cawaps - I missed the multiple pages of colors for the Heath tile. Bummer that it is so expensive, I do like it, not sure that DH would though, I think it is too modern for him. I'll bring it to his attention and see what he thinks! marcolo - "lurid yet tedious", I had to look up the definition for lurid. This green tile matches my walls exactly, so I see it blending in more so than jumping out at you. I don't see subway tile as tedious, I can see it with smaller subways, but not with the 3 x 6. What wouldn't be "lurid yet tedious"? cloudbase - back painted class is an interesting thought, especially since I am considering a green that matches my wall color. Where does one buy this kind of glass, who cuts it and installs it? Dh has left it up to me with regards to horizontal or vertical. I had thought horizontal because I don't have a tall space to tile, just the standard 18" all around. I'm really not sure which would look better, or more modern?

I have typhoon bordeaux with cherry cabinets and went with a creamy subway tile. I brought home over 20 smaples from 6 stores and the best match to my granite was biscuit by American Olean. I got it from Roma tile in Watertown and it was only $3.65/sq ft and they stock it. There's a bunch more tile stores in Watertown - tile showcase has beautiful tile but is a bit more pricey. They had a gorgeous crackle tile that had great depth. If I didn't alreay have brick in part of my backsplash I would have gone with that.

Put me in the metallic camp. I was thinking a metallic tile, not too modern, but I think sheet stainless also works. I think that you do want something uniform that won't be jarring with the pattern of the granite, but I don't think it has to be white. Here's an image with some different metallic options pasted in. These are all metal laminates from Chemetal (real metal, just laminated on to a substrate). From left to right: Satin golden bronze Polished solid brass Satin smoked chrome Oiled bronze aluminum Brushed black aluminum Satin bronze aluminum Satin gold aluminum Brushed stainless steel My favorites are the golds and the bronze/browns, and I think very favorite is the satin bronze aluminum, which is a close match to your current wall color. I think that puts me and Marcolo almost on the same page.

you have a 'modern' kitchen... so u must go with a modern tile and layout...color is up to you, you can use any color you want basically couple of examples of tile. the one thing in common with eam44 is tile is stacked. that's a modern look. and i would remove the piece behind sink. another option is using your counter material as your backsplash. what's great about that is, no grout!!!