Thanks everyone! You've give me some food for thought and some good online places to look at. My husband was home this afternoon and could watch the youngest kiddo and supervise the painters while I slipped out to the closest tile store. It's not the best tile store and they don't have any of the more feminine glazed tiles I would prefer. But I did find this option I'll attach. It would be the travertine subway everywhere with some sort of decorative spot above my cooktop out of the darker tiles. Probably put them on a diagonal or something. They also sell those in a smaller size. They coordinate nicely with the darker spots in the granite. It's still more masculine than I would like but at least I have one option. Any opinions? Momto3kiddos I looked at Pratt and Larson online and they have some beautiful tiles! Really up my alley with the floral stuff. I see they have a dealer downtown so I might try and swing by at some point if I can. I'll look more online too. Can I ask what their price point is though? I know some people on here spend a ton on their backsplash but I'm not in a position to do that.

Posted by budgeteer_s (My Page) on Wed, Dec 31, 08 at 18:18 Thanks for all your suggestions. I wanted so much to follow with ci_lantro's suggestion because then I'm done. I'll gladly let you snatch that paint brush out of my hand. ha ha. But at the same time if a little tiling will tie up the project, then I'm game. jodi_socal: I'm a little disappointed when you said fire and ice won't work. I just LOVE that F&I BS. But then agin, I think I know all along it's a little too much for my kitchen. Caryscott & petra: Thanks for the picture petra, it says a thousand words. Is spectralight glass tiles? Prices are pretty reasonable. What about that milk green color? will it work? maybe with some garnet pieces sparingly mixed in. I will take some pictures and post two HD Behr's paint card to aid in the discussion of color. Thanks again ALL! Correction: My tiles were Alfagres: Gema4x4: different from what caryscott posted: I loved what caryscott linked:

While it can depend on the overall style of the room, as a generic statement I'd say that I wouldn't have one tile pattern meet another pattern straight on with no transition between the two. That's for most people and most installations. I think what you have to do is look at a lot of online photos. Or do mock up with your materials on hand. You may not be able to verbalize what you like, but when your eye sees it, your brain will give a "yea" or "nay" vote, and that'll help you define your style. Stye-wise...if you were going for a minimalist design? Simple? Clean lines? Minimal visual distractions? Then having one pattern butt right up to the other can look just fine. But the two tiles should relate to one another in some manner: Pattern, shape, size, color, texture, material, etc, etc. Some folk find pattern-abutting-pattern pleasing. But it depends on the tile, the pattern, etc. Others find it jarring. For a more traditional design, having a border or transition of some sort between them may be the better way to go. For a border or transition? If your shower wall was, say a marble subway. I'd terminate that pattern at the edge of the tub with a vertical run of tile. For a less busy look the tile for the vertical border could be the same used in the shower. If you want to blend details, it could be a darker tile, or something for example you used as an accent elsewhere in the shower, perhaps the same tile you used on the back walls of the niche. Easiest and safest is to use the same material as the shower tile. The vertical of the border will act as a transition between the marble in the shower and the backsplash pattern on the sink wall. In the end, trust your eyes and your gut. If it feels wrong, it probably is wrong. For you. Good luck.

Thanks both. mvcanada, we were thinking of buying a vanity/sink combo online so not necessarily able to buy extra material for backsplash and counter shelf, though if we go with a basic white it shouldn't be too hard to match, right? I can't decide if I would prefer a shelf that extends from the sink countertop, or one that is separate and between the sink and mirror. Might depend on which vanity we choose (still looking, as evidenced by my other post). But good point on running whatever we have to meet the large mirror. pamal66, can you clarify your last bit about the metal strip or pencil liner? Is that for the end of the backsplash on the edge of the sink so it doesn't feel like it just ends by accident? We did consider tiling the wall with the sink/toilet but we were feeling like the current half wall of tile was making the room feel smaller, and with the layout, we'd have to tile everything or just the tub (because tiling by the sink/toilet plus the tub but not the last wall where the vent is would just feel unfinished). We haven't decided on wall or floor colors yet, though the fixtures and tub tile will probably be a basic white. We love this floor: And these are some of our vanity inspirations: (this last one with a white top instead) One thought I had about the tile border was that if it doesn't match the tub tile, it could match whatever we put in the shower niche, but that's as far as I've gotten in finding an actual tile!