Kitchen backsplash advice?

[Anonymous]

What kind of backsplash would you do with white cabinets and soapstone (in other words, black) counters? I'm waffling between white subway tile and something with a little more color but I'm not sure what. As much as I like the white subway, I'm concerned that might be too much white. Any thoughts or ideas?

thx

[Anonymous]

What about a mosaic tile like this for color? http://www.flooranddecoroutlets.com/s13100433.html

With white and black, you can really mix in any other color. You have a ton of options.

[Anonymous]

White subway tile with white cabinets and dark counters is a nice, elegant look. You can't go wrong with that look and you can always bring in color in your wall color (which is a lot easier to change than backsplash).

Another option would be to use a carrara marble tile like this:

http://www.houzz.com/photos/87707/Oakley-Home-Builders-traditional-kitchen-chicago

This look, a greyish green subway tile, is also nice with the white and black:

http://www.houzz.com/photos/91599/5-star-Green-Bungalow-traditional-kitchen-other-metros

[Anonymous]

Whatever you do, don't do white grout for your backsplash. It's a nightmare to keep clean.

[Anonymous]

Here's my theory (which I have seen backed up by decorators online). If you have granite, do not do a patterned backsplash (unless very subtle). If you have a solid countertop - a pattern would really help warm it up. I've seen some great gray mosaic tiles that would be great with white tiles. I would stay away from white - way too sterile and boring. It will look like a builder kitchen and you want it a little more homey I'm sure. Put grout boost in to keep grout clean

We did stainless steel but I had a patterned granite countertop. Love the stainless tiles.

By the way - check out Amazon for tiles - I found a lot of great wholesalers on there for our kitchen and bathrooms.

[Anonymous]

We have a beach house with gray granite countertops with white cabinets and a white tile backsplash, and it does look a little like a hospital. One idea I got from a decorating magazine was to paint the back wall of the glass-fronted cabinets a bright color. It really helped a ton.

[Anonymous]

We just redid our laundry room with white cabinets and a black countertop, actually (there's a utility sink)...we used glass tile like that in 14:53 but with a different color scheme (tans and blues)...looks very nice.

[Anonymous]

A lot depends on your floors. If you have wood floors, then white subway tiles will look good. The warmth of the wood balances out the cold. Also, what paint color on the walls will you use? Again, if you use a warmer color, like yellow, I wouldn't worry about it.

[Anonymous]

We have white cabinets, black granite countertops, black appliances, white ceramic sink, and maple wood floors. We did green glass tiles for our backsplash and it looks amazing - we get tons of compliments. (It is the dark green on this website - http://fratellitile.com/Glass/JadeMosaic.html.) I agree with PPs - you can do anything with black and white. White subway tile would look amazing, but a bit "safe." I love our green.

If you have not already done so, check out Design Tile in Tysons. They have a great selection and will let you take home swatches to try out in your kitchen.

[Anonymous]

Sorry - the link above does not seem to work. If you care, you can go to fratellitile.com and then click on "Glass" and then "Jade Mosaic" - it is the tile they call "dark green" in that section.

[Anonymous]

I have white painted cabinets, dark countertops and white tile backsplash. It's really sterile looking and I wouldn't do it again.

[Anonymous]

If you like a more sophisticated look - a friend of mine installed 2x4 marble tiles with her soapstone countertops and it looks great. They're smaller than regular subway tiles like this http://cdn.decorpad.com/photos/2009/11/23/25804c7ab518.jpg

To a give a more casual look you could do a glass tile in green or grey. Or you could do the marble and paint the walls a bright color.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you like a more sophisticated look - a friend of mine installed 2x4 marble tiles with her soapstone countertops and it looks great. They're smaller than regular subway tiles like this http://cdn.decorpad.com/photos/2009/11/23/25804c7ab518.jpg

To a give a more casual look you could do a glass tile in green or grey. Or you could do the marble and paint the walls a bright color.

This is a great suggestion. I have white cabinets and white subway tiles, and I like the effect, but my counters are of gray-veined stone. Although I considered soapstone, I decided to avoid the too-abrupt transition from white to black. Marble tiles like these can help soften this for you.

[Anonymous]

This is the OP. FYI, we have hardwood floors and the paint we're using is a beige-y color. Will probably do red accents (i.e. curtains, towels, etc.) since our adjoining dining room is red.

Just wanted to say thanks so much for all the helpful suggestions. We haven't made a final decision yet but you've given me lots to think about.

[Anonymous]

We have white cabinets and a mostly-black granite counter and we used tumbled Carrera marble - it has enough natural variation of white shades through gray that it's not too much white and I think it's really pretty. The other nice thing is that it would go with any accent color - we painted our walls a gray/blue and it looks great although it's so neutral it would also look really nice with red.