As I blogged about here, we've found some great contenders for the backsplash. Here's a few other samples we've picked up in our travels.

These are some porcelain tiles we found at Olympia Tile. The first one was a creamy, almost matte 12x12 tile. It had little variation in colour and looked beigy on the floor. The second tile is a more greyish tile with slight patterning. 

It's an interesting size, 12x16, which will give us more options in terms of layout. Unfortunately, we couldn't go with the large format 12x24 tiles since the distance between the cabinets is only about 42" and that would look really weird with only 1 1/2 tiles across the width of the kitchen.



We're not entirely sold on either one of these. I do want the floors to be more subdued, more neutral, because I would prefer the countertop and backsplash stood out instead. As HandyMan always says, "Not everybody can sit on the 50-yard line".

Kitchen Countertop Options:

HandyMan is an architect which means not only does he get to draw all day (seriously, he still has own set of pencil crayons!) but he also has access to some pretty cool stuff. One of my favourite things at HandyMan's office is their sample library. It contains all sorts of little bits of goodness - paint decks, laminate samples, carpet tiles... You name, they got it (or at least a brochure about it!). 

The CIOT rep came by the office with these beauties so HandyMan brought them home for a test drive.
From L to R: Giallo Ornamentale, Kashmir Gold, Kashmir White, New Venetian Gold.



So can I tell you, we are REALLY loving the Kashmir Gold. The yellow tones pick up on the yellowy wallpaper in the adjacent dining room and the grey goes well with the calcatta marble subway tiles. 

Using a cabinet door we borrowed from Junebug (its a creamy white, our cabinets will be more of a brighter white) and my brushed metal lantern, here's a mockup of what all the finishes will look like together. I like where this is going very very much:)