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Looking good.
Although I tend to agree with the others regarding your backsplash tile, if you end up choosing it I would recommend that you choose a grout as close as possible to the tile color to make it look less busy and commit to regularly sealing it to reduce staining.
In any case, I likely will go with what I picked out ... I will just seal it first, as recommended.
LOL, my electrician says you must have been standing on your head when you looked at them.
I have heard of Bar Keepers Friend (the professor in me wants to stick an apostrophe in there, LOL!) but will make a note of it now! That bar sink is mostly granite (90% I think). And thanks for your very kind comments about the kitchen. I've been planning (and saving for) this remodel for the past 6-1/2 years so it is so nice to have it almost DONE.
TOMORROW (Friday 12/14) I will be picking up the 4 glass doors for the 3 wall cabinets that were prepped for glass (2 in the upper/south kitchen on either side of the window plus the center cabinet in the lower/north kitchen, which is 30" wide and has 2 doors). I got simple glue chip glass, which I really like. Other than that, I will just be getting more "stuff" out of the living room & TV room & other rooms where it's been thrown and HOPEFULLY into the cabinet/other space where it belongs, once I figure out where that IS!! (Plus, alas, some grading too for my "real" job ... grades are due next week!!)
Oh if granite then don't use bar keepers or anything but soap and water. Keep it sealed yearly and it should stay stain free.
ETA: If it does get a stain make a paste of baking soda and water and put it on the stain and top it with a paper towel. Leave on overnight and the stain should come up. Keep oils away from it and don't leave glasses in it that have red wine or dark juices.
As to the tile behind the stove and splatters. I splatter a lot and never have stains on the grout. I wipe it up right away.
Don't do those tiny tiles. They are too busy for your busy counters. Stick with a large format tile, solid light color.
Gotta love the imperative form ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kobber
Your kitchen is coming along really nicely! I love the drawer pulls, and the custom-made baskets. I also think the sink/dishwasher area looks great and looks perfectly fine with the window behind. I even like the granite counter top (and I'm not usually a fan of granite).
But... (there's always a but when people are judging something ) - I do agree with some other posters that those back-splash tiles just aren't right - too busy against the granite. If it were me I'd look at all the colours in your granite and pick a plain gloss tile (subway size or larger) in the lightest of your granite colours.
Even though you plan to seal the tiles you like, you will have to re-seal them from time to time over the years and that sounds like a pain you don't need!
Quote:
Originally Posted by EIL9
Agree with these two posters. In my opinion the small tiles are way too busy with your granite. I think a glossy large subway would look nice and not compete with the pattern in your countertop.
Congratulations on your progress!
Quote:
Originally Posted by KathrynAragon
I think everything is coming along really nicely and like others, I love the pulls and knobs!
I also agree that the tiny tile is too busy. I mean, it doesn't gag me but while you've got the opportunity, I'd go bigger, with no need for sealing. Maybe try a translucent sort of very quiet tile backsplash?
I love the two sinks and I agree - the sink doesn't look weird at all under that window.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Albuquerque101
Looking good.
Although I tend to agree with the others regarding your backsplash tile, if you end up choosing it I would recommend that you choose a grout as close as possible to the tile color to make it look less busy and commit to regularly sealing it to reduce staining.
Everyone is calling the small tiles "busy" but honestly, I STILL don't see it. They look quite beige. BUSY to me is like what I posted in post #41, 3rd picture down -- the brown/beige/etc. glass tile backsplash with a granite that looks very similar to mine. Here's that picture again ...
Note, the backsplash I've said I like the best is shown in a couple of photos in post #37 -- scroll down past the first 3 photos in that post (they were for the granite) and you'll see a photo with offwhite cabinets, a very busy granite, and those tiles that I like. To me they look very neutral.
The odd thing is, when the granite guys were here I had a bunch of different samples out, and I asked the main installer (who has a seen a zillion granite countertops with backsplashes) which one he thought went best. He picked the one I like the best, likely because it was/is the most "neutral" of them all AND would go with both the biscotti/cream cabinets AND the peppercorn/dark brown cabinets.
