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Design Dilemma Kitchens

Looking for ideas for floor and backsplash tile selection

4 years ago

Hello,

We are in the process of kitchen reno, and are having a difficult time to decide on the type/style/color/finish of the tile for the floor and backsplash. We're going to have shaker doors, with base cabinets dark grey and wall cabinets off-white finish as pictured. Also, including the picture of the countertop. The kitchen area is next to the white oak (natural finish) parquet floors.

Please assist!

Thanks,

Alex

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Comments (4)

herbflavor
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
natural white oak would say a slight "cool" tone or "neutral " as far as adjacent floor. that leaves you w many nice tiles to pick from . You might then go ahead and look for the appropriate backsplash as that can be rather involved. Can't comment totally but the counter you picked looks perhaps too "cool" toned for cabinet color...just not sure. Is the counter a determined element by now? Counter and backsplash picking is best as a coordinated scheme. If you picked a rather standard grayish to taupe shade floor tile you could notch the counter to a little warmer to work with the paint cabinets shading. these are "shifts" in tone that can make a difference. Again...in your lighting you have the most knowledge.
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Alexander thanked herbflavor
Gcubed
4 years ago
It sounds like you have a nice vision. But I too think the counter is too cool/white for your cabinets. Have you taken a slab sample to your home or in person with the cabinets? I think best to pick backsplash last- more choices and easiest and probably least expensive to change. Floor tiles will need to blend more with your cabinets and adjacent floor- will need to be a bit more on warm side I think.
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I agree with lukkiirish - in general, you would choose your cabinet/cabinet finish prior to the countertop prior since it is such a predominant element in your kitchen. That being said, that's not a hard and fast rule (I, for example, chose my backsplash first then found a granite to complement it which is not normally done. In my case, I knew my backsplash wall was going to be a THE focal point of my kitchen, so it was more important for the tile to be *the one*). If you love the Mombasa and want to design around it, I think it's critical you get a sample so that you can put a "design board" together of all the elements in your kitchen. My friend is a KD, and she had previously given me this (great) advice: "I think the most important factors are: color of wood, color of painted walls, color of counters, and amount and quality of natural light in the room. If you put a 'design board' together of all the elements then the right tile choice will probably just jump out at you." So while you can get very good suggestions about x tile going with y granite and z floor tile that all work beautifully together, it still might not be *right* for your kitchen. BTW, the reason this post caught my eye is that I originally was going to use Mombasa granite (see this link for pictures of the Mombasa in context of my tile choice, Lunada Bay Sumi-E). I ended up not using Mombasa because I couldn't source slabs of Mombasa that worked for my kitchen. My kitchen is very dark, so I needed lighter, greener slabs of Mombasa, and all I could find were the darker, browner slabs. While they were still pretty and went with my tile, it didn't work in the context of my kitchen. HTH!
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lmao. what Jan said! Although, I had to help out my guys who did my herringbone wood floor. it's the starting point where everyone gets messed up. after that, it's simple. Look up how to properly start a herringbone layout and read it. you need to use a speed square at the end of your tile in order to get the proper middle starting point. much easier to illustrate than trying to write it out here. This is how I showed my guys how to start it. see the blue tape w/the two lines? you have to start on the middle after you mark your corner. that's the only way you will get perfect even cuts on both ends. this is how most do it, and it's not correct IF you want perfectly symmetrical left/right borders. All he's done is set the corner of the tile on the line. doing it like this will leave you w/one side smaller than the other: see how the sides of the window don't match? this is what you don't want. your tile guy should be doing a dry layout in order to determine where he starts so he doesn't get this look or these tiny triangles. Again,,,see how the ends don't match below? the right has longer tiles than the left edge. that's because of the way he started his first tile. And don't do these vertical tiles for your edging. get proper bullnose tiles, pencil liner or a Schluter edge. This is a layout board of my herringbone for my shower. took a few hours in order to get this almost perfect. since this was an odd size, and the tiles were even at 3x12, it couldn't be perfect. the right bottom corner triangle is the only portion that doesn't match. luckily, it's not readily visible! Even the subway tiles are perfectly matched. this layout took hours to get exact, even around the niche. 2x6your 3x9 will be 1/3 larger. 3x9 is a good size for a backsplash. this is a regular 3x6. again, a 3x9 will give you 1/3 longer.
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felizlady
4 years ago
Dark gray does not really work with a cream color, so your cabinet color mix is in conflict. Cream color does not really work with white white, so your cream upper cabinets will look odd above white counters.
You may want to reconsider your choices. While you are rethinking colors, you may find inspiration in counter material or in fabric which may be included in your kitchen.
If you first select a counter material with two or three colors in it, those colors can become your color palette...paint, cabinetry and flooring colors can be matched to the counter material.
If you will want window treatments or seat cushions in your kitchen area, first selecting a fabric can serve as the inspiration for your color choices. A patterned fabric will suggest colors for your counters, flooring, cabinetry and walls, and will be unified by your fabric .
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Alexander thanked felizlady
Alexander
Original Author
4 years ago
Thank you for your feedback!!

We did see the stone sample next to both base and upper cabinet finish and thought it looked good. In my view, it creates a nice transition from the darker base color to the lighter upper color (i.e. veining in the quartz "matches" the base, while the light portion of the quartz ties in to the uppers). We placed the cabinetry order, but haven't ordered the quartz yet.
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