It would help to see a picture of the entire plant or, at the least, a description of the entire plant. The 6th (I think) image -- darkish leaves -- may be a flowering crabapple. And consider posting in the Name that Plant Forum http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/namegal/ Here is a link that might be useful: images

Well I'm a magpie too :) So I have both a mosaic (behind the range) and a subway tile, but I do have to compliment the fact that you went with a blue. I like it with the granite. A neutral would have been safer, and oh so boring :) By the way, we need to use the term DS...oh wait that's taken....(Dear Spouse dear son might get confusing) Or I like "SU" (spousal unit). My DH or SU as the case may be :) was told early in the design process that "I don't know" has a three day window to be turned into "I don't care" if he can't figure out what he wants :) Since I'm the designer...that's a challenge for him heh heh But he's one opinionated SU so normally he comes up with something :) He had definate influance on the backsplash. I was HORRIFIED with the cost, and he decided that it was the "only" one that worked LOL so my inner magpie won LOL

You are brave, I could never let someone tile anything, unless I was able to check the layout daily! I hate the look of 1/3 offset, so I prefer to go with stacked when there is no other choice. I find the repeating stair-step pattern busy and prefer the straight simpler lines of the stacked pattern. You need someone to do a scale drawing of the layout to get a feel for how the patterns will work. Next best thing is if the tile installer will prop some tiles up in the different patterns and take some photos for you. Match the grout to each tile color. Good luck!

North facing rooms will be dark most of the day and pick up purple tones from any paint. I would look carefully at the undertones and the formulas to ensure you don't have a lot of red and blue if you can't tell from the paint itself. I had a home with a north facing kitchen that I actually wanted to bring out the purple in so I purposefully went with a barely periwinkle gray that appeared full on periwinkle in that space. I suspect you don't want purple in your room. North facing rooms will also make your color appear deeper so you want something with a high light reflective value. My vote is for BM Gentle Cream.