I feel your pain. I too am fighting the fear of the white subways looking plain and flat and I keep looking for something else. But in my space I keep coming back to just subways (2x8 matte to be exact). I love that black subway in your picture, I saw that in ___ magazine. Something about the texture is really cool, but I couldn't figure out the manufacturer of it. But, I think in your space the black will look too dark, you have dark cabinets and dark counters. What about a gray? Just watch the contrast against the hood--it could disappear. If you are worried about the subways looking flat, could you go with a subway that is beveled? Sometimes that 3 dimensional look is enough to give you a pop. I found one I really liked, had a slight gray undertone to it, would go great in my space--except I can't bring myself to do glossy tiles with my undercabinet lights and shiny granite. I really need matte (I think). The tile I found was only around $7 or $8 sq foot. The beveled edges weren't really beveled, more like a soft bevel. Marble subways would look nice, and really tie everything together. I have no information on this, but is marble hard to use behind the range? Is it hard to clean, etc? I see lots of people using it, but I can only imagine a pot of sauce bubbling and splashing on it--but that's my house! Good luck, just remember that you are not alone in the backsplash struggle.

There are several that make matte and glossy blends. Some may be 1x2 instead of 1x3. I've attached a link below to Modern Tile Studio. You could also go to Susan Jablon's webite. They have a tile blend option where you can create your own blend with any material you want. They have all sorts of tile options and sizes http://www.susanjablonmosaics.com/ Here is a link that might be useful: Modern Tile Studio

leela4--thanks! Our kitchen stools are Baba leather counter stools (more easily found/sold in wood, but one place I found online had them in leather). We went to Jensen-Lewis in NYC during our "great stool hunt" but I don't remember if we saw the Way stools. I just looked them up--they look nice! Our dining room chairs are also from Calligaris--the Even chair. They're nice chairs, and didn't break the bank (like others we saw). kaysd--thank you, too! Our hood is a Pando hood. One thing we went for form (and quietness) over function. It's okay, but not really the most effective hood we could (or should?) have gotten. Looks nice though! I don't think Pando is sold in the US anymore, or at least, the distributor (Signature Marketing)/appliance store (Reno's in NJ) just might not be carrying them anymore. You'd have to ask about that. Signature had the longer chimney fabricated for us at no extra cost (99.9% sure about that), and then had it cut to the length specified by DH when we had difficulty locating a place that could do it for us without ruining the SS.

BTW...you probably are not getting responses to your thread emailed to you even though you checked the box that says "Check here if you would like copies of follow-ups to your message emailed to you." This is b/c you do not have the email option turned on in your profile. See the "Read Me" thread for more information (linked below). Scroll down to the post w/the subject "Getting Emails Sent To You...3-step Process" Here is a link that might be useful: Read Me If You're New To GW Kitchens!