kitchen backsplash - anyone btdt?

[karolyp]

DH and i would like to put in a kitchen backsplash (we even have a tile guy set up and ready to go), sounds simple right??

But we have no idea what to look for when choosing a tile! Has anyone out there ever done this and have any tips to share? Are there any websites that have some good ideas/sugestions?

TIA!

[miki]

I just read a reference to this site on garden web: http://www.maestromosaics.com/ .

[alexsmommy]

ths.gardenweb.com

thathomesite/gardenweb warning, these people are serious, but you can get some really helpful information if you can wade through the tediousness of some posts.

There are also some good suggestions in old threads here if you do a search and a few great pics that gave me good ideas.

Good luck!

Alaina
Alex Feb '03
and #2 in early summer '07

[bostonsmama]

Subway tiles are getting increasingly popular, yet they have a classic look that will have longevity if you choose it. I've even watched an episode where demo guys will go into old 19th century homes to take out vintage tiles & charge hundreds of dollars for the vintage beauties. Luckily there are great reproductions in classic glazed ceramic tile that would do well with a non sanded grout and 1/16th inch grout lines.

Glass tiles are also beautiful! Mini mosaic patterns in natural tones (like aquatic greens, blues and whites, or sunny amber, red and oranges) are popular combos.

When we remodeled our kitchen, we did a tumbled travertine marble layed out on the diagonal (upright diamond pattern) with a beige sanded grout in 1/4" lines. My aunt did her condo's kitchen years ago in marble (like the travertine in beautiful taupe, beige and brown tones) with a polished finish and accent tiles (like braided rope trim and some center medallions. Metal tiles are great accent tiles, and increasing in popularity as well.

I have to say that I've honestly never had a problem with cleanability of any such backsplashes....save for the stainless steel kinds...I'm sure that would be annoying. I love the tumbled marble b/c it has natural pits/dents and a rough surface so it obscures tiny spatters, smudges and fingerprints, yet it cleans easily with a scrub brush and water and doesn't leave scratches in the finish.

That's all I have to say on that. PM me if you have any other Qs or want pics.

[dules]

I have that tumbled marble tile all ready to go but can't find anyone willing to install it. Grrr. Got it on sale at Lowe's a year ago so cannot return it.

Am now considering using ceiling tin tiles and installing myself with nails and tin snips. See here:

http://www.americantinceilings.com/backsplash.html?menu


Mary

[Marisa6826]

Remind me to give you that number. I'm seeing Polina on Saturday. ;)

-m

[Marisa6826]

We did tumbled marble tiles. I would have LOVED to do the glass mosaic tiles, but they are crazy expensive - even at cost (I used to work in the construction field and was able to get most of my kitchen stuff wholesale or close to it).

I have polished granite countertops, with red maple cabinets. The bottom of the backsplash is 4"x4" straight across with the ends covered by a bullnose (matching). Above the 4"x4", I did a small row of 2"x2" of the same tile, and then the field (majority space) of the backsplash is 4"x4" tile on a diagonal up to the bottom of the cabinets.

I made the mistake of not following my instincts and sealing the tiles FIRST - before they were installed and grouted. So, they are lighter than what they were supposed to be. I'm the only one that notices, but it still bugs me. The colour of the tile was supposed to be a tawny apricot, but instead are kind of a sandy shade.

I've never had any problems cleaning them. In fact, I don't think I've ever really had to, save a few splatters behind the stove.

I love the look of the subway tiles, but don't make the mistake of going really fancy on the backsplashes if that's not what the rest of your kitchen looks like, KWIM? If you're really in love with something but it's too expensive to do the entire backsplash with it, you can always do a small inset or design just behind the stove or your sink.

If you have a Home Depot Expo nearby, they have TONS of fabulous ideas, as does The Great Indoors. You might also want to spend an hour or so at Barnes and Noble/Borders and browse through the kitchen idea magazines for ideas.

