apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

This company:
http://www.modwalls.com/
Has some really cool tiles and mosaic sheets and are reasonably priced. Good luck!

What about installing plain mirror, instead of tiles? I saw this in someone's house recently, and it made the kitchen seem extra spacious.

It's also cheaper than tiling, and you don't have to worry about whether it "goes".

Lisa Hunter: This brings me back to the question I raised in another chain yesterday (I think) about what to do with a windowless kitchen. I've thought about mirroring the backsplash -- have your friends found any problems with keeping it clean/dealing with moisture or steam?

I don't know your budget, but there is a beautiful line of glass tile from Waterworks called Sample. They come in 1x6, 1x4, 2x4 sizes (to the best of my knowledge). They have color called 'tea' that has brown, gold, and caramel colors swirled throughout. It is like a modern interpretation of slag glass, with a wavy glass texture surface. I can't find any images of the product on line, but call or check out one of their stores.

You should try Nemo Tile--they have a full line of glass subway tile at decent prices.

its funny because your exact kitchen is what mine is looking like...and im trying to figure out my backsplash.

We used Venetian Glass (Khaki Red Mosaic) from www.mosaicsource.com and have gotten a zillion compliments. It wasn't the cheapest buy, but definitely worth the investment. Our counters are black granite and we have similar color cabinets. We love the finished product. I would definitely recommend!

I've seen this combination with a mirrored back splash and it was really good looking.

have any of you found somewhere for inexpensive glass subway tiles? Ive checked out these links and they all seem a bit pricey. modwalls seems to be the best bet so far.

We have the same cabinets and a black granite counter. We used the 1x3 glass subway tiles from Susan Jablon Mosaics (http://susanjablonmosaics.com/). I love how it turned out. You can do custom blends, order sample sheets, etc., all online. There are tons of choices, so I am sure you would find a color combination that works for you. What about a mix of pale yellows and yellow based greens?

I have a mirrored backsplash, and I would just caution that it is ALWAYS dirty. I can't ever seem to get it clean enough.

If you don't mind busting out the windex/fantastic after each cooking or washing session, go for it.

OK I have the same kitchen (almost) and just sent in a similar question yesterday! I have the gold/yellow paint and black accents, only my counter is more of a tan color....

I have pictures on my blog so whenever you help this person, feel free to send comments my way!

My concern with Subway tiles is that is could look too modern. I know it's good to mix styles, I just don't know how it would work with all that wood....Good luck!

http://lilkidthings.blogspot.com/2008/01/backsplash-ideas.html

I am in the midst of a complete kitchen reno and have found great ideas and advice through the gardenweb home forums. Someone also set up a blog of all the finished kitchen photos and you can view them by category. It's great to actually see the cabinets, countertops and backsplashes and lots of people have given all the details. Have a look through there but beware it's very addicting.

http://finishedkitchens.blogspot.com/

Good luck!

Not a glass tile, but...when I was a designer for Daltile, I frequently specified a copper metal mosaic for customers with black galaxy countertops. It looked beautiful and was pretty unique. It came in 1 x 1, 2 x 2 and 1 x 2 sizes. I think the vendor was Maniscalco. Each tile consisted of a ceramic or resin (I can't remember which) base tile wrapped with a thin sheet of copper so it looked solid. We had coordinating metal and stone accents, too.

I put in a brushed stainless backsplash. One sheet cut at a local metal fabrication place. The whole thing ran about $125. Super easy install and so simple to clean-soap and water and then stainless cleaner when I clean kitchen. Also purchased brushed metal outlet covers.

I just had similar cabinets installed and Cosmic Black granite. My cabinet stain is a little less orange than yours and more beige but you may be interested in the tile I picked as my backsplash - I'm using Solistone Piano glass tile. The color is Sonata.

http://www.solistone.com/piano.shtml

I don't know about anyone else here, but I think mirrored backsplashes will get dated fast. Plus fingerprints and seeing the backs of appliances! I'd go for a nice green (more yellow than blue) square glass tile. But that's just me.

What you could do is pick out a great wallpaper just for the backsplash and put plate glass on top of it. This is becoming a wide spread trend, at least in Denmark, where I looked at lots of kitchen showrooms in the late summer. Looks very modern, and it's usually seen with nuts/bolts to secure it to the wall in certain areas. You could also faux paint behind it, a slightly deeper shade than the surrounding walls, also with the glass on top. I'm familiar with your granite, it's really nice!

I lived with a warm toned mirrored backsplash for about 10 years. I loved it and didn't need to clean it every day, more like once every two weeks or more, and it takes all of 2 minutes. Easy enough.

Think about ceramic tile, not just glass. Also think about accent tiles, since they can do a lot to warm up a tile backsplash.

Blue and orange are complementary colors and thus contrast *very* strongly. If blue felt like too much think about shades of yellow, shades of red, shades of green and shades of purple/violet. Each of those colors would be warmer feeling than the blue.

A duck egg green seems like it might be interesting with the colors you already have, and the color should age well. Alas, duck eggs do not seem to be trendy right now, so finding the right shade might be hard.

A fairly intense sun yellow could also be good, but it would be bright. This is the most uncomfortable choice to me, but it would have a light and bright effect even in the middle of winter. The lighting for the kitchen wouldn't need to be dead perfect.

For reds, I'd lean towards something a bit brighter and richer than terracotta. Definite color, but not too cool or too bright. A warm salmony pink could also work, but might not be comfortable for any resident males.

For purple, think about purple heirloom tomatoes. Many of them have coppery streaks on the skin similar to your cabinets. This would need very good lighting so you can see what you're doing. If you have all the lights on in the daytime right now and it feels much too bright... the purple might be just what the doctor ordered.

This has been very helpful and given me a lot to think about and explore. I definitely do want something that reflects light but doesn't reflect appliances, and easy to keep clean is high on the list -- the last thing I need is (a) another chore to do or (b) even worse, another chore I don't get done often enough...

One of the elements I am working with is my potrack. I bought one piece of this louvered panelling that used to be on a building across from the shop where I bought it -- the owner sawed it in half for me and bolted it together, and then I drilled some holes and put in S-hooks -- the panels are on the bottom row, second from the right. It's a dark browny-grey, which will shape my choices on the colors and materials I use.

http://www.danieldonnelly.com/n_objects.htm

I have a similar color cabinet and used an exotic red marble with touches of beige along with matte dimensional glass in red and grey. My countertops were grey but I could have used a mix of red and black.

See http://www.dezahra.com/images/rouge-antico.gif\

Still keeps it warm and if you mix in a polished glass it will make it reflective as well.

Why not use glass panels as opposed to tile? I did my glass front cabinets with glasskote - it comes in a variety of colors and they can even do patterns. Look at their gallery - http://www.glasskote.com/glasskote/gallery/