I called to double-check the price, and told it was $34.70 per sq. ft, so may have misunderstood the first time - much better than $45, although still pricey. Rainbow

Have you considered a glass or marble tile in a "falling water" pattern (I guess originally designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for the Falling Water house?). It's a slightly more modern, slightly different take on a subway tile backsplash. I'll be using it in a crema marfil, and somebody on here has a lovely carrara backsplash in it as well, but can't remember who. The link will give you the idea of the pattern, but it's available in many different finishes, including glass. Here is a link that might be useful: falling water tile pattern

If you feel the quality matches the price point you payed and the quality of tile professional and the contract details you got then its not the worst ive seen. With tiling every single thing comes into play, starts with quality tile itself and hiring someone who can select and source quailty tile and help you not purchase bad tile Then A properly qualified and skilled professional to prep right, the proper time allotment to do the job well, expert layout skills, quality materials throughout and following the proper industry methods and standards, lastly having the correct type of tile related contract to protect yourself. All of this comes at a premium price point . Who did you hire how much effort and time did you put into that and how much did price factor into the result we see here.? who bought the tile and how did they inspect the shipment of tile ? who signed off on the material and the layout, joint size etc..it goes on and on.. No issue with letting it set for a month in a cold home and yes a poor tile job with bad tile and dark grout will look worse than a matching grout.

Hi Corinne - this is one that looked interesting, Imola Ceramica ”Concrete Project”. You can usually track down a showroom instead of trying to analyze little samples in the mail. I did not see this one in person but if you are in NYC you may have better luck: https://www.imolaceramica.com/media/depliant/DP%20CONCRETE%20PROJECT.pdf take some time to travel to tile showrooms that have large sample boards or better, large samples installed on the floor. Look at the edges to make sure it’s not a photograph stuck on, and see that the edges are rectified, in case you want edges exposed (factory edge or bullnose). Let the sales people know you are not interested in simulacra. You’ll find something but it may take a while. We finally decided on a tile called “Gazzini Move” in beige, it’s porcelain/rectified and not trying to look like stone. It kinda/sorta has a surface texture like slate but not too offensive https://www.casaceramica.co.uk/range/gazzini-move/ It was one of the first tiles recommended for what I was asking for, but it still wasn’t as beautiful as real stone & I still looked for a long time before agreeing to it. It does not come in many shapes & sizes or trims or mosaics, but that was OK, we needed large format pieces that had to look good cut through and finished/bullnosed because we wanted to avoid metal trim edges. The tile store said they go through lots of Gazzini Move and always keep it in stock for the same reasons I was looking for.