You may have already made a decision on this but I thought I'd just weigh in with my thoughts anyway ... six months ago we finished fitting out a new kitchen and we are thrilled with both the look and the practicality of it all. Initially I was going to go down the glass splash back track but eventually I chose tiles because I decided that, for me, the seamless splash back was a bit bland and same same. I also love blue, brown and white as a palette – and the tiles I chose were just slightly wonky (not too crazy – they still had to be easy to wipe over etc), rectangular, hand-made Spanish tiles in a lovely duck-egg blue. The slight wonkiness means they catch the light beautifully as you move around the room. The benches and cupboards are a warm white and the large island bench is a fantastic slab of spotted gum with another long piece of spotted gum on the upstand behind the sink. Behind the stove (which is the only place that the real concern about grotty grout really comes into play) we have a stainless steel splash back going up to the rangehood. Not sure if this helps but I am thrilled with my kitchen and have no regrets about going with interesting tiles.

Hi Chad, Without a brief I have 3 tile suggestions for your beach side apartment...from Delorenzo Tiles. Tiles are the perfect flooring for a beach residence. Before laying you will be required to insulate for noise dampening depending if you have an apartment below. #1 Legni Legni is a porcelain tile which has been screen printed with a glaze to create a unique effect. Legni has the appearance of a washed timber floor tile and each colour contains a random mix of 8 patterns. Available in a range of pastel colours, and 3 sizes, this product is unique in its manufacture and also its design. matched with white walls It screams beach to me!! FUN!! #2The Carpet collection replicates warm fabrics and carpet textures. Suitable for wall or floor applications. Adding a texture to create a feeling of the Casaba! You could overlay with bright colours to create your personal style. #3 Geotech is a series of full body porcelain tiles made with ink jet technology. The inspiration for this series comes from Madeira, an island off the coast of Africa. Formed by volcanic activity, one of the island’s notable features is a special stone that has the appearance of fossilised wood. This series combines the markings that are typically found in natural stone, with unique colour combinations.

What a great job you did. So good that you just went with white. The concrete floor tile on wall behind the vanity would have been too busy after now having seen the finished product.

We installed a feature wall of tiles in our bathroom of a similar pale blue-green colour to your examples. The closest dulux colour I came across was dewpoint. (Not quite close enough to be painted alongside the tile so we went with white for the non-tiled portion of wall so I can't show you a sample of it painted but might be worth looking at).