I can't tell you how much I dislike accent tiles behind a range . IMO they are best left to Tuscan style kitchens and honestly in Tuscany .

Mosiacs behind the range aren't "in" right now. However, your kitchen, your money - if this is something you're really excited about don't worry about what's "in." I wouldn't use two different colors of grout though.

a lot depends on the space around the stove.

why not wait until everything is installed, and then revisit the backsplash? it's too early to decide because you don't have pictures.

This way we can see how large of an area you're talking about.

usually a wider stove is better for accents than a smaller stove

here are some examples. will you kitchen/stove/cabinets/sizing look anything like these?

if you have a small space behind the stove, like this one, an accent will look horrible:

this one is better proportioned, and not quite as bad. everything else is very simple around it.

Just, NO

This is the only example I actually like

nope. no reason to have this accent

It would look better to scratch the overdone white subway and do something the same all the way across. I love this look

I do agree we need to see your space and you need to wait until all the rest of the space is done and installed completly Backsplash annd wall color last choice to make . I always tell clients to make sure the lighting is all the same too I like LED 4000K in ktichens and for sur eif you are going the white/ gray look.

I’m away from my kitchen at the moment, but this photo is close to our floorplan and layout.

@Patricia — The question was, “Will using two grouts look weird?”, not “What does Patricia from Calgary think about accent tile behind a range?”

To be fair, that is not what your subject title says. Your subject title asks the question, ”Subway Tile Backsplash with Mosaic behind the range?”. There is no way to know that you did not want your subject title question answered as well. Your chastising tone is wrong given what you communicated and not communicated.

Two things I would glean from Beth’s photos. 1. Careful placement of the tile and the proportion of the actual design make a huge difference. 2. Wait. Backsplash choices come after installation of everything else -especially lighting - so you see it in the “done” kitchen.

I think your tile choice is really nice. My instinct about grout is one color per kitchen. Again, wait till the room is finished before even thinking about grout.

M Miller is spot on. Your title, plus the follow up first sentence : ”I’m getting cold feet about our plan for the backsplash and would love some input for you knowledgeable designers”, leaves you open for opinions about doing an accent pattern above the range. So, @Patricia Colwell Consulting did nothing wrong.

FYI, what you have in mind will be the first thing to date your kitchen.

Ralph, if you do the mosaic just like the picture,

(I actually like this look w/the Ann Sacks tile. any reason you're using a marble mosaic?)

then I'd use the same grout for both tiles.

For one thing, using a very dark grout w/white marble sometimes causes staining along the marble edges. You may get shadowing and the grout may look 'off'.

secondly, using a very dark grout w/the marble mosaic is NOT required for it to 'pop'. Just use a nice gray grout for the subway and the mosaic. Plus, you'll have to decide how to 'edge' out the mosaic design. do you plan on using pencil liners or a Schluter jollly? If you don't use either, it may look weird have 2 diff grout colors suddenly change.

But staining w/the dark grout is a real issue

let me show you my shower w/white tile and a marble mosaic. For both I used Mapei Warm Gray unsanded grout.

even if the mosaic didn't have the black, do you think I would have needed a dark grout to make it 'pop' ? Of course not. the design is enough pop on it's own.

I also have a cement tile accent wall in the shower. I used the Mapei Charcoal grout for those tiles. I was very careful applying the grout and wiping it off, but I still got staining (and I sealed these 4 times prior to grouting)

Here's the closeup. look at the joints and you'll see it. (the coloring in cement tiles are made from marble dust)

Luckily this is more of a rustic, old-world look tile and it doesn't matter

This is what will happen to your marble tiles, 100% guaranteed. (also, make sure you use the Bianco (white) thinset for marble tiles when you set these. don't use the gray thinset.

Stick with the gray grout. Since that marble tile leans on the cooler side, I'd do the Warm Gray, Silver, maybe the Gray color, but do a grout test on sample pieces first to see if it bleeds

Then do a sample white tile w/a few of the grout colors and see what you think. Maybe you'll like the white tiles w/the slightly darker gray color you do on the marble.

another thing about dark grout colors. use very little water during the clean up phase, and use exact measurement w/water during the mixing phase. Too much water dilutes the coloring and will leave you with light spots when it dries

Here I tried mocking up what I think you are planning. Hope I am understanding correctly. I realize your kitchen finishes my be different, but you can get somewhat of an idea.

I think the medium grey grout on the subway, along with the bold pattern with darker grout behind the hood, is too much pattern.

