I was surprised to see this back up again...it has been awhile since I had posted! But anyway we still haven't picked yet. But after visiting every tile store and ordering multiple samples off the internet, I THINK we are leaning toward going forward with the black subway and glass. My husband did make a mock-up right after I last posted and I think it looked beautiful with the granite but I still wasn't sure about how dark the kitchen would be or, as Caroleoh pointed out, if the style was right. But we haven't found anything else that really calls to us and we keep finding ourselves coming back to it. I have had the mock-up sitting next to the stove since he made it and the glossy tile really does reflect back the light and the overall look may not be as dark as I think. I will try to get a picture tomorrow when the light is better and post it to see what you think. I also have 3 more samples coming in the mail Monday (including a black glass subway) but I am thinking if none of those work, we will go for it. As far as style, I wish I knew what I wanted! I am having that problem throughout the house. That is part of the problem. I have leaned toward traditional in the past but the few new purchases I have made for the house have seemed to be more contemporary so now I have this hodge podge thing going on...and then I will pick up a decorating magazine and see a well done cottage room and drool over that as well. Right now I have 5 colors painted on the greatroom wall...sigh... Anyway the table and bar stools came from JC Penney catalog. We wanted a counter height table set for the breakfast but needed bar height for the stools and wanted them all to match. None of the local furniture stores had that available but I just happened to find the set on closeout PLUS free shipping even though it was heavy furniture. It was a great deal and we are happy with the quality. Thanks for all the help and bringing this back up again. Can I post all my other rooms too for help???!!! :)

I can see why it might be advisable to remove the left/rt portions of tile, but I would be inclined to wait until ithe kitchen is completed before deciding. If, as your gut tells you, it "needs" to come down, nothing is really lost except a little more time with it up. Perhaps knowing you are not "locked-in" or committed to it, will help give the perspective to view it more objectively while deciding for sure. This way you will not only have the chance to see it with everything else in place, but you will also have the opportunity to get used to it, before deciding if you truly dislike it, or just haven't gotten used to it being there. As subtle (in color) as our tile is, after months of looking at white painted Sheetrock, it still looked "different" and stood out when we looked at our kitchen. Once we became accustomed to it, we couldn't imagine our walls without it. That's how I am with many things--after living with a blank wall or empty space for any period of time, even a long awaited piece of furniture or decor item jumps out at me, and almost seems like too much, until I get used to the vacant space being filled. Thanks for the compliments on our backsplash Laura and andreak100! It's the Opera Glass tile from Artistic Tile (Stilatto pattern) in Wolfgang White. It does read greenish-blue(-grey) in certain lights or times of day. We had to think about that one while deciding if we wanted to use it, and obviously decided to go for it! Good luck Laura! Honestly, whatever you decide will look terrific!

I think I am open to either glass or ceremic right now. Maybe that grayish taupe would work best, I will try to ask for that color tomorrow at a tile store. And I agree that the 3 X 3 would look good, I also thought about going even smaller? But I think my color choices and finishes get smaller. As you can tell I also want to avoid going for too much of a country look. lukkiirish, I did consider that but my husband is against it and I also included a picture of the mantel which is across the room from the bar area. I would have to stain that too, and I was hoping I was almost done with this project. :)

Well I'm a magpie too :) So I have both a mosaic (behind the range) and a subway tile, but I do have to compliment the fact that you went with a blue. I like it with the granite. A neutral would have been safer, and oh so boring :) By the way, we need to use the term DS...oh wait that's taken....(Dear Spouse dear son might get confusing) Or I like "SU" (spousal unit). My DH or SU as the case may be :) was told early in the design process that "I don't know" has a three day window to be turned into "I don't care" if he can't figure out what he wants :) Since I'm the designer...that's a challenge for him heh heh But he's one opinionated SU so normally he comes up with something :) He had definate influance on the backsplash. I was HORRIFIED with the cost, and he decided that it was the "only" one that worked LOL so my inner magpie won LOL