I love the first one eld posted, too!! That’s what we were originally going for, but the designer couldn’t find anything. The closest we found was a brighter mint green, which I’m not a fan of.

I’m leaning towards the lighter one now. Thanks for your opinions!!

Hold the phone!! I just went on the Wow website, and there is a new line of tiles available which would be perfect, and I think you guys would all approve. I’m going to email our designer and see if we can get them. Cross your fingers for me!

OK here are the tiles multiplied on your wall. Just about anything at the local HD would be more exciting than this.

Beverly, I agree!! And it will look even more boring than your picture because the shadows have created a more varied layout than there will end up being.

Always white. Especially since your other choice is dull gray.

Not commenting until you let us know if new options are available.

White with light grout.Accessories eig window coverings etc is where you can bring in colour and pattern

RedRyder, I’m going to contact the designer on Monday to see if the sage/white ones I posted above are available. I will keep you posted.

I truly appreciate the opinions, though! My gut was telling me those two choices were boring, but I was trying to ignore it. We only had a few options presented to us by the designer, and I didn’t want to push because I’m a people pleaser. Lesson learned.

Which is why I don't use a designer! They just have to find a tile that is good enough for your space. I prefer to search for something unique and different on my own.

Don't settle!

Before you commit to a tile, you need to decide if you want a classic canvas you can spice up with decor items, or do you want to have the backsplash be a focal point and direct how you decorate with it being a big part of the decor.

both are valid avenues, but you need to be aware before committing

this seems nicer ..even the 2nd with color but you seem opposed to color.

Chestnut Street · More Info

Award Winning Kitchen Remodel · More Info

Awww, Stefanie, I used to be a people pleaser. I’m in my 60s and am finally growing some ba***. You can do this! And you look way younger than me. I really think some subtle color will be gorgeous. You have great taste from what I see. I like your idea of using a colorful rug which requires no long term commitment. I’ve spent way too many years playing it safe and choosing stuff that’ll go with everything and be timeless, etc. A subtle color is still neutral enough and safe enough. My best wishes that you get the kitchen you love!

Theres nothing wrong with a monochromatic color scheme in a room. it is quite calming. color can be introduced with accessories/greenery. Go with the lighter tile

Where in Canada are you? If you are in the Toronto area, there are SO many good tile shops and options available. Have a look at this green tile which is easily available in Canada for a lovely green colour.

This tile comes in many sizes and formats but this photo shows the green colour.

https://www.anatoliatile.com/collections/soho

Anatolia | Soho, Ceramic + Porcelain · More Info

Other tile stores in Canada to consider:

https://www.olympiatile.com/

https://www.centura.ca/en/products/tile/

http://www.saltillo-tiles.com/

https://ciot.com/toronto_en/stores/ciot-toronto

https://www.mosconetile.com/

If you are a fan of any of the HGTV Canadian design shows...many of them shop at Saltillo Imports - it is nearby to Yorkdale Mall just off the 401. There are many tile stores in that area - it is worth taking an afternoon to drive around and have a good look at what is on display.

Or further North, up Jane Street and surrounding areas in Vaughan for many more tile stores. Likely they will all ship if you are not located nearby or want to get samples.

Some more green choices.

Green Tiles & Mosaics- Green Subway Tile, Glass, Mosaic & More · More Info

This is a marble - from the Saltillo site.

Marble Mosaics – Toronto Tiles | Saltillo Imports Inc. Toronto · More Info

How about a slightly different option from a subway shape. Still very classic looking but just a little different. You can find this option in many colours...

Ceramics – Toronto Tiles | Saltillo Imports Inc. Toronto · More Info

Thank you, mvcanada!! We are in Nova Scotia, so definitely not within driving distance from Toronto, haha.

Update: we have acquired the other tiles from the website that looked promising. The sage is darker than I expected, but maybe we could do a mix?? I would love opinions!!

Horizontal or vertical? A mix of all three or just the “nude” colour? Or just sage?

They still look very gray and dull. I don't see any sage at all. I see one white and two cement colors.

can you get somethig like this?

it's the IvyHill till from Wayfair, Newport. (if Tilebar ships to you, you can also find it there) I believe wayfair ships to canada. A lot of tiles you find on the Tilebar website are offered on Wayfair under the brand "Ivy Hill". have you looked at any of those?

or, what about the Portmore (Tilebar) aka Kingston on wayfair, home depot?

comes in these colors and shapes. similar to the Cloe tile.

look at Encore Ceramics. beautiful sage green glaze colors. would be worth the wait.

