Post pictures of the kitchen so we can see

Don't install lit. If it's installed and you think it's busy?! Post a photo!

Heavens to Betsy.........we have no X-ray vision, nor any crystal balls

Thank you Scott and Jan: apologies, I got interrupted and failed to post photos. The facts - I have a small galley kitchen that is approximately 8' wide and 15' long (picture attached). The floor is Travertine and the countertops will be Taj Mahal Quartzite. The cabinets have just been refinished and are a medium brown. I will have a full backsplash. The three backsplash options that I am considering have photos included. I like the texture of the first backsplash and the warm yellows but wonder if it will be too busy. The second tile is called Rainwater and is glass with changing variations of brown based on overhead and window lighting. The third tile that is being considered for the backsplash is called champagne and is a simple monochromatic satin look. Thank you again for your help.

@billding23

Stop. Please. Save yourself.

Do NOT pair Travertine with Taj Mahal. You will be very unhappy. If you want Taj, I would re think the flooring. If you want the floor, re think the counter top.

And the answer is no to ALL the backsplash selections with Taj .I would urge you to go backwards before you venture further.

. Travertine can read very pink /beige. Yes there are warm tones in Taj ( no hint of pink ) ........but the competition between the two stones may make you wish you had not chosen BOTH. That's almost a promise. I smell very unhappy coming.

Unless a climate reason for a tile floor, I'd consider a lighter toned hardwood, engineered or even an LVP. Failing that....... a porcelain "wood look" lighter. NOT good below.

noooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!

COMPARE

Thank you Jan for the prompt response. The travertine flooring was part of the original kitchen. I have debated replacing it. I am already committed to the Taj Mahal countertops which are being installed the first week of December. I could always use the Taj Mahal as the backsplash. Then I could address the flooring. I am attaching a picture of the travertine floors which are very neutral with hints of yellow and grey. Thank you again for your suggestions.

You are good. You ask all of the right questions that all too many fail to ask. The bedrooms and dining room are engineered wood flooring. The hallway, laundry room, two bathrooms, and kitchen have the same travertine tile. I have attached a picture of wood flooring. Not familiar with CUT. Would you choose white ceramic tile as backsplash

in place of continuing with Taj Mahal for the countertops and full backsplash? Thanks ever so much for all of your assistance. You nailed it when suggesting concerns over the travertine flooring competing with the Taj Mahal countertops. I have had that concern from the beginning of this remodeling effort.

Haruuuumph!!!! I asked all the questions you never asked.

HAD you asked.........I probably would have said , don't do a dark wood kitchen, EXTEND the hardwood to the kitchen, to the hallway, even into a HALF bath.

I don't know your layout. If that is the dining area beyond? I'd be inclined to say rip to a new hardwood in the dining area, and include the kitchen, and the "hall" if that is the back hall.

A counter top isn't YOURS, even when paid for, until it goes under the cutting blade.. The travertine, if only due to size you have ......is dated. I DON'T think you will love that with the counter install, but the Taj is pretty with the cabinetry. It will be pretty with the simplest soft white subway,. It really needs no competition. But in any scenario I don't like the idea of two different floors between dining and kitchen. Taj looks great with white........and white would have looked great with your hardwood. Alas...........................

This is similar to what Jan was suggesting. Taj on both countertops and backsplash, flooring is natural oak.

A natural oak would be fine.! White oak, preferably! I guess the lesson here is one: Nothing lives in isolation. Not cabinetry, not flooring, not anything. My answer to the op is this:

Do what you will love for the long haul. Yes, the Taj will be lovely as a counter top.It needs the simplest splash.......put the $$$$ toward flooring.

The issue thus..........the FLOOR. A rip of dining and kitchen for enough contrast with dark cabinetry, PROBABLY results in the happiest solution for the long hall. An isolated hardwood bedroom, assuming it isn't butting to a different WOOD? That's rather the least of the issue here, and far less a noticeable one in your home.

Thanks again for your commentary. I

will clarify. The living room / den adjoins the kitchen and a small dining room which is merely used for a pass-through room between kitchen and master bedroom. The original dining room is too narrow for my dining room set. Therefore I use the living room / den for dining. It adjoins the south end of the kitchen and is carpeted. I intend to get new flooring next year for the living room / den. The small pass-through room, the living room / den, and two small bedrooms adjoin the kitchen. Three of these rooms (two bedrooms and pass-through room) have the engineered wood floor that is cinnamon in color. And Jan, you are correct. I failed to take a holistic approach when considering the new flooring for the four bedrooms, and the small pass-through room. I intend to use the same flooring for the kitchen and living room / den since that is the area for dining and is a continuation from the kitchen. See attached picture, the south end of the kitchen and the actual dining area.

