It may help you to visualize the pieces together by orienting them in their correct planes. Lay the countertop sample down horizontally, then the backsplash tile should stand vertically behind the back edge of the counter sample with the cabinet sample to the side of the backsplash tile. These are the planes they will be in your kitchen. Backsplash tile looks quite different laying flat. Hopefully you can do this in your own kitchen so the light will be realistic, and not fluorescent lights in the store. I think the grayer or off white tiles might look nicer. White cabinets can be difficult to match to white tile, but you may find a good match that will be your preference. Take a good picture of your samples in your kitchen and let us weigh in! It's going to be beautiful!

Thank you for all of your comments. The pictures must have been misleading because the dark tiles are green not black, they were chosen to coordinate with the green in the Uba Tuba. It was always my primary goal to get something that coordinated with the granite. I never intended to match everything in the room. I just included a similar flooring to make sure they all looked good together. I am not a big fan of plain white subway tiles with white cabinets. To me it is just too much white. I like white subway tiles with gray cabinets but not with white. My designer/contractor and I went over these options at length today and we decided to go with the glass subway tile. I think it will be a good option since it isn't too dark, and it has the traditional subway tile shape, but with a more modern design. I don't think my picture above did it justice. We will be installing under cabinet lighting which should make the sparkle in the tile and granite both stand out depending on how bright you have it set. Lighting can make the tile look very different. I'm sorry I didn't have a larger sample of Uba Tuba to demonstrate with the various options but it appears this tile will look great with it. Here are some pictures that are more zoomed in with brighter light that should give you a better idea of what the tile will look like.

No teeny tile and definitely no pencil tile. Since you said “budget and time constraints”, you could just get subway tile. Daltile Rittenhouse Square is sold at Home Depot. Not the most imaginative, but it’s been around for a hundred years cause it goes with everything and looks fine. The line also offers bullnose-edge tiles so the edges look finished so you won’t have to bother with Schluter edge profiles to finish off the top and side edges by the door.

I love herringbone patterns - but - the first tile would definitely have more impact. Your kitchen would stand out vs. other kitchens using a more subtle (safe?) tile. I keep going back forth between selecting a new backsplash with some impact vs. the Cloe tile that I‘ve liked for awhile. I still think the Cloe is BEAUTIFUL - I just have seen so much of it lately. Makes me wonder if I should try something different. Also, you appear to love the gold accent - the second tile is a very different look (still nice). How much regret will you have if you go subtle?