Thanks everyone. I'm all smiley and giddy hearing your kind comments. It melts me heart. I'm glad to hear people like the backsplash tile. It is pretty bold. I was also THRILLED with how the stain on the island turned out. Interestingly, lots of people say the kitchen has a peaceful look and feel to it and that wasn't necessarily something I was aiming for but my kitchen mission statement did include "casual but sophisticated/elegant" which might boil down to "peaceful or tranquil". We feel very blessed to have been able to do such a large scale kitchen remodel and are thrilled with how everything turned out. It also means we won't be moving for the next 15+ years! I can't wait until the bar stools are in and I can start serving snacks to my kids there. We are borrowing one bar stool right now and it gets a lot of use. clarygrace and others - I'm glad to hear you think the colors are coordinate b/c I was in a quandary about that at one point. I can't wait to see your kitchen and island. We love the shape of ours but did it b/c it worked within our constraints. We didn't want to mess with the existing deck outside the bay windows and we couldn't push right much more either b/c of the powder room. And speaking of the powder room - here are pictures of that which was also part of this remodel: tea4all - the pantry is pretty small as far as walk-in pantries go. Finished dimensions are 5.5' long by 46'' wide. We weren't originally going to do a pantry but it made sense with the rest of the layout (it brought the oven closer to the rest of the kitchen) and I am really glad we did! It was actually framed larger and had to be redone b/c large aisles were more important to me than a few more inches in the pantry. The other detail I forgot to include - the grout color on the backsplash is Custom Grout Light Smoke and on the floor it is Lacrete Parchment (just in case someone really wants to know - ha!)

Thanks all for the compliments...camarogranny--interesting ideas about the glass mosaics, and positano, I love the crackle tile too, so I'll keep that in mind. I may post a follow up of some finalists and see what people think. Does anyone have an opinion about the 4" backsplash? Keep it? The lighting, which I feared would be way too big when it arrived, but which everyone seems to think are great (whew!), are from Troy Lighting, "Maidstone" is the style pendant. Found them on line. And Positano, I was so close to getting Costa Esmeralda too--it's a beautiful stone. I made the roman shades in the dining room--if you sew, it's not an advanced project (I really only do remedial sewing) but I now need more shades for the kitchen and I may do what you were thinking too--just add the ribbon. Doesn't sound like there are too many strong opinions about whether to keep the mirrors or the backsplash--my pictures may have been a little far off too. Here are a few tiles I've been staring at! Thanks again people...such fun to get all these opinions! Here is a link that might be useful: pics of tile ideas...

35ftcabo, glad to hear other people like this idea! I am having such a hard time finding pictures where people have done this. It's always one or the other. If anyone has pictures of a sheet of glass behind the range with another material next to it I would love to see. I have seen pictures where people tile all around but do stainless behind the range. Just not on love with the way stainless scratches. The frame idea sounds interesting. Thanks!

If your choice were only between to 2 you originally posted, I'd choose the one on the right--the cream one. From the photos it looks like it works very well with your quartzite. The gray one is "off" just enough not to look pleasing. However, as many have noted, either one is more difficult to clean than a smooth surface. What sort of cook are you--very neat or more devil-may-care? If you are very neat and do not splash much when you cook, then you may get away with the split-faced marble, but if you are a more exuberant cook, you may find it a challenge to clean. The mother of pearl is very formal and quite busy, so it's going to compete with the counter tops as well. Personally, I would use a smooth crackle tile in a tan/beige tone to work with your quartzite. Simple is always good.