Hi Mimi, I joined the forum to get rather than give advice (not qualified to give it), but if you don't mind I'll give you my opinion.
I went to the gallery & looked at some of the greens. I think that BM Hampshire Gray on the walls would look really nice with your backsplash (& orange accessories) - it's not too green. Some other colours I saw there were;
EK Ashen Green
EK Edgewood Green
RH Silver Sage
Shortgrass Prairie
I think something along these lines would be calm, serene & neutral. Good luck - I hope you find a colour you love.

Here is a link that might be useful: Greens in the gallery

I agree with decordummy. IMO the room calls for green.

Is the style of your house Arts & Crafts? From the cabinet in the background it looks like it. I think the major paint websites have palettes specifically for this style. Might be a good place to start.

And like decordummy, I'm really a still a student of design (sounds so much better than lurker)

Jennifer

i agree that green would look wonderful. My cabs are similar to ours and we use LA Olive 2, it goes with everything I have ever put against it. Also check out SW Grassland

That is really very, very orange! Wow!

I agree with the others on some shade of green. I think it would compliment your woods and the backsplash, and you can always have smaller doses of orange as an accent color.

Whoa!!! That is a very orange tone! :) It even makes your cabinets and floors look orange!

Another vote for a shade of green that works well with your tile backsplash!

Just a thought -- but consider adding a kitchen island -- in the same shade of green as your new walls. Even a temporary table-type island? Maybe with a white or steel top and the same green on the legs? Again -- JUST a thought -- hope you don't mind!

Jan at Rosemary Cottage

I am not sure how this color would look with your back-splash, but it works with my daughter and SIL's kitchen cabinets, which are similar to yours. They also just upgrade with new granite, and although not shown in this photo, they have new SS appliances.

{{!gwi}}

Whoa, I agree it's way too bright. Has your decorator seen it since you've painted? Another vote for green! Take a peek at BM Olive Branch and Laura Ashley Olive 4.

Holy pumpkin, Batman! How fun that you took a risk with that color. I was going to suggest a tan/green khaki or a lighter gold if you like orange. Sorry I don't a fandeck to name colors.

Good luck!

Thanks all for the suggestions. I will look at the BM olive branch. I was thinking of something creamy or ivory that would let the backsplash stand out, rather than a green. I thought a green would either compete with or blend in with the BS too much. But I will look at the greens again. Yes the orange was a risk. It looked much browner and more sedate on the chip. Bad me for committing the cardinal sin of not getting a sample and putting it on a wall first. It's been awhile since I painted and since the decorator recommended this I just went with it. Ooops!

Newhomebuilder, do you know the name of that paint?

The color that MIGHT have worked would have been Benjamin Moore "Greenfield Pumpkin" (HC-40) -- a far more brown shade of pumpkin -- closer to the appearance of baked pumpkin pie! :)

Here is a link that might be useful: myperfectcolor -- Greenfield Pumpkin

How about this green? would it work with the tiles?

Here is a link that might be useful: myperfectcolor -- Kennebunkport green

I'm all for color but I think you have the right idea going with a cream or ivory. I think another shade of green would compete with that fabulous backsplash.

There's someone else on here that has a similar backsplash with a craftmans style kitchen, but I can't remember what paint color they used. Does anyone else remember that kitchen?

I think instead of a green the same color as the backsplash, I would like a gray or cream with a slight green undertone.

Laurie

If you're looking for a nice creamy color, check out BM's AF-20 Mascarpone. The swatch will be in the Aura line display, but can be mixed in their Regal Aquavelvet line. Sorry I don't have pics, just did a couple rooms in a different house and it's a nice cream. I found a few pics by using Google Images when I was looking.

OK! Now we're getting somewhere. I spent some time playing with the SW and BM color visualizer tools on their websites. I am liking BM Nantucket Gray, SW Grasslands and BM Olive Branch. The Olive Branch may be just a little too brown? I have always LOVED greenish grays (and bluish grays) but have never found the right room to use one in so this might be my chance. The BM Nantucket Gray seems to be a color liked by everyone. But I'm not going to make the same mistake again...I am going to get some samples tomorrow and try them out. We got some creamy ivory samples today...they are ok but maybe blah. It's hard to find the right one. Anyway, if anyone has any more ideas please let me know. Thoughts on Nantucket Gray? I appreciate everyone who has posted!

If there is going to be any conflict between what you have now and BM's endless array of seductive grey-green-blues, it will be with your backsplash. I would take a sample of it with you to your dealer and look at it against what they have to offer. Then you have to buy a couple of sample pots, paint them on a good sized chunk of wallboard or even cardboard, and hold the results up on the various wall surfaces you will be changing, in natural and installed light.

What you put on need not be a lighter tone of that particular color, but you don't want the kinds of clashes that -- though subtle -- will bother you every day.

Good luck. (I love orange too, but it can eat you alive.)

What is bothering me now is how that stupid backsplash sticks out beyond the cabinet in the photo. It doesn't look that bad in person. At least, I wasnt' noticing it until now. NOW, it's really bothering me. It was a decision - end the backsplash at the counter or the cabinet line. The counter stuck out beyond the cabinets. I chose to use the counter thinking a backsplash is for the counter. BAD decision. A little counter sticking out would have been much better than a whole backsplash. I suppose I can get that fixed later but it will be a big deal!! Ugh.

