Final kitchen choices -- am I headed into Tackyville?

[dr.girlfriend]

So, a reminder, I have a modest 2-bedroom house in the Northeast, I guess kind of Cape Cod style. 



Just to give you a sense of the overall house, the adjoining rooms to the (small, 9' x 11') kitchen are a t.v. room that is painted paneling with built-ins:



and a dining room (which will now be almost fully open to the kitchen with a peninsula between them) has a little bit of glitz in the form of a ceiling medallion and modest chandelier, and maybe more formal velvet curtains.  (Table will eventually be gray with white chairs).  (Here's a better pic of the dining room chandelier when I was painting it a brushed nickel):



Here are my choices for kitchen finishes so far, the light fixtures here are the two pendants that will be over the new "peninsula."  I feel like so far things are pretty transitional/sedate.

So, question one:  Light fixture.  We are putting in four recessed lights, but where the sink used to be there will now be a 66" run of counterspace next to the stove that will be our main food prep area.  We have this fixture in front of the window at present, and although it's almost new I don't really like it that much (I should have listened when you guys tried to talk me out of it):


I think additional light there would be nice, but it is not really necessary that it's super-functional.  I've seen some pics where people put like a mini-chandelier or some othe really glitzy light fixture there.  Some I've seen and liked (in a "that-is-cool-but-maybe-not-for-me" way) would be like this:



What do people think?  Would something like this in front of the window be cool/funky/unique/visually interesting, or discordant/tacky/McMansion/what-house-does-she-think-she's-in over-the-top? Any other suggestions for that in-front-of-the-window light? I could also probably tell my contractor to get rid of it altogether in the next few days, that was his suggestion initially.

Second question:  backsplash. The backsplash will cover the same amount of space as it does in the picture above.  Keeping in mind the counter has sparkly silver chips of mica in it, I'm finding myself attracted to kind of glittery backsplashes, like this metallic-gloss tile:



or this (hopefully more subtle) Ghost gloss ceramic tile:


 
Do you think these choices are too "glitzy"?

[pitterwoo]

Light fixture: no. Backsplash: yes!

[dr.girlfriend]

Jul 23, 2014 12:04:26 GMT -5 pitterwoo said:

Light fixture: no. Backsplash: yes!

Are those your "thumbs up" versus "thumbs down" answers or your answers to my "is it too glitzy" question?  :-)  If you're voting no on the light fixtures, do you have any suggestions?  The most boring choice would be to get one more pendant of the same type and maybe hang it higher, but that strikes me as a bit odd.  I may have to wait until it's close to done to see where exactly the window fixture falls relative to the two pendants, but I have a feeling my contractor will do this for free if I get something now whereas I might have to pay someone to change it out later, since I'm a wimp about electricity.

[TBM]

I took pitterwoo's answer to be a :N: on the lamp and :Y: to the backsplash ideas.

I have no suggestions for lighting.

[AmyRI]

Ghost glass ceramic tile and a light more like the ones in that same inspiration pic. I think all of the ones you posted are too glitzy and don't really go with the rest of your house.

[raangoli]

I was going to suggest a matching light to the two pendants that you already selected. I like the ones that you like/posted, but I don't think they go. That's too many different light fixtures in a close proximity, IMO. I wouldn't call that tacky, but it's not cohesive.

I like the ideas for the back splash though.

[sjh722]

I like the ghost tile. I am not a big fan of the lights.

[munkii]

Both of the backsplash options you posted are nice.

About the light...I'm not crazy about any of the options you posted. I lie, I love the 3rd light, but I don't think it (or any of them) will work in your space. If you don't want to use the same pendant there, I would go with something similar in shape and smaller or something that's different but won't compete. 

For example:
similar, but different: www.lampsusa.com/amelia-1-light-mini-pendant-polished-nickel-3126pn.aspx#.U8_vaeNdXOM

different, slightly glitzy, doesn't compete: www.lampsusa.com/kassidy-1-light-mini-pendant-white-ls-19848pearl.aspx#.U8_up-NdXOM

[Deleted]

I think that second light fixture (the viney one) is gorgeous. It might be a tad glitzy but not terrible but I would probably advise against it. I would not go with that first tile, it's too shiney. The ghost gloss tile would be better.

