Kitchen Backsplash Thoughts

When we met with the tile/flooring folks, we opted not to get backsplash in the kitchen through them. I wasn't crazy about any of the backsplash options they had (there weren't many), so we decided we would do it on our own (or with help from some family member experts). In our last house, we never got around to doing the backsplash, so I'm determined to get this done early on in this house!

We really like the look of subway tile so we are pretty sure we are going to go with that. Now it's finding the right color. With our cream cabinets, white tile won't look good. The countertops have black, gray, cream, tan, purple all swirled in and the hardwoods are dark. I'm 99% sure we are doing light gray in the kitchen for paint (Benjamin Moore - Wickham Gray).

A collage of our selections.  The granite doesn't look quite the same in person, as you can see in the snapshot to the right, it looks much "cooler" and gray, not as warm as the picture shows here.

 

We grabbed a few tile options at a tile store to see if they might work.  Both pictures have the same tile, but the lighting is a little different in each.  In order - dark gray, tan/beige, light gray.

This is taken looking straight on at where the stove will be.

This is taken by the morning room, so there is more light.

Based on these 3, we liked the light gray the best (the one on the far right).  The dark gray could work, but I'm worried it will be too dark for the room.  The tan/beige is too warm/yellow and I think is too similar to the granite and the countertops.

My only concern is the amount of gray that we are using - the couch and the fireplace will be gray.  And if we do the walls gray... I don't want it to feel cold.  So we'll just have to make sure we use some warm accents as well.

What are you doing for backsplash?