The Cashmere or the Fennel quartz glaze colors would be so pretty in your kitchen. so would this Peridot crackle glaze. enlarge it so you can see the tons. it's a soft sage w/a bit of gray

http://encoreceramics.com/product-category/glazes/

Maybe your designer can order it through a US distributor and have it shipped.

Can you get MSI where you are? Try Renzo Jade https://www.msisurfaces.com/ceramic-mosaics/renzo-jade-3x12/

It's more sage than the pics show in real life.

I think part of the reason it looks dull is the lighting in the photo. Here’s a photo from another angle, next to a piece of wood from our hutch. You can see the shade of green is close but not exactly the same…

but is it going to look like that once on the wall?

I still would call that gray w/a slight green undertone.

To me, Sage is this

these 3 are Merola tiles from HD)

Tilebar

Winchester Tiles. See if they ship to NS

Check out these. they ship

https://www.perigold.com/filters/santa-fe-4-x-12-ceramic-fabric-look-subway-tile-l2970-k~sost4663-a38803~292065.html?sku=SOST4663&refid=GX214341981539-SOST4663_54656608

I think this one Beth posted would be gorgeous! But you have to get samples. I would avoid grays. I have a client in Nova Scotia and she gets products from Wayfair Ca.

I think that Ivy Hill tile is so striking - a slight bit of very light color yet it easily becomes a part of the background - that I did a photo shot to save for myself. I currently don't have a tile backsplash, and didn't think I'd like one for my house, but that tile might change my mind.

Thanks again for your input, everyone! I love the Ivy Hill tile, but apparently we can’t purchase through wayfair. We’ve committed to purchasing through a local flooring and tile store, since they have the contract with our renovators, and they’ll be doing the install. So, we’re limited to Olympia Tile and what’s carried by another local store called Elegant Flooring. They’re the ones who carry the Wow Tile—the ones we haven’t liked so far.

You’ve definitely given me some food for thought. The sage green tiles aren’t a great shade… they’re dark and dull. It’s funny how something can look so appealing on a website but so yucky in person.

If I can’t find the right shade of green, I’m thinking I might stick to white but find a fun shape. So far, I’ve found these ones from Wow Design:

And for the record, I have nothing against colour! If I go with the white tile, I plan on hanging a couple colourful planters by the window, finding a colourful rug for under the sink, and buying a brightly coloured utensil jar. I’ll find a way of injecting personality, I promise.

This shape is also available in white. I will ask my hubby to get samples tomorrow if they’re available. Please feel free to ignore my ramblings at this point, but I promise I’ll post a picture when it’s all done.

The Crayon tiles are nice.

but apparently we can’t purchase through wayfair. We’ve committed to purchasing through a local flooring and tile store, since they have the contract with our renovators, and they’ll be doing the install. So, we’re limited to Olympia Tile and what’s carried by another local store called Elegant Flooring.

Could you ask the designer if they could order the tiles you like from Wayfair? not sure what the big deal is. If she can't, I'd just them you've changed your mind about the tile backsplash and have decided just to do paint for now. Tell them it's too stressful looking for tile and you'd like to rest on it. (I mean, do you HAVE to pick a backsplash?? ) Many people just do the painted wall.

In a month or so, order the tiles yourself and a diff tile installer to do them. Pretty sure it's perfectly legal to change your mind about a tile backsplash!

Beth, I love the Encore tiles you posted!! They even come in different shapes. Some look kind of botanical, which is totally up my alley.

I haven’t found a Canadian supplier yet, but I’ll do some digging.

And yes, you make a good point about waiting. It’s more convenient to do it all right now while we’re not living in the house (and have them install it while they’re here doing other things) but it’s probably better to wait until we can find the perfect option.

To be honest, this has been such a bug renovation that I’m just tired and want to get it over with. But you’re right.

@Stfefanie - Believe me, we have all been there! If you have a good, on-the-job-now contractor you want to get the job DONE. But that’s how you end up regretting some decisions once the (literal) dust has settled and you’re living with your newly done house.

I didn’t do a backsplash for over a year in one house. I was “out of decisions” emotionally and knew I would settle for something just to get the whole thing over with. If you don’t love something, especially a tile for the backsplash, wait. Clearly you need time to research getting the color you want in Canada. Give yourself that time.

Paint the backsplash the green color you like, figure out a way to find it and install it later. It is the easiest to add without making a huge mess.

Canadian supplier for Encore - Surfaces - Toronto and Montreal

Oh those Encore crackle tiles were what I had my heart set on for my kitchen! They were out of my budget at the time and I had been ABB (All But the Backsplash) for over two years. I was going to try and hold out a little longer to save up more $, but then I found the sage ones locally and fell in love with them. You will know it when you find “The One” because you’ll do a little happy dance!

I looked at the Wow tile site. Did you see this one in the Fern color?