Good luck

-m

[bostonsmama]

It's not too hard to install, but b/c it's expensive (for installers to replace) and breaks easily itself, I imagine you'd have a hard time getting it installed.

We installed it ourselves b/c it was so expensive otherwise. It's a super-heavy tile, so you'll need a 1/4-inch cement backerboard screwed into the studs. From there, we screwed long 1x1s horizontally into the studs, then made our plumb chalk line and scraped mortar onto the back of the tile and stuck the tiles along the first row. They were so heavy that they would have slid off the wall w/ the wet mortar if you didn't do that. Once that first row dried solid (overnight), we kept up the 1x1, but started stacking the tiles on top of the cemented ones in rows so it never got too heavy. Where it got tricky was cutting the tiles. Marble is so strong that you need a diamond-blade wet saw with a moveable/tiltable blade (the kind you rent for $100+)...and you should plan on losing about 10-15% of your box of tiles to get around electrical outlets, corners, windows & mouldings (especially the kind with fancy window-sills like ours). You also waste less when you put tile in square position instead of diamond/diagonal.

Anyways, just throwing that out there in case you want to ask a handyman if he'd be willing to do it.

[Rachels]

I went into the tile store and ultimately got the one I kept walking over to admire. I LOVE my new kitchen. Here's our before:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/Knitmama/47b6da02b3127cce88b41db071200000002.jpg

and our after:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v423/Knitmama/IMG_2417.jpg

-Rachel
Mama to Abigail Rose
5/18/02
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_amethyst_36m.gif
Nursed for three years!

and Ethan James
10/19/05
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/bf.jpg

"When you know better, you do better." - Maya

[Marisa6826]

I LOVE that your kitty cat matches your kitchen. :P

We have the same cabinets, and my paint is a little more in the gold family than your after pic.

Fabulous backsplash and pendant lights!

-m

[Rachels]

Lol! He is very matchy-matchy. :)

-Rachel
Mama to Abigail Rose
5/18/02
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_amethyst_36m.gif
Nursed for three years!

and Ethan James
10/19/05
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/bf.jpg

"When you know better, you do better." - Maya

[phirey]

I posted pics in response to this same question some time back: http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=37&topic_id=163646&mode=full#163678

Our backsplash is slate. We did it ourselves by going to Floor & Decor and buying 12x12 slate floor tils. You have to buy/rent a tile cutter in order to put up a backsplash anyway, and it was pretty easy (so DH said) to cut them in 1/2 to 6 x 12 tiles. Then we laid them subway-style. Most countertops are 18 inches from the cabinets, so they lay out perfectly. Very easily done in one afternoon. You have to seal the tiles with the same stuff you would if it were a floor. Also very easy, you just wipe it on and wipe off any excess. It's held up great for 3 years now.

[karolyp]

Rachel - your kitchen is stunning!!! Thanks for sharing!

And M - I would love to see a pic if you don't mind ;) - it sounds beautiful!

[karolyp]

what a great thread - and one I missed! Thanks for sending the link!

And your kitchen is just beautiful too!

[karolyp]

So we went to Lowes, HD, and some mom & pop tile stores and got the following samples - but I still don't think I like them. I have cherry colored cabinets and busy granite so I think I better off with a plain tile - like the second one from the left - although it's the same color as the wall,, which doesn't seem right imo! And, I think the ones I got are too big - no?

But yes, I agree, a trip to the expo is probably a good idea and on my list of things to do!!

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e192/karolyp/IMG_4562.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e192/karolyp/IMG_4561.jpg

[ohiomom]

How do you like your double oven? I have the old fashioned kind with 2nd oven up where your microwave is. It's ugly as sin but SOOOO functional being at eye level. It will be so costly to install a "normal" double oven. I've wondered about your type. Is the bottom oven large enough? Is it too low that it is a back breaker? If you really like it, could you share the brand/model # info?
Thanks!

Beautiful kitchen!

[Marisa6826]

I would do a combination of the 2nd one on the left along with some dark (charcoal?) mixed in to pick up the dark specs in the granite.