HOWEVER, I am hearing the same thing from so many of you that I DO understand that my judgment may be off. I wish there were a way to TEMPORARILY put some up so I could test it before putting it up all around the upper & lower kitchens ... aagggh.
Can someone please be more specific about what is "busy" about them? Is it the color shading (even though it's neutral, maybe it doesn't seem neutral ENOUGH next to the busy granite)? Is it the size (i.e. that they are small)? If it's the size, that could be fixed pretty easily I think (i.e. I've seen many others that look very similar but are larger).
Note, I DO NOT want anything glossy or shiny. I know it's very trendy and I'd probably like it in a bathroom, but I don't like it at all for a kitchen and I will be living with this kitchen for the next 10+ years, maybe forever!
OK, I went to a tile store today -- saw this and liked it (ignore the bottom piece ) -- it's offwhite, not white (might be hard to tell in the photo):
Brought a couple of samples home ...
I think it would go great with the granite AND with the peppercorn cabinets but I'm not sure about the biscotti -- I think they are too close to the same color. Any thoughts on THIS possibility? (Bonus -- it's cheaper than any other alternative I've seen, and I like it almost as much as I like those small tiles ...)
And here's one more possibility ... this is actually the same 18"x18" tile I have installed in the kitchen annex FLOOR (since that annex is just off the TV room, it didn't get hardwood -- the TV room floor will be re-done in the next few months with tile (entry area) and hickory engineered hardwood (the rest).
^^^ In that photo the wall tile and the floor tile are the same (Portland beige). Any thoughts?
And one last quick question -- for those of you who had backsplash tile installed, what did it cost, and was it charged by the hour, by the square foot, or by the job? My regular contractor can do it and he charges time and materials (one of the reasons I love him!). The local tile place quoted $50 per square foot, which for my 3 areas would probably be around $2,500. Since one of the handymen from my contractor could do it in 2 days, that would be $720 (and they have done a TON of tile including backsplashes so they definitely know what they're doing). I can't understand the gigantic difference in pricing ... I think I just got VERY lucky in finding a GREAT time-and-materials company!!
And one last quick question -- for those of you who had backsplash tile installed, what did it cost, and was it charged by the hour, by the square foot, or by the job?
Our tile was $56/sqft (for 40+ sqft) as it was custom from Heath Ceramics.
Installation was by the job and $1400 which I thought was a bargain (3 people for 2 days). Lots of very precise cutting was involved.
I would stay with a solid color pattern, in a cream or off white tile myself ...
What I'm seeing has more do with this, the granite in itself is very bold, so to have a backsplash with so much going on takes from the granite and the granite being bold makes the title look as if it was an after thought.. Basically to much of a good thing.... The rule is, if counters are bold, backslash should be simple, if the counter is simple and a solid then a bold backsplash... But at the end of the day, this is your kitchen so whatever you love!
Last edited by WildCard~; 12-14-2018 at 03:26 PM..
Our tile was $56/sqft (for 40+ sqft) as it was custom from Heath Ceramics.
Installation was by the job and $1400 which I thought was a bargain (3 people for 2 days). Lots of very precise cutting was involved.
That installation charge isn't bad at all if was 48 person-hours -- that's only about $30 an hour (although I can't fathom a 40-square-foot job taking the equivalent of 1 person 6 days!). But I had to read a few times before I realized you were saying that the TILE ITSELF was $56/square foot? Holy crap. That is 4-5 times what I want to spend (and what I CAN spend and still get something decent). I knew from other threads and posts that our budgets (and frankly our tastes -- enough said about that!) were very, very different, but I don't think I realized HOW different. Eeeek. (Given that house prices in your neck of the woods are likely VERY different from those in my neck of the woods, this isn't surprising! I hope you ended up with a backsplash you still love to look at. )
Quote:
Originally Posted by WildCard~
I would stay with a solid color pattern, in a cream or off white tile myself ...
