@Beth H. - thank you for your comments. I don't think we want to have dark counter tops. The kitchen is open to our family room. The minimal wall space in the kitchen will be painted a light blue color, as will the walls in the family room. We were thinking about: a) white cabinets and island b) the Calacatta gold marble 3" x 6" tiles for the back splash c) light(ish) counter tops on the perimeter and island (perhaps with some grey coming through d) medium brown hardwood floors We thought about using walnut for the island surface, but decided against it due to maintenance issues. If we didn't want to have dark counter tops, are there any other options? Thanks!

I'm pretty sure Corian doesn't have trouble with scratches on dark colors anymore. They are solid all the way through. I love Corian. Here's a tread about Corian that someone started a while ago. Lots of opinions, pros and cons. It seems that a lot of people love it. https://www.houzz.com/discussions/corian-scratches-dsvw-vd~5062035

I have a question for you guys. Is it too outdated to have a cointibayoon do the quartz for the badksplash(only the 4inches) without having to add any other back splash? I worry about making my kitchen Look too busy and having a hard time matching colors , so i was hoping to just install a quartz counter top with that extra 4 inch lip without doing any other backsplash . That is assuming my counter top isn’t too bland . Also, can I get away with a gray? What about the Silestone calacatta gold ? Are the speckled quartz outdated ? Thanks! My floor has to be changed because it’s got a lot of holes and pkaces that are showing the underneath black rubber. it also has stains . My dream is to have white cabinets , a Taupe counter top(warmer gray like), and wood floors . If calacatta gold form Silestone , Bianco drift from Caesarstone , cambria Torquay , or viatera “sol” would work with white or warm cabinets , I’d pick one of those maybe. It’s a small kitchen, and I don’t have a huge budget .. but I do want to make a big enough change beginning with the counter tops that were never sealed properly, flooring, (and our back wall behind the sink that needs to be replaced ) . Thanks, again. I like honesty .

If you find that you need to use a temporary fix for the tile, you could do what I had to do back in the 1980s: The previous owner of the house had installed parquet flooring tile on the wall of the family room, above the knotty pine built in cabinets. I didn't have the $$ to tear them off and repair the wall. I used wallpaper liner - a heavy, smooth paper that concealed all of the joint lines in and between the tiles. This gave me a smooth base. I then applied a wallpaper that I liked - but for your purpose, there exists wallpaper that is made to be painted - In fact, at Bed Bath & Beyond's website they show both plain liner paper that can be finished with paint, and a paintable paper that mimics a plaster wall. There are many patterned options out there, too, most not what you'd want but there are a couple with only a fine pattern (like, to mimic linen) and even a beadboard look-a-like.