Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - Kitchen countertop accents?

Ok so I just bought a home with a nice sized kitchen and I have virtually gutted the entire house from wall to wall and top to bottom (never again, but...) anyway - I have a very specific look that I want for the kitchen - light oak cabinets with the 12 inch around the top to display my frankoma pottery collection and then all black appliances have been purchased along with 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 inch tiles for the countertop and of course all the standard finishing pieces, bullnose edging, etc. I have red counter appliances - microwave, toaster, can opener and all red apples items for country/antique accents. So here is my question, I would like to have some type of accent pices to make the countertop really pop - if this were just my house for the next 50 years then I would do red tiles in it but since I am looking at resale value down the road I want to do something with that in mind. What I am considering, but not sure how to tell the contractors to make it work, is buying some square or rectangle wrought iron trivet plates and then insetting them into the black tile - that would make it functional as well as serve as an accent. My problem is that if i do that then how would the bottom be finished over the wood base that he is using for the countertop? Paint it black underneath ? Do something to make the trivets black underneath and more even with the tops of them? I am leaning towards that option since I would think that the trivets being open in the grate work would cause crumbs and such to drop down and be impossible to clean. I found some really nice antique brass and copper tiles for accents but I didnt pay attention to the price until the contractor bought 4 of them and the 4 were over 100 bucks so ... needless to say those got returned :) My other accents such as all light switch plates and electrical outlets are all an antique brass, carriage house Amerock style.

So any ideas would be appreciated for something to really make my countertop unique at the same time keeping in mind my taste as well as others down the road

Thanks !

I think if you are concerned about resale value, you should not install black ceramic tile on your counter top. If you choose to do so, then you may as well put any kind of accent tiles that suit you, because I'm pretty confident that unless you find a new homeowner with your taste, they're going to take them up, anyway.

I think your color scheme is exciting, but you must put aside your reservations about resale and just enjoy what you like while you have it!:)

I think if you are concerned about resale value, you should not install black ceramic tile on your counter top. If you choose to do so, then you may as well put any kind of accent tiles that suit you, because I'm pretty confident that unless you find a new homeowner with your taste, they're going to take them up, anyway.

I think your color scheme is exciting, but you must put aside your reservations about resale and just enjoy what you like while you have it!:)

Thanks - and yeah - let the new homeowner deal with the mess of remodeling - god knows I have been - lol - I already told my realtor that if I work with her again, which I probably will in a few years that if I ever say the words "fixer upper" to jsut SHOOT ME or lock me in a room until I get over it :) I am just thrilled that so far all the flooring and paint and bathroom have all turned out in reality as I had in my mind

Thanks again !!!!

Good for you! Consider posting pictures on the DIY home page!

Good for you! Consider posting pictures on the DIY home page!

Will either put pics or links to the pics - took some when I first bought it before it got touched and then during the mess .... er I mean the remodeling lol