I have been struggling with the same question (though we've purchased a Wolf all gas range, rather than the Bluestar). Good friends of ours have had essentially the same range as ours for about a year, installed with island trim, and have had their ceramic tile scorched. The marks don't seem to want to come off (I even brought several tile cleaning products over to try and clean it myself--to no avail). I would think that stone would be susceptible to this as well (some more than others). We are planning on using tile for the backsplash, and don't want to run into the same problem. It's funny--I've relayed the story of the scorch marks to sales people in tile stores and in appliance stores, and usually I'm met with a look of incredulity and someone saying something like, "I've never heard of such a thing! I have this range with island trim at home myself, with stone/travertine/what-have-you installed behind it and have never had any problem!" A couple of appliance salespeople (including the guy who sold me ours) have acknowledged, however, that they've seen this every once in awhile. Our friends had a Wolf person come out to their house after they first noticed this problem, and we're told matter-of-factly, "Well, you don't have a riser," though no one had ever told them that they needed one prior to installation (nor have I been able to find mention of it in Wolf materials--only that risers are recommended if the range is up against a combustible surface material). However, I didn't particularly like the Wolf 5" riser, partially because of the aesthetics of it, but mostly because you lose about an inch of range top depth (the riser is about an inch deep through most of its height). What we're now planning on doing is having a 4" or so strip of stainless steel installed as part of (or perhaps just over) the tile backsplash, in conjunction with the island trim. This has seemed to us to be the best compromise. Our appliance guy has seen this used to good effect in the past. Our cabinet install is still a couple of weeks away, so I don't yet have any personal experience with this work-around.

Hey there - I was going to suggest the schluter edging as well - we used it on a floor, and a friend has it in her kitchen and while I'm not like "WOW! Awesome edging!" I basically don't notice it. It comes in an awesome copper color that blends perfectly into slate... but that's probably not helpful to you! Also comes in brass-like and brushed stainless-like. We used a mix of tile behind the stove and beadboard everywhere else, so wood was already in the mix. That being said, we used .5" x 1" sticks to frame out the subway. I hated it at the time, but now, again, don't really notice it. May not be for everyone, but here's a pic so you can see what I'm talking about - we did buy the bullnose pieces for where the tiles are next to the painted (orange) wall - but needed a transition between the beadboard and tile - bullnose wouldn't have worked well and the tiles and beadboard are different thicknesses, so they didn't make a smooth transition on their own.

So we finally decided and the tile went up earlier this week. We are living about 40 minutes away from the house right now, I stopped by the house last evening. We ended up using the suggestion of taping up paper with pictures of the tile - thank you for that suggestion!!! I tried to do photoshop, but I wasn't doing a great job. Seeing it in person helped. We ended up tiling the area above the range and then the 18 inch area between the uppers and counter. In the open shelf area the 18 inches below the lowest shelf are tile, but then above the shelves is paint. Sorry for the poor quality cell phone pictures. It was dusk and the electricity wasn't on. I was also holding my 1 year old at the time.

@diane7151 Thank you! We actually just went with the stock white through the semi-custom cabinet manufacturer, there was a warm white (too creamy) and ice type white, I wanted it crisp and didn't have a need for a custom white because the ice white sample looked good with all of our other swatches. The wall color is BM Pale Oak, with bright white trim, which helps the cabinets pop. I do think a custom paint job can provide a yummier texture and finish, just something I've thought about after the fact because we have a custom vanity in our master that seems smoother, but it's a rich blue gray which might be why it feels more luxurious? With white kitchen cabinets and two hound dogs...I'm sure the cabinets will need to be repainted at some point anyway LOL, so we'll see if a custom white feels any different.