I think you just need a better shade of orange. Someone else here painted her kitchen a BM Affinity color called Masada and I thought it was lovely. I've linked to a picture of her kitchen.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

You need to be careful of looking at color swatches online. They almost never look the same as the real thing.

You may want to look at BM Wheeling Neutral. It's creamy.

If you go for a cream, I think it should match your counter tops, or go with the tan or gray with a touch of the green.

My daughters above kitchen is BM Woodstock Tan. It has a touch of green in the paint and the reason we picked it, to match a rug. Here is their den in a couple of shades lighter, but still holding that touch of green. It's BM Lenox Tan.

IMO, Kennebunkport Green will not look good in your room. It's more of a yellow green. My son's previous room was painted KG.

Here is a bit of KG in my sisters home.
{{!gwi}}

For some reason, that link didn't come through of my daughters den, Here it is again.

{{!gwi}}

I agree with the green idea. When I was tearing my hair out of my head, trying to decide on a backsplash, I emailed Color Me Happy's Maria Killam. She explained that the backsplash has to relate to SOMETHING. When you go through the Finished kitchen Blog,if the klitchen is white, the backsplash is a version of the white. If it is wood, the granite the backsplash might pick up a brown color from the wood, or a color from the counter. In your case, you have three things going on. A white counter, wooden cabinetry and green tiles. A greenish tone for the walls will help pull things together, IMHO.

ellendi - so I guess that could argue for greenish walls or beige-y cream walls. The paint could bring together either the tiles or the counters which are actually a very light tan. And the grout, which is "almond" looks much lighter than I wanted it to but it's another light cream factor. Hmmmm. I am going to the SW store on the way home. Will have them mix up a few and paint them on to see. Will try to take some photos.

bluemoon - I like the Masada in that kitchen but I think I've burned myself on the orange and there's no going back.

I feel completely decisionally incapacitated at this point. Too many decisions are not going right. I am going to spend triple the cost of that backsplash fixing that sticking-out edge and some bad grouting between the splash and the counter (I know, there's supposed to be siliconized caulk there, not grout. Told the tile guy that. He said it's ok 'cause the grout is polymerized. In either case he didn't do a good job with that line).

What I do love so far is the counters, the sink (single bowl - would never go back), and the Kohler Karbon faucet (the most awesome faucet ever for a lot of reasons especially the ergonomics of washing dishes).

How about trying a neutral green like Camouflage or Gray Mirage? (Both BM colors.) Hard to tell how those would work with your tile, but worth checking into.

Or if you want to try a more toned-down almost-pumpkin-pie color, look at BM Aura Milk & Honey. I have it in my dining room and love it.

And I agree with honorbiltkit's advice about sampling the colors. Did your decorator do that, or have you do that yourself? I tell all my clients to paint a large piece of foamcore or posterboard (or I do it for them) in the proposed color(s) and prop it up in different areas of the room, day and night, to get a more accurate idea of any particular color.

I'm all for green too- if you pick the right shade; it will be calming yet not suck into the tile. From the green post - Love the BM Cheyanne Green - I'd love an olive if it was my kitchen - Behr's "Tate Olive" or Behr Olive Sheen or BM Northampton Putty for non-green

Take a look at BM Camouflage, we are in the process of painting our living room this color and it is a grayish greenish color.

Here is a link that might be useful:

I have Cheyenne Green in my kitchen. I don't know if I'd go that dark -- it would look like you're trying to match the tile exactly and could come out as "not quite." I'd go lighter. In addition to looking at the other colors I mentioned, maybe look at the lighter hues on the same strip as Cheyenne Green. I can't remember the names off-hand and my paint decks are in my car right now.

Mimi, join the club. I had a backsplash ripped out and changed because when it was installed, the white tiles had turned gray! How about bringing a tile to a paint store? We have Wallauers here in Westchester.(Anything like this where you are?) There are experts who can help you choose a color. Or, the tile can be matched and then that color can be made lighter. The paint chips never give a good example of what it will actually look like. If you can get samples and paint a wall to see how it reacts different times of the day. P.S. We also painted our bedroom three times!

I just wanted to say when you paint your samples I'd do it on large poster board and tape other plain white sections of poster board around the paint so it's not right against the orange. Or paint a swatch in the middle of a piece of poster board to leave the white around it. If not, I think it's going to be hard to get a good feel for a new paint color.

Thx to all. I brought home SW grassland and BM Nantucket gray tonight. Grassland is too light/minty. Nantucket gray is pretty good. I took some photos but they aren't worth posting with the lighting / flash you just can't make anything out. Tomorrow I will see about Camoflage and maybe paris rain, which is one step lighter than the cheyenne green. I will have spent a fortune on this wall before I am done, between samples, paint and labor. All to get it done by Christmas! Then later I will get that backsplash fixed. I almost had a nervous breakdown the last time I painted my house. Feel a twinge of that coming back now. PTPD. Post-Traumatic Painting Disorder.