Moccasinlanding, thank you - I wondered if I could just take a picture of it. Now, however, the deadline has passed and I'VE DECIDED WHAT I'M DOING. Whew! Actually I didn't decide. I told my contractor who showed up this morning that I CAN'T DECIDE and am going completely crazy out of my head bonkers not being able to decide between stainless w/ marble subway backsplash or soapstone w/ beige subway backsplash. So I told him to decide for me and I'd be happy either way (and if not happy, it would be default tell me that I really wanted the other thing)! So HE chose stainless w/ marble. He said black counters are too ubiquitous these days, and dark (potentially depressing), and that we can add more warmth by replacing our kitchen island top with butcher block (it's currently stainless). To answer your question about our floors, they're wood. Yesterday I found an interesting online piece about a woman's original 1912 or 1913 kitchen - showing pictures - having one counter w/ steel on it. It appears to me to be zinc or pewter, and it was in a pantry-type room that had U-shaped counters, the connecting counter being the metal one. The other two were made of old dark wood. Stainless was invented in 1913 (amazing how many things were - including refrigerators!) and so I feel good enough about doing a period kitchen in stainless as long as all else looks old-fashioned for the most part. And as long as I can contrast w/ lots of warmth in other ways - particularly re. wood. The marble should help w/ that too I hope. Can you tell I'm trying to convince not just you guys but myself, too? ;) Here's the link that shows that woman's original 1913 kitchen (I can't help but feel sad that she changed it - and also some of her choices - but to each her own. Plus she wrote that it was meant to be a temporary fix only): http://www.fromtimespast.com/RestorationJournalTheKitchen.htm Third pic down shows the metal which you can see much better if you use your computer to zoom in on it.

nosoccermom - I love the look that why I chose the two together. I knew I always wanted a backsplash like that. I want the backsplash to be the main attraction lol. And the photos above are similar to my cabinet style with similar colors. When I look on the cabinet brand website they have those same cabinets with similar backsplash. By saying "it dont bother me" just means it really doesnt cause I didnt even notice it until it was pointed out - I love the backsplash styles I chose and also love the cabinets. I guess I wont really see the big picture until everything is done. And when I look around at kitchens with raised panels most are traditional backsplashes and I really didnt want a traditional backsplash. I guess I will hold off ordering my backsplash and once my cabinets are installed I'll go from there (which I probably was going to do this anyway lol) - Thank you so much for your help. This post was edited by jennifer11203 on Wed, Jun 12, 13 at 15:59

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.

We agree, try a simple cream subway tile. It will work very well with what you have. Are you planning on removing the 4" backsplash piece already there?