I have to agree with you and say the backsplash needs to go. Don't worry,these things happen. We tried to keep our tiled kitchen floor, but once the granite went in, we knew it had to go so our carpenter ripped out the old floor after the cabinets were in and put down a new one. We are thrilled with the new floor. We have New Venetian too and we love it. When it came to the backsplash we wanted to granite to be the star and have a more subdued backsplash. Yet I wanted some interest there because I will be looking at it a lot so I added simple off white subway tiles with a bead detail. I added a little color with a tumbled onyx frame detail over the range. I think the NVG looks great with your cabinets.

Most who do the Fire & Ice get the quartz which is lighter. There is also the Fire & Ice in slate which is more colorful/dramatic. If you are leaning toward understated the Grazia rixi is a very pretty tile. Grazia makes other series besides rixi that you might want to check out. I agree with previous poster-not too blown away by your samples but then we are seeing them on our monitors so maybe in real life they look great with your floor, counters, cabinets. I would do one extreme (understated/calm/elegant-maybe marble) or the other (glass, colorful, dramatic but classy at the same time). Your counter is pretty neutral so you have soooo many choices open to you. Another thought-do something like the Fire & Ice behind your stove continuing up to the ceiling and then something understated/calm on the other spaces??? Pick one of the colors in the F & I that matches with one of the colors in your floor and use that in 4 x 4 or 6 x 6 or whatever size you decide for the other areas. Just an idea.

I don't have time to read through all the responses. Did anyone like it? I'd take it down pronto before the backsplash police come to arrest you. Your cabinets and granite are gorgeous, and I usually don't like busier granites. I really love the curved island. Take your time deciding on a new backsplash. I'm building a house too and I understand why you don't want to cause any delay. If I were you I'd remove it myself (it's not hard to do) and ask the contractor to repair the drywall and paint over it. Then you can wait a good while before having to make another decision. If you're like me you have enough to do right now with the last minute decisions and moving. Good luck!!!

I will disclaim this post by telling you am no expert. I am a diyer. We are doing our kitchen and trying to stay with a more vintage style look. I also hate the idea of a "traditional" style backs plash of tile, stone, glass and everything else I keep seeing. We are doing wood behind our sink and counter area to keep the water from damaging the wall. I know it seems counter intuitive - wood - but if you seal it right, wainscoting of some sort has been used for many generations. I decided to stain mine, much like the pic I added below. [Rustic Bedroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/rustic-bedroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_715~s_2111) by College Station Home Builders Ellis Custom Homes LLC The wood is easy and cheap. It comes in tons of profiles at HD and Lowes, look for the 3/4 pine profile boards. Most all the profiles you can use either side of the board for different profile options. It is kind of time consuming to sand, stain and do many coats of poly (I did 5 on mine), but if you painted it would probably be much quicker, I just love the look of color stain (I did almost the same color as the photo above). I did the entire 8' (from counter to ceiling)wall and another 4' (from ceiling to floor) section on the other corner for under $150, another $30 for stain and polyurethane. As far as the stove, I am not sure if you can or should run the wood behind it. For aesthetics, we are putting a vintage tile right behind the stove. Honestly I have yet to find a new tile that looks nice or would go in our kitchen, however, I have found plenty of neat looking old stuff in reclamation warehouses and even on Ebay that is nice and even cheap. I am personally only running the tile up a bit, but I am one of those horrible OTR microwave people (unavoidable in my tiny kitchen) so I wont need much tile, probably only 5 6x6 pieces. But my point is there are other places to shop to find some really neat and unique stuff besides the expensive tile shops. Good luck.