By the way....here is a before picture of the kitchen.

Your kitchen looks very much like mine (perimeter in cashmere with a glaze, and cherry heirloom for island). My granite is sienna bordeaux and I think picking up one of the colrs in the island for the backsplash is how I am going to go. I had considered subway tiles in vanilla but I think it will be too much of all that color with our cabinets going all the way to ceiling (9ft).
I know what you mean about it being too busy, though, which is my worry.
Your kitchen is beautiful and I can't wait till mine gets to that stage! I actually think the paint color you have on backsplash right now looks really good, so you could use something in a solid color to pick up a granite color as long as it isn't too dark.
By the way, are your island pendants by HInkley? They look like the ones I have been considering!

Your kitchen is beautiful, formal, and traditional; which makes me think of some kind of glazed ceramic. Could you post a close-up pic of the granite so we can see the colors? A stone could work too but might have too much variation for you.

Yes, this is a beautiful kitchen! (Your before kitchen was nice too.) I agree with remodelfl. You have glaze on the cabinets, movement in the giallo, so a simple ceramic tile might work best. Have you seen the Grazia Rixi crackle tiles? These tiles have a man made uneven look when installed for added interest, yet they are very simple and blend in with the countertop. (And not the price of a man made tile)

Here is the best close up I have of the granite. Some areas have some deep veins that run through it.

I was also going to suggest the crackle tiles. Simple but the crackle keeps it from being "boring". Your granite is very nice and I would think you want that to be the *show*.