Random thoughts:

- I agree that Travertine and Taj Mahal aren't going to be good friends. Their undertones will always be at war with one another, and it'll be hard to say at first glance exactly "what's wrong" with the room ... but you'll be sure something is wrong.

- I don't agree that Travertine (or anything else) is "dated". You should never make house-choices based upon what's currently trendy ... your choices will long outlive the current flash-in-the-pan. Instead, decide what you really, really like ... which is easier said than done.

Travertine is a lovely neutral tile choice that just isn't being pushed at this moment. If you had said you love it and already have it throughout the house, I'd urge you to make choices to match it nicely. However, since you've said you're already thinking of removing it, I'd encourage you to choose something to match the Taj-M you've chosen.

Put differently, you need to let the Travertine OR the Taj-M drive the bus that holds the rest of your choices. Your choices need to be related to one another.

- General rule of thumb: Your countertop and your floor need to be connected in some way. That is, they need to have something in common.

- As for the backsplash, which was, after all, the original question ... I don't particularly love any of your choices. Especially if you're sticking with the Taj-M, you need something simple. That stone is already a show-stopper, and you want something that'll take a backseat to your stone. You don't want something strong that'll compete for dominance.

Today's go-to is the white subway tile ... but it's ubiquitous as well as plain and unappealing. It's almost the same as doing nothing to your backsplash. I'd personally lean towards a 4" square tile with a subtle crackle pattern. I might lay it out in a diamond pattern, but I wouldn't add any accents or pattern deviations; rather, I'd let it stand as a solid background.

If you do opt for a subway tile, I'd vote for a miniature variety with a bit of variety in tone.

On the other hand, if you DO want your backsplash to take center stage (and it's easy to argue that it's more visible than your countertops, which will always be covered with plates, pots, etc.), then choose a snazzy stand-out tile ... but simplify your countertop choice.

- Love your big windows. They are the best feature in the kitchen.

- Last thought, which I'm approaching carefully so as hopefully not to offend: Your style choices need to match ... but your financial choices need to match the house and one another.

You're talking about a house that already contains engineered wood flooring, carpet, and refinished cabinets ... these are all modest-budget choices. And you're bringing in an expensive quartzite stone. Is this stone choice in keeping with the rest of the house? Is it wise to place this expensive stone on not-new cabinets? If you were to sell this house next year, would you get your money back out of the stone purchase? Since I have only the information provided here, I have no idea ... but I urge you to think them through.

I'm on Saturday WINE. Draw as sketch, just flat, and just boxes. what room butts to what room, OPEN to one another and halls....and mark what floor is in there. In EACH of them

I DO understand resources. But as much as possible? get to ONE unified floor. Yes ONE. Baths excepted.

Piecemeal remodels are always tough, lets not make it tougher: ) PS....... Is something replacing the white stove? I'll pray on that : )

All appliances are brushed nickel finish. The stove looks white because of the bright light from an overhead window that is in the ceiling. OK, I will draw out the floor plan and post it. Thanks for all of the time that you are putting into this.

At this juncture maybe it would be simpler to scrap the idea of the Taj Mahal countertop and get something that is less competitive with the flooring. Argggghhh, nothing is as simple as I would like.

And just to complicate things further, I would say Taj Mahal is not usually a warm tone. And it doesn't really have much white either. If you want plain subway, a cream or pale gray will work better.

No Taj Mahal.

J Design Group - Miami Interior Designers
225 Malaga Ave
Coral Gables, FL 33134
Ph: 305-444-4611
https://www.JDesignGroup.com

Thank you for weighing in. I am now in the midst of cancelling the request for the Taj Mahal countertops. Just hoping that it is not too late!

Just saying, when you cancel the tops, the flooring issues will still be there> So.............do you LOVE the travertine floor? That's the question. Make sure before you settle and cancel. Because the warm and plain tops you will STILL need...... will still be there..........with a floor you either do or do not love. That's the issue.

