I have to laugh when I hear of anyone that says that back splashes get greasy, nasty, grout lines gross, and so on... ALL that I can restate time and time again is the OBVIOUS: the person responsible for cleaning the kitchen doesn't or does not know how to clean. Period. If someone fries a lot and does not clean then WHAT do you THINK any kitchen would look like? It's just utterly ridiculous. The majority of people on this web site probably are the upper echelon of fanatics on kitchen cleanliness and appreciate a beautiful kitchen. And we do know what it takes to maintain a clean kitchen. Some people just do not. And I'm with everyone else: if someone is trying to steer you into a direction that you don't want to go in, then don't go with them! I'd be thankful that they gave you a clear forewarning of your imminent unhappiness to come if you hire them to do a specific job they had no confidence in performing. Some wonderful building talent out there just don't come out and say, "I'm not good at...(whatever), so you would be better off hiring so and so."

I am not sure just exactly what you are asking. I can't really see any flaws in the installation, maybe someone with better eyesight and screen resolution will. If you are asking if you made the right choice of tile for your counter and cabinets, well... I'd say no. Because the cool grey doesn't complement the warm counter, and the busy pattern of small tiles argues with the busy counter. Yup, I agree. I think the pattern in the granite and the backsplash tile are too similar in size and feel, and -- as a result -- they clash. One should be the star while the other plays a secondary part, and that's not happening here. Bah, if everyone listened to Maria KillamKillam the world would be a sea of white. Her color theory is spot on, but her insistence upon a certain set of colors being the best is obnoxious. Yeah, if her work were called "Things I Like", that'd be one thing, but she thinks every project should follow the same set of rules; subsequently, all her projects look the same. I like the idea of a set of guidelines one can follow to assure things match (because color is my nemesis), but she comes across as more of a "one trick pony".

Thank you all so much!!! This has helped so much, both to realize that this really isn't the end of the world, and to help crystallize why it wasn't working for me. The vintage feel with the original top cabinets, exposed brick and wood island and marble countertops is what I'm going for and it just doesn't mesh style-wise. We will live with it for a while, out of necessity. But I'm thinking of getting a subtle carrara marble subway tile, with a light grout! Just FYI- the brick is the chimney (oil burner) which we exposed. It juts out and we can't put cabinets there. So in person it makes sense that there is one column. Plus I love it, and it's a piece of the 1920's house. The vintage schoolhouse shades are from an amazing salvage store in Toronto, called the Door Store (if anyone here is from Toronto.) We live in NYC now, but I grew up there and we brought the shades back on the plane. (My parents used to shop there with me in tow, 30 years ago!) As to the tile, it's hand made in Spain and I think the finish just wasn't right on this batch. What looks like a black line is actually the finish not extending all the way to the ends, so you see the masonry. The sample batch I bought was a very light blue, the lightest that you see in the tile now, with just a teeny unfinished edge. This batch has really large unfinished sections on one side. It really probably was a flaw, and we shouldn't have rushed to put it up just because our guy was coming the next day. Lesson learned!! I've included some more photos, including two befores- one from us and one from the listing. Top cabinets are the originals, just painted. Part of the last minute adjustment in this kitchen was also because the marble guy had told us the original cabinets wouldn't support the marble. Knowing we couldn't get a base cabinet to match the uppers, we went to Ikea and did a two tone look. But that did throw off our plans for a blue-and-white kitchen. I actually did adjust the tile a little, but didn't realize how dark they were going to be. And it was all a crazy rush, because we already didn't have a kitchen sink for 3 weeks when we realized we had to replace the cabinets. To be sanguine, things would be a LOT more serious if there was a problem with the stone, or the cabinets they rest on. Thanks again!! I wish I had found this thread sooner, but will definitely be reaching out as we renovate some more of our house! I have some more 'before' pictures here, on the blog that I did not end up having time to keep up! https://thisoldqueenshouse.wordpress.com/

"Angie’s List and Home Advisor are now one and the same. And they charge the contractor for bad leads, with no real recourse. No good contractor wants anything to do with any of those type of referral sites." The Cook's Kitchen - I do not agree. Angie's List charges service providers to advertise on its site, which is different from Thumbtack and Home Advisor which charge a fee to the contractors in order for them to bid a job. On Angie's List, the contractor can choose not to advertise, and will still be listed on Angie's List, and still have consumer reviews for other consumers to see. I've found numerous contractors on Angie's List and have had very good experiences with them. There was only one that wasn't as good as its reviews. I think I've probably used 10 contractors over the years from Angie's List, so 1 in 10 isn't bad odds. Thumbtack contractors seem often to create bad experiences. The number of people with the connections and ability to get good contractor referrals (like you have) is small, especially with new homeowners. Sometimes referrals from neighbors/friends lead to bad experiences. Referrals from relatives are always a bad idea. Not everyone has a designer, or is experienced in knowing signs to look for in a good contractor. Angie's List helps those people.