[juliahenry]

I think you should go with the backsplash you posted yesterday 


Seriously though, i love the ghost tile, the other was a bit too shimmery for me. And I really like all of the light fixtures you posted, so I'm no help there. Your plans are beautiful

[msmerymac]

The lights are NMS, but I'm really not into glitz at all. It's popular enough in house blogs, though, so don't let just my opinion deter you. For resale, though, I think leaning towards a transitional style would probably work best (I replaced a lot of really fug lights in my own house. Like, all of them.)

I like the ghost gloss tile. I don't like the first choice, but another option, if you don't want it to be completely one-note (which I actually DO like) is to do a backsplash with hints of metallic, like this (or the random strip type):



You could also maybe do a tin backsplash?

[dr.girlfriend]

Jul 23, 2014 12:56:11 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

The lights are NMS, but I'm really not into glitz at all. It's popular enough in house blogs, though, so don't let just my opinion deter you. For resale, though, I think leaning towards a transitional style would probably work best (I replaced a lot of really fug lights in my own house. Like, all of them.)

I like the ghost gloss tile. I don't like the first choice, but another option, if you don't want it to be completely one-note (which I actually DO like) is to do a backsplash with hints of metallic, like this (or the random strip type):



You could also maybe do a tin backsplash?

FYI, I'm not too worried about resale, if this isn't our "forever" house it's at least our "until-we-can't-handle-the-stairs-anymore" house. This was another one I was considering that is more like random strips.  I think the true random strips of travertine/marble might be too gray in comparison to the mostly-beiges I have so far:

[pitterwoo]

Jul 23, 2014 12:12:15 GMT -5 TBM said:

I took pitterwoo's answer to be a on the lamp and to the backsplash ideas.

I have no suggestions for lighting.

Correct. This

[FoxInFiji]

I agree with the pp posters I'm not crazy about the light fixtures (although I like them for other locations). With yoke pendant lights like you'll have over the peninsula I've seen a duplicate one over the sink or a schoolhouse style flushmount/pendant. They have a similar look without being an exact match. Just get something with the same finish as your other lights.

I love both of the backsplash choices but I think the glittery tile looks best when it has undercabinet lighting because it gives it some light to bounce off of. Similar to downlights that wash down a wall of accent tile. I know you weren't doing that because you don't have hardly any upper cabinets though. Do you think your kitchen will be bright enough to really notice the shimmer more than the glossy white tile? Just something to think about.

[dr.girlfriend]

Jul 23, 2014 16:02:11 GMT -5 FoxInFiji said:

I agree with the pp posters I'm not crazy about the light fixtures (although I like them for other locations). With yoke pendant lights like you'll have over the peninsula I've seen a duplicate one over the sink or a schoolhouse style flushmount/pendant. They have a similar look without being an exact match. Just get something with the same finish as your other lights.

I love both of the backsplash choices but I think the glittery tile looks best when it has undercabinet lighting because it gives it some light to bounce off of. Similar to downlights that wash down a wall of accent tile. I know you weren't doing that because you don't have hardly any upper cabinets though. Do you think your kitchen will be bright enough to really notice the shimmer more than the glossy white tile? Just something to think about.

That's a good point, although with the window and the light fixture right above it, as well as the recessed lights in the center of the room and the two big pendants, I feel like that would be a fair amount of light bouncing around for a 9 x 11 space.  Which may actually be a vote against the metallic, if it's going to be blazing like a mirror all over the place, lol.  I'm hoping to see them both in person, hopefully I'll fall in love with one (and it'll be cheap!).

[pixy0stix]

I'd thwack a hanging light in the kitchen and it would shatter into a million pieces.

[TBM]

I feel like the window is not the spot for a feature light. It will draw attention away from all of the great features in your new kitchen and make the lamp and window the focus. That seems odd to me.

[sarahbear]

Are both water faucets chrome? One looks like brushed nickle. If they are different I would suggest that they both match in finishes.

[boiler717]

I would do a matching light like pp suggested. I am normally all for glitz, but I have a hard time with glitzy backsplashes for some reason. I think it's fine to have though.

[kaylie]

I would suggest a recessed light over the sink. Our pendants are dust magnets and having one that close to a stove could also make it a grease magnet.

I love the ghost gloss backsplash. I think the super glitzy metallic one might be a bit much, though.

[dr.girlfriend]

Jul 23, 2014 17:02:55 GMT -5 sarahbear said:

Are both water faucets chrome? One looks like brushed nickle. If they are different I would suggest that they both match in finishes.

Unfortunately, I can't match them exactly because only two options are available in the Quick Hot faucet and neither of them match the Delta faucet.  I've heard from other people who have mixed them that it actually looks fine, so here's hoping!