Travertine for Backsplash - $240

Here is the inspiration picture for our backsplash. It is from one one of the houses in last year's PDX Street of Dreams.

We decided on travertine instead of tile, because it has a more natural look. Home Depot had a special on a relatively rustic pattern, so we bought 3 boxes of the noche (brownish) and 1 of the ivory (lighter). These tiles are 18" x 18" and 1/2" thick.

Here is a picture of the travertine:

The cost is $3.50 per sq ft, totalling $130. We are going to cut these down into 3" x 6" pieces for a brick pattern, plus the diamonds for above the stove.

We are going to use the counter granite (tan brown) as the small accent pieces in the harlequin pattern. This is the concept drawing:

We brought bronze rope edging to frame this pattern to set it off. These were 6" long and $3 apiece. Twenty of them cost $60. The epoxy grout is going to be about $25, and the adhesive around $25 as well.

Total cost is about $240. If we were to buy the tiles pre-cut, we would be at $15 a sf or more, making the project top $750 in cost. So we will have about $500 for 3 hours of cutting on the tile saw.