I do like the darker grout with the bold feature tile though. (Although, as Beth mentioned it might stain the marble.)

Here is if the subway had a matching white grout making the grout disapear more. I like it better because it allows the feature wall to stand out rather then all the grout lines competing with it.

I can't tell you how much I dislike accent tiles behind a range

So DON'T tell her!

"I’m getting cold feet about our plan for the backsplash and would love some input for you knowledgeable designers.

We were thinking subway with a medium gray grout all along the counter area with 12x12 mosaic tile behind the range going all the way to the ceiling with a new wall-mounted hood.

We really want the mosaic to pop, so we were thinking a dark gray grout (Prism Pewter, which is about halfway between the gray and black grout shown in the attached image.) Note the deep grooves around the star shapes in the tile.

Would it look weird to have two different grouts?

In a perfect world, ONE grout in white. The mosaic WILL be the star.....trust me it will.

If two and bolder? Not the way you describe.

Use a match white grout to the white subway-

THEN? EITHER the pale gray or the deeper on the mosaic. Either way will make the mosaic the star. Without competition in pattern from the subway. The point is NO color for the subway.

One star in a kitchen is........p.l.e.n.t.y. !

Also...until you inform counter tops? That may change my answer in many, many ways.

Which could include, skipping mosaic entirely: )

@M Miller @Darbuka my “cold feet” were not about whether I should do the mosaic accent or not. It was about the notion of using two different grout colors, which should be clear from the context of the post.

As for the matter of “tone,” when the first person to comment says “I hate that,” it is neither helpful nor generous to the OP. That’s unsolicited feedback, and it’s condescending.

And thanks so much to Beth, Rebunky, and Jan for helpful, thoughtful feedback!! It is very much appreciated!

If you're doing a marble accent, make sure the subway tiles are also marble.

Or, you can do ceramic tile with a ceramic accent behind the range, like we did here. Keep the grout colors the same throughout.

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Wow, super obnoxious poster. Asked a specific question in the OP, then doubled down on saying he never said it, plus snark. You guys are the greatest to help this person anyway! Very impressed with the generosity.

@miranda33 - it’s like I tell my journalism students: reading the headline is not equivalent to reading the story. There was ample context in the post. Carol’s comment wasn’t intended to be helpful, and if you click her profile, you see many other examples of her speaking in absolutes to strangers on questions of taste. It’s never “I might suggest X,” or “that’s a cool idea, have you thought about Y.” Instead, she weighs in with opinions designed to insult the taste of others, or she phrases her responses as commands (Set your lights to 4100k, take down one of the pendants).

oh I really like Sabrinas alternative. love that star and cross tile in the beautiful blue shade.

Sabrina, very nice designs in that home.

Ralph, what is the overall look of your kitchen? a traditional classic feel or more updated?

did you happen to read my last comment regarding the marble and the dark grout issue?

And who is Carol?

Thanks, Beth! It was a small kitchen and we wanted a wow factor. The blue star and cross worked really well with the navy base cabinets.

“miranda33 - it’s like I tell my journalism students: reading the headline is not equivalent to reading the story. There was ample context in the post. ”

Do you neglect to tell your students one of the golden rules of journalism..don’t bury the lead?…”Don't bury the lead (also known as the “lede”). Basically, it means you should write the most important thing first; each successive paragraph can flesh out the main idea for those who are interested in reading further.”

@darbuka - I think the point was more about making sure we know he is a journalism teacher. Though a teacher of journalism without the ability to write a clear OP on social media seems anachronistic.

Suggestion to helpers: Let’s stick to the OP’s actual question as often as possible. Read what they write, not just the “headline”, then make helpful-to-the-problem comments.

@darbuka — you are proving my point. The headline ≠ the lede. The lede generally appears in the first paragraph. In my case, it was the second sentence.

My qualm is not with you. What raised my hackles is the condescending tone of the first person to comment on the post.

Sorry, couldn't resist the "argument settler" edit "

My own rule is: Tell 'em what you're going to tell 'em, tell 'em, and tell 'em WHAT you told 'em.

Unless you get conversationally carried away. Lord knows we all do : )

What threw the folks off?

This: "Hi folks,

I'm getting cold feet about our plan for the backsplash"

In my world ? That implies the entire backsplash plan - until I dig and read deeper. We live in a short attention span world of multi tasking and three seconds spent reading anything on any topic.

As it pertains to the devolve as to who meant what? You're all right, and you're all wrong. Everyone gets a hat and a party bag: ) lol