Kitchen Sink Tile Backsplash ? http://shim1.shutterfly.com/procgserv/47... I don't have a ton of money for my kitchen...

http://shim1.shutterfly.com/procgserv/47...

I don't have a ton of money for my kitchen but I feel I can do some minor things. I) Orange countertop MUST shift. I am seriously considering due the lack of counter space in the kitchen, what you see is my one and only countertop space, is move the fridge to the wall on the right, which you cant realy see in this pic, but there is an inside interior wall im going to set the fridge against, and afterwards extend the countertop the wall, and put a base cabinet below it, and one above it to be the same size vertically as the one subsequent to the fridge. A neutral beige-ish countertop, and then probably a array top thing for above the stove. Replace old sink & faucet too.

My cross-question about making a tile backsplash for above the sink, would ie be more logical to measure it out, and put the tiles on a piece of plywood and screw that 2 the wall instead of grouting the wall and tiles affixed to the wall directly.
You must apply the tiles directly to the wall. Putting them on plywood would be terrible. Take the extra time and do it right. another thing you could do is convert the knobs to give it a different look
since you said that your budget is minimal , I would suggest subway tiles that are directly applied to the wall .

If you glue them to a board it will look rather gluey and not permanent, and on top of that you will hold the bulge of the plywood .
Answers:    tiling directly to plywood is injudicious for 2 reasons. the first is that specific products must be used to guarantee its adhesion to the surface and the second is that you would have the solidity of the plywood showing at the edges. it would look odd and incomplete. just pick some tile you close to from lowes, home depot or you local tile distributor (which offers better quality tile than home depot or lowes, and usually at merely as comparable prices) and adhere them to the wall with any mastic or thinset. mastic should only be used for ceramic tiles lower than 6 inches and not for glass tiles or marble. your best bet is just to buy thinset. ultraflex II from lowes is a upright product.

a tumbled marble on a diagonal with stone accent pieces placed throughout would look nice and not break the guard, since your backsplash space isn't more than 15 square feet. mosaic tiles would look nice as well and wouldn't be too costly. the great point about such a small backsplash space is that you can splurge on the tiles that range from $3-$10 a foot if you want. a 4x4 or 6x6 terracotta tile in your preferred color would look nice on a brick pattern if you aren't into the tumbled marble.

i'm including some links to some backsplash pictures. the 1st couple are specifically tumbled marbled designs and the later couple are just other different options. moral luck!
For the splash put a bet on try use something that is the same length as the worktop, something to be exact pre-finished overall cost may be the same with reduced work and mess of tiles.

you could use:
Glass
sizeable tiles instead of a lot of small ones
stainless steel
there is also one to be exact the same material as the worktop
or a moment ago paint the wall with a gloss paint between the w/top and the wall unit.

To give yourself more w/top space reduce the overall size of the sink. Check links below.

http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects.htm

http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/pla...

http://www.appliancesuwant.co.uk/acatalo...

http://www.ujr.ca/EN/Kindred%20Stainless...