The backsplash I picked looked great in the store, then reality hit at 2am

I spent two weeks picking out this dark green ceramic tile for my kitchen backsplash, matched it with grout samples and everything. Installed it last Tuesday after my shift, took about 9 hours total. Once it was done I stepped back and the color just turned muddy brown under my under-cabinet lights, completely different from the showroom. The store had warm lighting and I never checked it against my own LED strip setup. Now I'm staring at $380 worth of tile that I hate every time I walk in there. Has anyone else had a material look totally different in their actual space, and did you end up ripping it out or learning to live with it?

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1 Comment

briannguyen7h ago

Honestly used to think lighting was overhyped until I grabbed a paint swatch home once and it went from a nice warm gray to straight baby blue in my hallway. That was a cheap lesson compared to your $380 tile though. Now I bring samples home and tape them up for a few days before I commit to anything. I'd say live with it for a couple weeks, sometimes the brown settles in and becomes the vibe, but if it still bugs you every single day, rip it out and blame the store lighting.