I love the framed pictures at the end of the wall, but this is just my own petty little opinion, I think it would call less attention to the backsplash dilemma if the pictures were centered on the wall space between the door and cabinet shelves end. That way you would never even think about the backsplash and just look at the pictures and not wonder why they weren't centered on the wall, which in turn would lead to explaining the dilemma about the splash. I know that was a run-on sentence...sorry!!!

didn't have time to read all the answers. I have no backsplash and have never regretted it...been over 6 yrs. It is painted with BM matte...which has ceramic in it. It is as beautiful now as it was when first painted. I love the fact that I can showcase other things ...art etc in my kitchen and no competition. Also if I ever want to change it is as quick as a paint brush...expense is minimal..paint only ! All in all I think it is serene as you point out . Here is one pick. Since I have a lot of high heat cooking in my kitchen..built in deep fat fryer as well as gas cook top I can definitely speak to the longevity of paint only. c ( more at this album )

Thanks everyone for your input! Pearl1976, I love your description of it being a 9/10 - that makes a lot of sense and puts it in perspective. Rantontoo, thanks for the feedback on the patterns - apparently I have a lot to learn about design techniques! Thanks Mayflowers again for your suggestions on what to change. I'll talk to the contractor tomorrow and figure it out. If it's too much to change out the tile at this time, at the very least we'll remove the tile on the left side, which wasn't supposed to be there anyway. The tile could always be changed at a later time if we don't do it now. I've showed the pictures to people and a lot of people seem to like it, even though it's not as light as I wanted. Thanks again everyone - everyone's input has been very helpful!

palimpsest, For the past few hours I've been staring at Wilsonart's SOLICOR color Calcutta Marble, but I have discovered that the "Solicore" feature appears to be a fiction. Wilsonart's website states: "Wilsonart® SOLICOR™ is a specialty laminate created with a solid color core that lets you design visually crisp and stunning spaces by eliminating the disruptive brown line at the edges." This photo clearly shows that Calcutta Marble color is not solid all the way through, even though their website says it is, and edges do in fact show brown lines: Flat cut showing ugly brown lines. Flat cut showing ugly brown lines. Formica also has the "COLOR2CORE" but it's a lie also. Their website says: "Classic flat edge. Your laminate countertops will have the traditional 90-degree flat edges that show a brown line between the top sheet and the edge. The exception to this is solid core laminate that has color throughout, like COLORCORE®2 by Formica Group. You’ll still have the flat edge, but no brown line." I have found images on their website that they use to illustrate a lack of brown edge but it's still there. This link has a section "ColorCore®2 Color-Through Laminate Patterns" and a picture of a large white counter to the right which clearly shows brown lines. On the other hand, apparently it's possible somehow to eliminate the brown lines because this picture from Houzz claims to use an edge called "Aegean" which does not show any brown lines, but I can't find anything about that edge on Formica's website.