I let out barely audible gasp when I saw those tiles, Sweeby. I love them! And I think I might love them even more, as Alku says, in a very muted gray. Or a combination of the two. And Alku, I agree about the iffy-ness of matching up the whites. One thing I wish I could do as you did -- is to find the same $$ deal on tiles. What a steal, lucky you. I want to do my backsplash and get it over with. Ann Sacks and Jeffrey Court are out of my league, but if I can keep the price at near $25/ft, I'll be OK. Well, I have NO IDEA what the install prices are. Can anyone give me some idea of what to expect? Do you think $15/ft is in the ballpark? I'm drawn to the marble combinations in the mosaic, Sweeby. It's soft looking. Do you think I could pull that off in 4x4s? The shop where I got my marble carries Jeffrey Court. Maybe I could convince them to give me a contractor's price since they've been using me as their cheerleader for using marble in the kitchen. I've spoken to several of their prospective clients; maybe they'll throw me a bone.

Does anyone have any updates about the honed quartz? I was looking at calcatta vicenza in matte ( honed) because when i went to MSI in Norwood, MA, I found that the matte wasn't as busy of a pattern and it was a lighter, more soothing design. After reading these reviews i'm nervous about the honed but I do like it better than polished, and I find that polished is more of an ivory and the matte is more of a white. Please help! I'm meeting tonight with the contractor.

Hey, barncatz: Every word of consolation and support helps. I'm trying not to rush the BS decision, but I know I'll feel much better about the countertop experience once I'm not staring at these sliver add-ons. One of my very early inspirations was Majra's kitchen. She, just like pipdog, used the mosaics for a lovely effect. And this is why I spent so much time last year looking at mosaics. But the mosaics seem a bit too busy (for me) up close. The rest of my kitchen is a work in progress. Lotsa 9-1/2' walls that will need to be painted again (probably a cool white -- the next challenge!), and a ton of natural light coming in. Baseboards, pantry door and trim are all semi-gloss white, and ceiling is white. Kitchen is open to the family room: taupe walls with a white fireplace/mantel -- white trim throughout the entire house. pippiep: Matching grout it is, then! One decision down. :) I've marked out the areas that will require BS tile. As you can see, it's not very expansive, and each one not very large. So, I need to find the correct scale/dimension tile that will look right in these spaces. I think using larger (3x6) tiles in a herringbone pattern will leave me with a bunch of chopped up squares in the bartop and cutout window areas. At least with the newest elongated hex pattern, most of the hexes will be retained.

Mexican white 'field tile" and accent tiles from http://www.finecraftsimports.com/ fine Crafts and Imports out of Camarillo, CA. GREAT company to work with BTW! We got the mural here https://mexican-tile.net/Kitchen-Tile-Mural-Mexican-Kitchen--P2317632.aspx , also a good company; albeit a bit slow, but the mural comes from Mexico. BTW, Suggest you have a pro install the mural, because if you break one of the mural tiles you are SOL........