JMO ;)

-m

[Kyras mom]

Hello!

When we remodeled out kitchen a few years ago, we went to Home Depot for the cabinets (KraftMaid) and granite counter top. We did the backsplash ourselves. Since the cabinets and counter are very neutral in color, we decided on a colorful backsplash. We looked at alot of tile books and went to alot of tile stores before we finalized a design.

[ChunkyNicksChunkyMom]

Black could be awesome!
Susan

#1 Nick 11-18-04
#2 Kate 04-26-06

[Marisa6826]

LOVE the lit cabinets on top. Beautiful!

-m

[jenjenfirenjen]

Hmmm, honestly, pretty ho hum IMO. I would try to mix a few different colors. When we remodeled our kitchen last year the backsplash was the last thing I considered but our contractor stressed that with the right tiles it would be the focus of our kitchen. And it is. Everyone who sees it comments on it. I think it just ties the whole room together. I had no idea of what I was doing when I picked it out. We just went to a tile showroom and looked around and this one stood out. Then I found these copper dots to add in. I think it all came together really well. Here's a pic (we weren't quite done in this pic so the trim is not painted and what not but you get the idea of the backsplash.)

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/37296.jpg

[jenjenfirenjen]

Oooh. I agree. Something dark would be really cool. Maybe some slate like someone did in that other thread.

[ctmom]

not the pp, but we also have this oven and LOVE it! It is from Maytag. We use the top oven probably 75% of the time, it is big enough for just about everything. The top oven also has a "toast" option, so that eliminated the need for a separate toaster oven to take up room on our counter top. It is great when you are trying to cook two things, at two temps, and they can both come out of the oven at the same time! The bottom of ours is convection, which we don't use that much, but it is nice to have. I've never had anything not fit in the bottom. The only negative about this style, I think, is you loose the bottom "storage" that a lot of ovens have.

It is funny, we are also getting the same fridge, french door, bottom freezer, water/ice on door, someday! When we put in our new kitchen, the only appliance we kept was the old fridge because that is the fridge I want, except in stainless, and it cost almost $3,000...someday...

Mary
dd#1 2/01
dd#2 12/03

[dules]

We have those same cabinets! :)

OT question, are those the whirlpool cabrio w/d? How do you like them?


Mary

[ctmom]

thanks for the link!

Mary
dd#1 2/01
dd#2 12/03

[HGraceMom]

I installed mine myself, with NO tiling background at all. One of my uncles had the tools and coached me through it, but made me do all of the work so I could learn how. It was SO easy.

My tip, if you choose to go this route, is to choose a small tile. This will reduce the number of tiles you have to "crack" to fit under cabinets, around outlets, etc. Ours is a 2" with a small diamond shaped corner between sets of 4 or 8. It came in 12" sheets.

Definitely seal the grout to prevent staining - and reseal every year / 18 months. We didn't reseal, and have a definite stained-looking pattern behind the sink.

[jamsmu]

Rachel, thank you for sharing your kitchen pic. We just painted (darker, but the samish family) and our cabinets are about the same color. We'll be doing a dark dark granite, but your tiles (backsplash and floor) are inspiring.

[dcmom2b3]

I love drooling over the ann sacks catalog, the website has an installation gallery that might give you some ideas. http://www.annsacks.com/design/installations/

Good luck!

[cstack]

Aww, Mary! While the tin tiles sound nice, you could have done the tumbled marble yourself!

While you can't take it back to Lowes, you might try lising it on CL. Tumbled marble has become quite popular. I have it in my bathroom and it looks fabulous!

[Kyras mom]

The w/d are Maytag Atlantis. I love them. They are now out of the kitchen and in our new laundry room.

[karolyp]

Your backsplash (heck kitchen) is beatiful - thanks for sharing your pic!!!

[Marisa6826]

Ann Sacks stuff is GORGEOUS. The price tag, not so much. ;)

-m