There are lots of things to love about my house, including the hardwood floors. The travertine came with the house which I purchased in 2001, and while I am not in love with it I know how much work is required in ripping it out. I am doing my best to manage this kitchen remodel to a reasonable budget. I track all of my home expenses including painting, roofing, cooling and heating upgrades, landscaping, lighting, pool maintenance, and flooring. So far I have spent just over $270,000 on improvements. If I remove all of the travertine tile (and I am working on that drawing for you) and replace it with hardwood that still doesn't get me around the one floor footprint that is recommended. The hardwood would need to be white oak for the kitchen and the rest of the hardwood flooring is a cinnamon color. Someone told me that there were at least 1,000 decisions to be made in remodeling a kitchen. I fully believe that. There are just too many options, and too many designers who don't provided consistent recommendations (that doesn't include the ones that I have found on Houzz however). Yesterday it felt as if I were playing a football game, been tackled and someone yelled 'Pile on". It felt as if all of my decisions regarding this kitchen remodel were bad ones. Today I will try again to remedy the problems one step at a time. And kitchens that are totally white-washed are not all that appealing as they appear sterile and dull. However, as mentioned they are unquestionably the trend.

Following

I hear you. But that's why a good designer at the start of a project "forces" you into thinking all the related decisions through.....

Your word was "holistic". Mine is " what's the best value and style and all.....within the context of what is possible"

Call it Rubiks cube .....:)

• Rubik's cube indeed. The operative word is 'good'. Much like looking for a good partner in life, I have met many toads in my quest for a prince. Unfortunately I have not found an

outstanding local designer. I have been given lots of bad advice. It has only been in doing my own homework and finding people such as yourself that I have succeeded. I offer the following rendering of my house with approximate measurements and scale. Apologies that I cannot get the image oriented correctly even though it is correctly displayed after I downloaded it to my computer.

That's a total waste of Taj for the counters if floors stay the same.

From my understanding using the counter material for the backsplash is not a good idea because counters are much thicker than tile. You'll lose some counter surface area. Electrical is harder to do. Seams more noticeable. Cost much greater.

Do not pick a backsplash until the counters are installed.

Call your fabricator and put the installation off until you can decide what you're doing with the floors. If you're keeping the floors then choose another counter.

thank you for your help Leelee.

It looks like your travertine may be more neutral than Jan posted. There are many shades of travertine. And I think travertine is an enduring flooring that can work well in the existing areas in your home. I wouldn't rip it out because of it doesn't work with the Taj. Work to find a counter top that works with the gold and cream tones in the flooring.

Thank you SuzyQ53. I wonder if you happen to know the choice of the countertop in the first picture above. What is it called? Is it granite?

If you could find something like this the tones would work I think. I don't know what the first picture is, but it is granite.

Bite a bullet. Stop the "later" thing as much as possible. Get the Taj, and tile in a soft white subway. Do the FLOOR NOW. The hallways will break any tone variation in woods. In fact, you MAY want to look into the refinish possibility to a lighter tone for the wood you now have. I'd be done with the travertine in the kitchen. Now. Along with the carpeted space you were going to do anyway.

As far as white subway being ubiquitous? Yeah.......... and who CARES. The reason is the focus is and has been on the counter top. ........We had chickens and roosters on a splash, when everyone had white Corian lol

I'd add that your bedrooms are only visible from 30 inch doorways. ......... so that's that. Had I see all this at the start? That "pass through" wouldn't exist : )

So just redo the flooring in the square and leave all the other travertine?

taj and white oak is beautiful

don't even think about backsplash until you get your counter and flooring installed.

most pics w/taj are with white cabs, I only found a few w/wood.

bringing the slab up the back looks great, but you really need an experienced fabricator who can match any veining.

I think this one above has travertine. I like the oak better.

here is one w/white and a gray tile flooring. all depends if your slab has more golden tones or grayer tones.

I think we lost the OP

Her struggle? To do what I said above, again in pic below, and unify the flooring in the red box. It Means RIPPING or refinishing a small section of hardwood already installed. That is the "pass though" in her sketch.

She is ALREADY planning to replace the carpet within the red box. The kitchen, unless she wants a black granite, a soft white Corian, .........needs to not be travertine.. Her existing hardwood is dark for the re finish stain she used on kitchen cabinets. So.. She inadvertently painted herself into her kitchen, with regards to both flooring, and counter top. Clinging to either pass through flooring, or the kitchen floor, won't advance a cause unless the counter top becomes the sacrificial lamb.

That's the deal, and that is what happens with piece by piece improvements unless you are extremely careful, or willing to live with an unforeseen sacrificial lamb.. Which is why it says........

bite the bullet : )

It's the reason PRO's say:

Layout, then flooring, appliances, cabinetry and finish all considered together, then lighting, then tops to cabinetry,..........................and a mile up the road you get to backsplashes and hardware.

This " O P pickle" is exactly why.