Anyone with granite backsplash in the kitchen? Any opinions?

[asha]

We are remodeling our kitchen and bathrooms. DH wants a full granite counter and backsplash. Backsplash running all the way up to the cabinets (about 18 inches). I prefer to have tiles there. I feel full granite will make it monotonous. I want to have some pattern in the tiles there and then tie it up with the tiles on the floor.
I have not seen one of those IRL, so I am imagining. I have seen pictures, but its a different thing to see it live.

Anyone with such a setup? Anyone seen something like that? Opinions - for/ against that.

Please let me know.

THanks,

[Sillygirl]

My first thought is that I want to marry your DH - a man who appreciates nice countertops!!!!

However, I agree with you that his plan is a little too much. Not to mention the cost - isn't granite something like $50/ sq foot? I think granite is such a stunning surface but having it go so far up the wall vertically will detract from its appeal.

[asha]

Well Katie... You might want to be careful what you wish for ;-)

He is a nice guy overall, but is such a clean freak at times that he drives me nuts. He runs the dishwasher, takes the dishes out and cleans them again before he uses them. So, think about it.

Granite is something both of us grew up with in India. In fact my parents have granite slabs on the floor, all over the house. So, we have always wanted granite. He wants a granite backsplash mainly because cleaning is so easy. It is a little expensive, but we are ok with it. SO, its not the money that is bothering me. We dont have a huge kitchen, so its not that bad.

[s7714]

I've been debating this too. My main argument against having a tile backsplash is purely the cleaning issue--I HATE cleaning tile/grout with a passion. However, like you I think that a solid granite backsplash looks a bit monotonous. At this point I'm thinking I'll do a solid granite backsplash just behind the stove top (the place were the backsplash gets the messiest in my house) and then do tiles everywhere else. Several of our friends have it done that way in their homes and I think it looks quite nice.

Jennifer
Mommy to
Annalia 3/03
Sophia 6/05

When raising kids the days are oh so long, but the years are short.--John Leguizamo

[asha]

You know, the backsplash never gets too messy in my kitchen. May be, I dont cook that much :) This is a good compromise though. May be I have to suggest this to DH. THanks for the suggestion. I have never seen one of those either. My boss has granite backsplash behind the stove, but nothing else around it. It is plain wall next to it. I am not sure, I like that.

[muskiesusan]

We just put in quartz and was very close to having it be our backsplash as well. I have seen it done in granite where it is gorgeous, and I have seen it where it was just too much and cave-like. I think it really depends on the color of the stone and the lighting in your kitchen. Our kitchen is dark to begin with, so I was really afraid of how it would turn out and I finally able to convince DH that it might not be a good idea.


Susan
Mom to Nick 10/01
& Alex 04/04

[asha]

Thanks Susan,
We have plenty of light in the kitchen. A big sky light right in the middle of the kitchen and a pretty big window on one wall. So, light is no problem. The cabinets are a light oak color, someone called it honey oak with a lot of grain in it.

Granite, we are thinking between golden leaf (beige with almost no grain at all) and black.

Black, mainly because it will give us lots of contrast and is so easy to match any kinda floor to it. This might give us a dramatic look. The downside to that is that we have really hard water, so it might leave a lot of stains on it.

Golden leaf will match the color of the cabinets very well, but I will be stuck with a small palette of colors for my floor. No contrast anywhere. This color might be too monotonous.

[s7714]

These pictures show the kind of tile work I was invisioning. We have honey oak cabinets like you, and were planning on going with a earth toned granite (although my DH saw a terra cotta red, black and sand colored granite that he liked a lot). Ideally I'd like to put small tiles of the granite in the backsplash to incorporate the two together.

One of our friends has a kitchen done with honey oak cabinets, dark/light brown toned granite and very colorful Italian ceramic tiles making up the backsplash (think bright reds, yellows, greens and blues). (The floor is done in terra cotta tiles.) It's a very striking kitchen. I like how having a tile backsplash can give you the option of adding some additional color into the room.

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/31218.jpg

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/31219.jpg

Jennifer
Mommy to
Annalia 3/03
Sophia 6/05

When raising kids the days are oh so long, but the years are short.--John Leguizamo

[asha]

Yup,
This is exactly what I am thinking also. The pictures look great.

After I started this thread, I did some googling and found some neat pictures. Here are some of the granite backsplash pictures I have seen.

http://www.dresendesign.com/cgi-bin/....cgi?kitchen08

http://www.steedremodeling.com/image...g/kit04_04.jpg

http://www.steedremodeling.com/image...g/kit04_02.jpg

http://www.dresendesign.com/cgi-bin/...?kitchdetail04

Ours might look close to this. A little more yellow/ beige granite.

[jesseandgrace]

We have it, and it looks exactly like that picture. In my opinion it is very modern looking, not at all boring or monotonous - actually quite the opposite. It gives it a very clean, very sleek look. The wood cabinets warm up the look, and we have all stainless steel for appliances. It really just depends on your style, I love tile also, but I am not a country kitchen type, I prefer european looks. I would do it again.