mikika's Profile

In defence of stainless steel ... I love stainless steel tiles (really love those long thin ones you're looking at too). I had a backsplash with larger 50x50mm square tile and I found it really easy to care for and clean. I got mine from a metal tile designer in Sydney (www.alloydesign.com.au) they were high quality, solid metal, so I think that makes a big difference with the look of them and how they last - apparently the lower quality stainless steel tiles can show rust and can mark over time. So go for a good quality ss tile. Ours weren't cheap but we were thrilled with the result - it was worth it, it really 'made' our kitchen. Obviously you wouldn't scrub them with a heavy duty scourer because they might scratch (what surface wouldn't?), but I never had any problems on the cleaning front - I used a stainless steel cleaning solution from time to time just to give them a bit of a birthday. Not much more work than a glass back splash I wouldn't imagine.
From memory, I think they also did a 'penny' tile in copper which looks kind of like the penny tile on the floor of The Standard (love that too) - but unfortunately without the Abe Lincoln effect!
Good luck with the new kitchen.