What I'm seeing has more do with this, the granite in itself is very bold, so to have a backsplash with so much going on takes from the granite and the granite being bold makes the title look as if it was an after thought.. Basically to much of a good thing.... The rule is, if counters are bold, backslash should be simple, if the counter is simple and a solid then a bold backsplash... But at the end of the day, this is your kitchen so whatever you love!
The thing is, I think that backsplash IS simple (i.e. neutral, not overly patterned like the picture I posted). That's what I keep asking: what about it is "busy" or has "so much going on"? (EG if you look at the photo of it in post #37, does it really look "bold" to you? It's the 4th and 5th pictures down, just under the Home Depot link.) I'm not being snarky, I am trying to understand if it's the colors or the size or what (as I asked in my last post). It seems so neutral to me, especially when I look at the pictures of it in use -- I'm trying to understand how it looks "busy" to so many others.
And alas, a cream or off-white backsplash simply won't work -- I don't think that would go well at all with the biscotti (i.e. CREAM) cabinets. WAY too much cream/off-white. On the other hand, I think it could work very well with the peppercorn, and so I may end up having to do 2 different backsplashes depending on the cabinet finish. That wouldn't be the end of the world.
Last edited by karen_in_nh_2012; 12-14-2018 at 06:10 PM..
Snip
The thing is, I think that backsplash IS simple (i.e. neutral, not overly patterned like the picture I posted). That's what I keep asking: what about it is "busy" or has "so much going on"? (EG if you look at the photo of it in post #37, does it really look "bold" to you? It's the 4th and 5th pictures down, just under the Home Depot link.) I'm not being snarky, I am trying to understand if it's the colors or the size or what (as I asked in my last post). It seems so neutral to me, especially when I look at the pictures of it in use -- I'm trying to understand how it looks "busy" to so many others.
The way I see it, Karen, is that the 'busyness' comes not so much from the colour of the tiles, but more from the shape and size of them. They form a pattern of small rectangles, plus lots of grout lines which, to me, clashes with the various shapes and patterns you have in your granite. If you chose a larger, plain tile (no swirls of colour) the same colour as the ones you currently like, it would probably look great.
Even if you prefer the matt finish, using a larger matt tile will result in fewer grout lines and therefore look much less "busy". And be much easier to re-seal down the track.
Wow...I am so excited for you. I only read the last few pages and will go back and read from the beginning tomorrow
It is looking really great. Just a note on some things that have been said. Yes smaller tile means more grout lines which "can" look busy. If you really love that tle then use it and maybe look for something for behind the stove section(?)
Then again if you love it then you should do it. MAybe you can sacrifice a small area and install it but only lightly to see if you still like it. Maybe do a 3 foot corner area.
I went back and looked and post #37, doesn't look that busy, unlike the other one! ... I kinda like these as well below.. Still I think you should do what you love and want and speak to you, no matter what! There just to many choices these days and it can get mind blowing! Looking forward to your finished kitchen!
Everyone is calling the small tiles "busy" but honestly, I STILL don't see it. They look quite beige. BUSY to me is like what I posted in post #41, 3rd picture down -- the brown/beige/etc. glass tile backsplash with a granite that looks very similar to mine. Here's that picture again ...
HOWEVER, I am hearing the same thing from so many of you that I DO understand that my judgment may be off. I wish there were a way to TEMPORARILY put some up so I could test it before putting it up all around the upper & lower kitchens ... aagggh.
Can someone please be more specific about what is "busy" about them? Is it the color shading (even though it's neutral, maybe it doesn't seem neutral ENOUGH next to the busy granite)? Is it the size (i.e. that they are small)? If it's the size, that could be fixed pretty easily I think (i.e. I've seen many others that look very similar but are larger).
"Busy" - meaning a lot of visual patterning. Small tiles, by their nature, wind up looking busy as they are small, and the lines around them create a LOT of patterning. THAT is the "busy". You have a TON of "busy" on your counter, and you only want "busy" on a single element in your kitchen. As was stated above, busy counters - calm backsplash. Busy backsplash, calm counters.
Try to avoid a backsplash with an uneven surface - that will be a biatch to clean.
I think this looks nice...
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Don't use it on granite. It can be used on stainless steel and porcelain.
