Backsplash Opinion Needed!

[eblend]

Hi Peeps,

Finishing up my kitchen reno, and need people's opinion as I can't decide on the tiles.

Here is what my kitchen looks like:

https://photos.smugmug.com/New-pictures/n-mXTvM/i-kkXbjvm/0/b6b76efe/XL/i-kkXbjvm-XL.jpg4

Option 1: Smaller tiles with turquoise inserts

https://photos.smugmug.com/New-pictures/n-mXTvM/i-bDSd94j/0/6f33cb4a/XL/i-bDSd94j-XL.jpg

Option 2: Bigger tiles with stainless steel inserts

https://photos.smugmug.com/New-pictures/n-mXTvM/i-cWjjZRN/0/761d0fd7/XL/i-cWjjZRN-XL.jpg


General comparison:
https://photos.smugmug.com/New-pictures/n-mXTvM/i-L97dz3X/0/814fb993/XL/i-L97dz3X-XL.jpg

Need opinions from you guys, or other suggestions. Wife and I can't decide. I was originally leaning for stainless steel ones, but when I hung the turquoise ones I started liking them more...but wife swapped and likes the stainless ones more. So can't decide. Please help!

[realazy]

Just my personal experience when installing clear glass mosaics is to make sure you smush the tiles real well against the mortar or adhesive you're using or else you can see the mesh gaps when looking at the tile at an angle. It bugs the crap out of me when I look at my backsplash and see the mesh gaps. Also, make sure you have a nice wet tile saw to cut the glass tile as I've seen chipped glass tiles on a lots of expensive homes too.

Those two reasons are why I would never pick a back splash with a glass mosaic ever again.

[speedog]

Pfft, go with this from Home Depot and keep your eyes wigged out...

79991

[Thaco]

second option looks similar to mine, but i just did peel-n-sticks. (i did finish the unfinished parts, just had to wait for some more from amazon.)

79993

[thinmyster]

option 2 100%

[JordanLotoski]

all those look like 2007 to me....Just do a white subway brick laid

[eblend]

all those look like 2007 to me....Just do a white subway brick laid

This was my choice initially as well, but it's so boring. Everyone and their dog seems to be doing that nowadays.

[88CRX]

all those look like 2007 to me....Just do a white subway brick laid

Dig ding ding!

Subway tile stacked or bricked or herringbone. Done deal.

[JfuckinC]

agreed, that stuff looks cheaper to me for some reason. i had a bunch of it to do mine, ended up returning it and getting subway tile sized rough grey tiles with subtle designs on some. so glad i did that instead..

[eblend]

Well after taking into considerations everyone's suggestions, and going back to my wife's request for something with "yellow accents", we came up with this.

https://photos.smugmug.com/ForumPictures/n-L432s/i-3jGSZZV/0/e7b70f25/XL/i-3jGSZZV-XL.jpg

Took me 7 hours with my dad to lay this, all individual tiles

https://photos.smugmug.com/ForumPictures/n-L432s/i-jCHMFvN/0/2fe170bb/XL/i-jCHMFvN-XL.jpg

Will post back the final once the orange take is removed and it's all grouted, hopefully on Monday.

[88CRX]

Cool! Looks good.

[max_boost]

Cool! Looks good.

:werd: I think it looks great!

[realazy]

Much much better choice than the previous mosaics!

[eblend]

Final result

https://photos.smugmug.com/New-pictures/n-mXTvM/i-sTrPDL8/0/f362f7fe/XL/i-sTrPDL8-XL.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/New-pictures/n-mXTvM/i-tBQBgbC/0/65ddda96/XL/i-tBQBgbC-XL.jpg

[Tik-Tok]

Nicely done! It's tough doing backsplash. Dave did my floors, but we ran out of money and had to do the backsplash ourselves. What a pain in the ass, especially with marble.

[suntan]

Looks great, needs new lights.

[Swank]

The dash of color really hits the spot, looks great indeed.

[Seth1968]

No, it's not great.

The kitchen is beautiful, but the black splash is a monstrosity that takes away from said beauty.

[eblend]

Looks great, needs new lights.

Yah will get to that sometime soon. It's actually very bright in the kitchen, but I think my phone camera is compensating for all the brightness and dims it a lot. It's annoying as it's very bright in real life, but looks very dark in the pictures.


No, it's not great.

The kitchen is beautiful, but the black splash is a monstrosity that takes away from said beauty.

Eh, we like it, and so do others we have shown it to, including on here, so it works for us. Curious what you would have done?

[suntan]

Functionally the lights are fine but they don’t match the style of the rest of the kitchen at all. Also the pantry door and trim needs to be redone.

[TomcoPDR]

Trendy

[eblend]

Functionally the lights are fine but they don’t match the style of the rest of the kitchen at all. Also the pantry door and trim needs to be redone.

Yah, a few items will be addressed in the future, but pretty minor relatively speaking.

This is what the kitchen looked like before hand..

https://photos.smugmug.com/New-pictures/n-mXTvM/i-GbDL2mr/0/27253c9a/X2/i-GbDL2mr-X2.jpg

[suntan]

Where'd you get the new cabinets from?

[phreezee]

Big improvement, nice work. As others have said, do the lights and pantry door to put the finishing touch on it.

[TomcoPDR]

Where'd you get the new cabinets from?


Looks IKEA to me.

[eblend]

Looks IKEA to me.

Yep, Ikea, everything actually, including the quartz and all the appliances (except fridge, had that for a while). Was going to get other appliances but IKEA stuff came with 5 year warranty, so good enough. Going to buy a new house in the next 5 years or so anyways, so hopefully will be trouble free until then. All in with everything came out to just under 15k, I did all the labour myself (except for quartz) and dad's assistance on a few larger items + backsplash.

Here is a pic I took this morning with natural light, can see the contrast better:

https://photos.smugmug.com/New-pictures/n-mXTvM/i-WStcPh7/0/6e9c49c2/X2/i-WStcPh7-X2.jpg

[ExtraSlow]

I really like all the options at ikea. It's a little frustrating when certain cabinet sizes can't have certain drawers, but if you growl at the helpful staff sometimes it helps you feel better.