I like them. Though I do agree with you, that if you were Samantha and could twitch your nose to do a redo, I'd match the grout colour to the tiles. But, I would definitely not do it over now! Linelle is right, and as others have pointed out, once the niches are jam-packed you won't give it another thought! You have no idea how much work and how much I fussed over the mosaic limestone back to my niche. Can barely even see it. In fact my sister just saw it for the first time, and as she has JUST finished re-tiling her BR by herself, she was totally closely inspecting ours. I don't think she even noticed the limestone in the niche.

Yes, I had the same thing happen to me in one corner, my granite was not right up againest the wall so my tile installer said I couldn't use my beveled subway tile, there would have been no countertop under some tile. I called the fabricator, who cut a piece of granite 1/2 inch by 10 inches, it was glued to the countertop, using a cotraption my contractor made up, (looked a bit like a sling, so that it could be held up when it was glued to the countertop, think it was made from aluminum, the granite was glued to the countertop, while the aluminum was I think glued to the wall. It is in the corner, but even when I look close I can't detect it. I have my beveled subway BS, and I love it! There were a couple of days before they figured out what to do when they were all blaming eacy other for the problem one suggested the tile installer put more glue on the tiles to "bring out the wall", I said NO, another suggestion was to "stuff a sponge so that there was something to build up the area so the tile could rest on it, I said no to that one too, imagining mold forming under my countertop. So, my suggestion is to get the fabricator involved, it is his responsibility since he did the temp plate and should have aloted for an uneven wall if that is the problem. oh, the best was when someone blamed me for picking a "tile that was not thick enough...because if I picked a thicker tile there would have been no problem". So my suggestion is for you to tell them you have your heart set on this tile, have your tile installer, and contractor call the fabricator, and you too speak to the fabricator, tell him how much you love your countertops, and want this BS to finish your kitchen off. There is a way around this, I wish I had a picture to send you of the sling type contraption my contractor made to put the granite in, but am sure someone else can figure this out too. Good luck and I hope you get to use the tile you want!

Ok, so now I have even more options.... Perhaps too many. Here are some of the things I found. I already ruled out a certain Ann Sacks tile... Did you know they make a glass tile that is platinum plated on the back side... No lie. I didn't even find out the price because she said it was much more than the stained glass mosaics at $275. It was beautiful, but really? These are three artistic tile choices... . I like the one on the right the best. Here it is in larger scale. I would only use it as an accent over the cooktop. Here it is in a larger piece. And the flowery one more large scale. But I would use more of the smoke color tile as shown in the small sample. The remainder of the backsplash would be a smoke field tile. Another pic I found of same tile. Here is one with a less frilly look. I like the Celtic knot thing it would have with several put together. It is available in any color finish. I would do a light gray. This one seems very modern in this pic, but I think it might work well in the space. We have a stone fireplace on the opposite side of the family room, and this sort of echoes the color and texture of the stone. Quilted diamonds... Iridescent glass... And lastly, this is a beaut!

Oh Thanks everybody. We are over the moon with how everything has turned out. Your compliments are greatly appreciated and humbling. I'll try to answer your questions: "every morning when you walk into it? I would stand there in my jammies with my coffee and just stare at it!" -yes ginabmg, I do exactly that! I look at the light coming in, etc. My family is wondering if there is a problem with me due to the enormous amount of staring and thinking I do! "Where did you get your drawer pulls?" -tikibar--the pulls are from coolknobsandpulls.com. they are Amerock. Mine are satin nickel. Here is the link: http://coolknobsandpulls.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.searchResults&string=53722&submit=Go drjoann, so glad you have made a decision on your range. I can't wait to see when you start your kitchen project. Make sure to keep us up to date. "Wow so pretty and getting ready for company! Can I come over?" debpic1, of course, come on over! So glad you picked up on "the story" we were telling. "prepping for a dinner party". You have a good eye. "are those carrots real?" Of course they are! I had bought a bunch at the farmer's market on Saturday, but by Wednesday...ick. So I ran out Tuesday night and got those at the local grocery store! Go figure! "did you repaint the cabinetry in BM Cloud White? I saw your post in Jan 2010 about the yellowing issue - they don't look cream to me against the white tile. How did you fix that? " overourheads- Well, I seem to have a knack for "design by accident". The paint store played with the formula of the paint I had and made it match the paint on the cabinet in its yellowed situation. But after I painted the crown moulding and light rail (which were added about 6 months after the cabinets were painted) we thought the paint store made it too creamy. So I played with the paint, mixing in a little of "the creamier" Cloud White to the exising non-re-mixed paint. Finally, got it. But no, I did not paint the cabinets again. And how did I get that tile to match? I have absolutely no idea. Total luck. "But why not carry the backsplash up to the ceiling in the stove area?" flyleft, I can tell you came late to this....there were many many many threads about this decision. I had intentions of taking the tile to the bottom of the crown moulding, but after seeing it in person, I decided to end it just below the hood. And the reason for the 1" gap there is just so that we could end it with a full 1/2 tile, rather than pieces. I also like the way the dark color runs between the tile and the hood. "What kind of woven windowshade did you put over sink?" firsthous_mp--that is a shade from JCPenney. The color is walnut, and I did not use the made to measure ones, but the ones I used aren't listed, or at least I can't find them. But right now the made to measure ones are on sale. Here you go: http://www4.jcpenney.com/jcp/ProductsHOM.aspx?GrpTyp=ENS&ItemID=16570b2&DeptID=70751&CatID=70822&SO=0&Ne=5+586+8+1031+580+1028+18+904+949+833&shopperType=G&N=4294953317&Nao=0&PSO=0&CmCatId=70751:70822 Prill: "How are you liking your dishwasher?", Loving it! Thanks for your help with that decision!