab.

chispa, I've searched on Pinterest, but hadn't yet looked at the Houzz photos. I agree with you on most of the examples you posted above. Take another look at the photo about halfway down with the pepper mills on the shelf though...you don't like that one? That's similar to the intensity of the tile I'm considering.

Let me see if I can link photos of some of the examples I found and liked on Pinterest...OK, I'm not having much luck with that. Here's one I was able to link. Similar color to my cabinets, and about the same intensity of gray tile.

Beautiful Karen Rose! I especially like it with the under counter lighting turned on.

A while back I was looking online about ideas to tone down wood with orange undertones. That's where I got the idea of a darkish saturated gray. I don't see a ton of examples though, so maybe that tells me something. I was able to find a couple more photos I like fairly well on Houzz:

You could always get some paint the same color as the backsplash you are thinking of. Paint the backsplash that color and see how you like it. I really love dark colors but I hate my honey oak cabinets. I tried painting a grey backsplash once to see how it would look with the cabinets. It looked horrible.

I love a few of the examples posted above.

Karen Rose - your kitchen is lovely. It is shocking how different it looks in those two photos.

Arlosmom, I agree that the pepper mill one is the best one. I think because of the stainless steel counters, modern simple and lighter stained cabinets and the fact that the tile is a mosaic with lots of light gray grout.

Karen did a great job with her kitchen, but if I bought that house I would be ripping out that backsplash before I unpacked my kitchen boxes! I can appreciate the design, but could not live with it. I just find the dark backsplashes depressing.

Haha, that "pepper mill" one was one of my favorite kitchens for years. But for our house, I wanted the wood floor of the house to continue into the new kitchen, so we went with high gloss white cabs. We painted one wall in super flat charcoal to see if we would like it. And we do. A lot. So no tile as of yet and maybe never, as I really like to see my daily used items on the open shelf pop in front of just paint, vs. seeing tile behind. Any splashes wash off cleanly without any damage to the paint. Good thing that flat latex paints have come a long way since I last used them years ago.

As suggested above, paint before buying tile and you'll soon know if matte charcoal will work with the douglas fir cabs. (Make sure you install really good UC lighting!)

So I don't have wood fronts, but here is a pic of my kitchen anyway: it's still not quite finished, the steel bs missing behind the cooktop.

ilikefriday, that's an excellent suggestion. I'll head to the paint store with the tile I'm considering and see how closely I can match it. I'll probably do my trial run on poster boards rather than directly on the walls...that'll work, right?

pippabean, I LOVE your charcoal wall. I also like how streamlined and open your kitchen is. Really pretty.

karen rose, I'm waiting to see if I have to fight for my desired backsplash once I make up my mind. So far, my husband is keeping pretty quiet with his opinions but I'm sure he has some, lol.

Thanks all! I'd still love to see more examples if you come across them. I'll post my kitchen and my initial options soon and I hope you'll give me feedback.

I found some really high-end modern European kitchens that I really like:

Oh wow, those are gorgeous!! The clean lines and simplicity make my heart swoon. I'd love if my wood was that color.

I went today and got a quart of paint that mimics the graphite gray tile I've been admiring. I'm going to paint a faux backsplash on poster board and live with it for a while.

KR. Your kitchen is lovely! Can you tell
me the gray tile details? Ps I cant get over how black they look in the one picture!