re: You said you had some complicated specs for the backsplash; could you please elaborate? Also, have you had any issues with the Frigo backsplash discoloring from heat? Did you get the flip down shelves for using the hood's warming lights? Is your range flush with the wall, or did you bump it out? Do you have any pics? Let's see, Complicated specs: My splash has four different width's and three different heights, in large part because I bumped out the range from the wall. In fact, all my cabinets are bumped out (standard 24" cabinets with a 30" countertop over them, requiring a bump). I also had the splash cut to fit around the cabinets. They did a perfect job. Discoloring? No problem at all. No warming lights or shelves. I found out that the shelves would interfere with the grill, which I use a lot. Sorry, no pics at present. Maybe I can shoot some next week. Hood is a 54" VAH, 1200 CFM, covering the Bluestar and a single induction hob. I liked the fact that the Emerald edge option on the VAH matched the front of the Bluestar perfectly. Hope this helps. Colin PS when installing, use LOTS of construction adhesive to glue it to the wall. I also recommend the masonite option for larger splashes-makes it much more stiff.

I have tile down to my countertops in most of my kitchen, so no 4 inch backsplash. I sooo want to redoo my countertops and backsplash and hopefully I will soon. The backsplash tiles are the cheap 4x4 white ceramic tiles that you can get at any big box store (builder installed). They have held up pretty well, but the grout is starting to get a bit hard to clean (it looks kind of dingy) and the silicone between the countertop and the end of the tile is cracked across the whole length of my counter. It doesn't look like there's any water damage there yet (especially behind the sink), but I think it's just a matter of time. There is one small corner of my kitchen where the builder did put the 4 inch backsplash, probably as an afterthought as it is a separate piece of laminate attached to the counter. I hate that backsplash! It gets dusty and takes up uneccessary space. I also think the no backsplash look is a much cleaner, neater look.

This is something I agonized over when we were doing our remodel last year. Our granite is Blue in the Night, which appears as black from a distance. We have four outlets that are in our granite backsplash (which is a bit higher than 4" where they are. My first thought was that I didn't want the switchplates to stand out on the granite. Since the switchplates would be near other switches that would be on cherry beadboard and tile, I decided I wanted to keep with the same style for all. In the end we went with Lutron stainless switchplates with black centers. I think they compliment our SS appliances. Under our window on either side of the sink On our peninsula

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.