What do you think? Maybe have hubby grab a sample just in case.

In this mockup it looks more blue-green, but it might surprise you and look more of a muted sage green in your lighting. I have no idea if I made them to scale or not! 😜

Rebunky, that's a great rendering - it really gives a feel for what a solid wall of tile could look like.

That Zellige Hexa that Stephanie showed in white is intriguing for the space. Could you do a mockup of that one as well to see how all-white would compare to a light colored tile?

Sure! I have fun doing the mockups.

I tried adding some decor and hanging plants, but I wasn’t sure what colors Stephanie had in mind. I think the hex looks nice too!

Rebunky, thank you so much for taking the time to do those!! It really does help!

getting it over with means choosing something you really don't love. I waited one year to pick mine after a complete kitchen upheaval. I looked at unfinished greenboard for a year! lol.

a painted wall is a piece of cake. wait. you'll be glad you did.

Beautiful tile choice, Beth. Your kitchen is magazine-worthy!

Beth, your backsplash is gorgeous!! The whole kitchen is beautiful!

thank you. yours will be too! wait and pick a killer tile.

Ok, one last kick at the can…

We visited the showroom in person today and saw exactly what they had in stock. They have a green colour called “mint” which I originally wrote off because I thought “mint? yuck!”, but it actually matches our “saybrook sage” dining hutch (which you can see in the photo below).

The designer at the showroom suggested a feature behind the range in the green tile, so we don’t have to put the green everywhere (I like colour, but I think using the green everywhere might be a bit much for my husband). I was thinking it might look good in a herringbone pattern behind the range hood. Then, the gradient white can go everywhere else in a standard brick layout.

Thoughts?

I could also let go of the green and just do the gradient white in a herringbone layout everywhere, or do a feature behind the range in an interesting pattern in the white.

Ignore the random guy in the picture 😂.

I like the green herringbone and would do it everywhere.

you have to realize that once your hood is up, you aren't going to have a whole lot of tile.

(doing a design behind the range is only good if you have unobstructed views and a large span (ike 36-42")

otherwise, it's going to look like this

(And just NO to two diff colors!)

this looks better. if doing a hood like this, add a strip of wood to it (or after it's in) it helps warm up all the white

basically the green will look like this when you walk into the kitchen. the other part you really aren't going to see as much since whatever you keep on the counter will break it up

look at how beautiful this is. once you get the rug in, the countertop items, maybe a sconce/window treatment, it will blend beautifully

And, if you put in some sconces over the window, it would break it up further and look so good

you could choose to stop midway

but I like the entire window area done.

This one is very vibrant. yours won't be anything like this color. does it look that bad?

it would be more like this one

diff orientation

I love that!!! I would do that in a heartbeat. Then when I saw your green hutch that matched, I thought it was absolutely perfect!

I got rid of ”Random Guy” 🤣. I picked this tile to mock up for you because I thought it looked very similar. You could do the herringbone pattern if you like and it would look great too. I am so excited for you. I hope, hope hope, hope hubby gives the thumbs up.

I agree. The green perfect. No to a feature wall. Use the free all

These mock ups should help him visualize how the green will look around the entire kitchen. It’s really not a lot…. 😊

I played it safe with Wow Fez in white,  but went with a herringbone pattern for fun! We love it and allows us to accent with other colors in the kitchen that are more easily switched out ( e.g., we went with a green cushion for the banquette seating and multi color runner by the sink)

Gorgeous!

Wow! That is perfect! It works so well with the countertop.

Nothing wrong with playing it safe. I love the herringbone pattern and the subtle neutral colors. I would love to see the sink wall and more photos. It’s beautiful and I am so happy for you!

@Stephanie We are in the process of updating our kitchen countertop/ backsplash. We also have white cabinets. Pretty sure you found our tile. Wow-Fez white in a herringbone pattern is a winner.

@rebunky Sink wall with a few angles. We have the tile all the way up the wall here,  along the half wall and over by the coffee/beverage area.  We went with a simple Schulter brass trim that matched our hardware and an off-white grout. Cabinets are SW Alabaster and countertops are MSI Calacutta prado.

That looks so good and your installers did a great job. Thanks for the extra pictures. Enjoy your beautiful kitchen!!!

came out great! I really like that tile.

may i make one suggestion for the window? replace those mini blinds as I think they detract from the overall look.

get some other type of blind or shade, in a neutral or even a light pattern.

i Like these shades because of the natural tone/texture that works w/your rug/tile

The woven woods are nice too. this one has the pendant

examples (and you could do a pendant if you prefer)

examples of roman blinds in a soft pattern. not these exact, but something similar.

a woven wood in the same tones as your rug or floor