So tired of hearing " but that will make it look dated" or "it wouldn't be good for resale" Everything is going to be dated at some point, the kitchen designers, cabinet companies and appliance companies make sure of that. Example: stainless steel appliances were just coming on the market 15 years ago when we gutted our kitchen for a remodel. It was hard for me to find stainless in my area at that time, I live in a small mid western town. So, have you noticed in the past few years appliance companies have been trying to bring out new colors, grayed looking stainless, now ice white etc. they are trying to make people think their stainless appliances are soon going to be "dated". But I have read in several articles that stainless is still the number one choice. I chose a cinnamon stained cherry wood for our new build. I thought about white because that is the trend right now, but I reasoned cherry cabinets will always be in style while the white trend Has just a few more years. I won't be a slave to trends. Just my opinion.

Have you considered wallpaper? You can bring in color, as well as a design, if that's your 'schtick'. Just throwing another consideration in the mix. I personally *hate* a backsplast covered in tile or granite from countertop to bottom of cabinets, or even further up. I've gone *about* 3/4 up the wall, with the remained just the neutral color thruout the rest of my home, but only on the interior cabs, so above the stove and sink areas. On the perimeter bank of cabinets, it's just a painted wall, where I had planned to use wallpaper, but haven't done so yet. I also picked up at an auction a painted canvass, which is long and narrow, and thought of using it here. It's a vintage French scene of a girl feeding chickens in a barn, done in dark colors, which is my preference. I just don't want to leave it should I sell. ;)

your interest really was in the look of the space.....which is valid. Even after accomplishing the switch to a range or that kind of upgrade, one can still be unhappy with their space if every time they walk by or walk into it, the old surfaces jar your nerves and personal aesthetic. But the space really would have me looking at a whole appliance package, and ditto the range on the perimeter concept. Yes-fridge/dishwasher AND range....figure something out with above range microwave or hood with maybe small countertop microwave. And once that "package" got worked through the budget, think about the perimeter in laminate or solid surface and maybe a contrast for the island of quartz or butcher block . I might consider Ikea or a basic butcher block for everywhere-it can be really reasonable....knowing you may do a "gut" remodel later. Just enjoy the wood look, oil it up frequently right away....and just let it take the wear and tear knowing the counters and cabinets will be replaced. I would probably even just leave the painted wall for backsplash....with the decent cabinets and some new hardware and either laminate or wood on counters, and new appliances, you'd be really in a good position for a while.

This thread has been very informative for me as we are just starting a kitchen reno, so thank you to all contributors. We plan to do a quartz backsplash, including behind a 30" wide residential gas cooktop (not a range or stove). Please bear with me as I continue to explain! I looked at the specs of the cooktop I was planning to order. Based on those specs and assumption the new quartz countertop depth is 25.5" (I know assumptions are risky, but since 25.5" is what we have now and considered standard, I'm going with that for this example), my calculations are: 25.5" (countertop depth) - 21.25" (cooktop depth) - 3" (min distance from rear wall) - 1.875" (min distance from counter front) = -0.625" Which means I'm 5/8" short, and this isn't taking into account the thickness of the quartz backsplash, which I believe should not be included in the 3" from rear wall guideline from the cooktop manufacturer. Sorry if I'm hurting anyone's brain with math today! Just looking for some validation my logic is correct in how I should be calculating. And also curious if my belief the distance from the rear of the cooktop to the front of the quartz backsplash (not wall) should be 3." I plan to look for a different cooktop, hopefully one that is closer to 20" deep and add the backguard just to be safe (thanks to @Elizabeth Alvarez Sell for sharing her backguard photo)!