I'm no expert, but just wanted to say that your granite slab is stunning! If it were me, I would try to go neutral as possible for the backsplash and let your granite be the star! I *think* I detect blueish grey tones in your granite so I think the Olive might try to compete too much. My vote is either Ecru or Smoke!

I wouldn't make a backsplash decision until your granite is installed. When your granite is installed bring home a bunch of tile samples and look at them in your lighting and look at them often. Most of the tile samples I thought were perfect in the tile store ended up looking not so great in my kitchen. Your paint colors, lighting, number of windows will all affect how the tile looks.
Good Luck

In addition to the things michelle mentioned, just the fact that once installed, the granite is horizontal rather than vertical makes a difference in how it looks with a particular tile. In the abstract, however, I like the smoke best.

I completely agree with michellemarie. Wait until it is installed and bring the samples home. That tiny bit of granite is nowhere close to the gorgeousness that is that slab!!! Plus, once it's cut, you may have more of the grey or more of the red or the cream - who knows? I think you are heading in the right direction with both the Smoke and the Ecru, so bring them home and see them in the the right light with the installed granite.

I am a big fan of Encore Crackle Tile. I have it in my kitchen & love it. I agree with the others that you should wait until your cabinets & countertops are installed before choosing a color.
It does take about 4 to 6 weeks once you place your order but worth the wait.

I agree to wait until it installed. The colors of my quartzite looked totally different once installed and with sealer added.

Encore has so many beautiful options in crackle tile that there is sure to be a perfect complement to your gorgeous granite. As hard as it is to wait, it might be a good idea as others have suggested. Right now, I think Smoke looks great but once your granite is installed and you see it with all the other elements other options may emerge. There can be a great deal of fairly subtle color and shade variation in some of the colors so you want to keep that in mind and see if you can find some good representative photos.

Love Encore crackle tile and can't wait to have mine installed later this week! Good luck and keep us posted -

Wait. Everything will look different once it's installed in your space. Not in a bad way, but the amount of the material, the horizontal plane, the true light in your kitchen--that's the reality. A backsplash decision doesn't need to be made till everything else is in place.

Gorgeous granite! Your stone has a lot of character, and so do your cabinets. I agree with the advice to wait until the counters are installed, and then decide. As mentioned above, I'd go with a neutral or quiet BS (like the smoke or ecru) to let the granite shine.

Your kitchen will be beautiful!

Our typhoon bordeaux counters will be installed in a few weeks. We've decided to wait until after it's installed to decide on bs. So much movement and different colors........I suspect we will end up with a fairly calm and neutral bs and let the granite take center stage. We had to search around a bit to get oversized slabs and the gold highlights we wanted. Good luck to both of us with our installs and with our final bs decisions.

Thanks for the feedback and compliments on the granite everyone. It sounds like all of you are on the same page and think I should wait. I am having a hard time figuring out how to make that happen.

Our kitchen project is a remodel and we hired a general contractor to do the work. His crew does most of the work. Our project is scheduled to take six weeks. With the lead time on the tile, I can't wait until the cabinets and granite are installed and still have the backsplash completed as part of the project.

Would you all still just wait? The pictures were taken in my current kitchen and the amount of lighting won't be changing. We live in a heavily shaded area and we have very little natural light in our kitchen even with windows along the back of the house. The amount of light wont be a lot different in the new kitchen. I know the piece of granite is just a small part of the slab but with some of the grey and tan tones in the floor tile I thought the smoke would work better overall. I think I am going to drive myself crazy with all of the decisions that have to be made before this project is over...

Wait. You don't have to have your GC do your backsplash when it's convenient for him. Is it included in his cost? Can you get him to take it out if he doesn't do it?

I had zero experience with a kitchen remodel, but when mine was finished and my GC was done and paid for (I told him I'd take care of the b/s myself), I found a tile I liked that went with my new kitchen, got some recommendations for tile guys from the tile shop, interviewed a few, and got it done. It wasn't difficult.

I got a ton of help from GW in selecting a tile. I hadn't thought my counter needed to be factored in, but it did, and I'm glad I waited.

Linelle - it is included in the cost but I can have a change order to take it out of the cost. The GC and his crew go from renovation to renovation and I don't expect him to be available if the backsplash isn't completed as part of the initial part of the work being completed. I can talk to him about it though. I just dread having to find a different contractor to do the work.

I guess I was just hoping to be able to make a decision so that this project doesn't drag on any longer than necessary. I was hoping to have it all completed in the six weeks.