Kitchen Tiles

My husband brought up the idea of installing kitchen tiles instead of hardwoods like we originally planned, and I initially balked at the idea but after doing some research I am definitely on board with the new plan.  This dream kitchen is absolutely stunning and, while I never would have thought to use that floor tiles design, I actually love how it looks against the black and white cabinets with richly marbled granite. Not to mention, the faux stone tile design on the floor perfectly coordinates with the stacked stone fireplace in the attached living room.  The other thing that really stood out to me about this room was how they coordinated the kitchen wall tiles with the floor, but gave it a slightly different more modern look with the metallic mosaic pattern.

I was pretty opposed to kitchen tiles for awhile because I feel like the look was too "1990s Floridian," but I am actually starting to change my mind after looking through so many pictures on here.  I know that from a maintenance perspective, kitchen floor tiles are so ideal because there is very little that you can do to damage them and they are so easy to maintain (if you have the right products).  Of course, I will admit that I do love the look of wood so much more than tile, but this example house actually looks pretty good to me.  I really like the beige kitchen tiles design against the same colored cabinets because I think it makes a very blended look without being too "matchy matchy."  Definitely something that I am going to consider for the house. 

For anybody that says that kitchen tiles are not for them, I dare you to look at these pictures of this gorgeous kitchen and not think that it is just stunning.  I love how the flooring and the kitchen backsplash tile evoke a rustic yet contemporary style that is subtle enough to appeal to just about any decor taste, yet bold enough to really show that the overall design was very well thought out.  Beyond the tile elements, I absolutely love the styling of the rest of the space.  The contrasting rich cafe island contrasts so nicely against the distressed white cabinetry, and the exposed wood beam detail on the ceiling is just dynamite.

The kitchen tiles we chose for our kitchen were the starting point of my design inspiration.  Believe it or not, the thing that started this entire room was the somewhat boring white subway tile backsplash.  I know that this is probably considered a very simplistic element, but I have been wanting a subway tile accent in my kitchen for ages.  I always knew that I was going to pair this piece with gorgeous quartz countertops in a marble-esque pattern, but I was not sure what I wanted to do with the floors.  Most white kitchen ideas that I have seen feature dark wood plank flooring, but that seemed too dark for this all-white room.

As you can see from these pictures, we have some outdated kitchen tiles that are in dire need of replacing so that we can take our home out of the 1980s and into this millennium haha.  I think that our house has fantastic potential -- we have great architectural details (check out our gorgeous living room ceiling design) and out of this world views.  However, the decor leaves something to be desired.  Honestly, as far as the kitchen goes, I think that refacing the cabinets and maybe added some new and trendy kitchen backsplash ideas (not to mention a new countertop) could go a long ways.  Here is where I am faced with a major design dilemma that I am hoping to get everybody on here's input on -- should I keep with the current countertop tiles design (just with a new material) or should I abandon it all together and add quartz countertops or something else new and trendy?

Alert the presses (and all of the forums on here) -- I need some help making a design decision on these kitchen tiles that have become a major debate in our marriage. To start off, I want to say that I absolutely without a doubt love our beautiful traditional kitchen design, I think that it is beautiful, timeless, and pretty much my favorite place in our entire home.  My thing is that my husband insists that our diamond backsplash tiles are bringing the entire look down and making it look dated.  Honestly, I think he's cray cray (for more reasons than one ha ha I'm kidding) because I feel that a neutral backsplash tile like that is quite simply a timeless look that will never go out of style, but maybe I am just a square with no design sense.