The picture in the first post at the link below is my inspiration. Those specific colors might not work with a bright red dining room, but it shows how nice colors can look. If you have photoshop you could play with that picture to try different color combinations.

Here is a link that might be useful: Vintage black-white-colored kitchen

Light grey subway tiles with off white grout.

julize what look are you going for? Do you have inspiration photos that guided you? White cabinets, black counters, red dining room are you going modern? It may help if we can see what you have going to understand how to be of help.

you could do grey, yellowish, or a mosiac with multi colors (including a touch of red) in it.

You could just have paint ! There are a few of us that have never wanted a backsplash of tile. We have painted and are really happy with it . Easy to clean and easy to change. Give it a thought so you can have time to decide in the future. Who knows you may join our group of " nbs" no back splash :)

I'm sorry, I should have been a little more specific. Our house is a WWII era Cape Cod. The kitchen is smallish and we're going for more of a vintage look--inset cabinets, soapstone and a bridge faucet. The dining room is adjacent but only through a doorway, so it isn't critical that the two rooms coordinate--it just would be nice. Does this help?

May I ask where the bright red comes in to the vintage vision?

It's not vintage but I like thinking about the look of white cabs and black countertop with a stainless steel tile backsplash.

Judy--the red has been in the dining room since we moved in, so it wasn't designed to be part of a vintage vision. Perhaps we'll change it at some point but for now I'm happy with the color. My hope was that we could come up with a color scheme that would work nicely with red accents (hence my original plan to go with white subway tile). The red certainly doesn't have to be a part of the backsplash.

I have some red accents in my vintage/ farmhouse kitchen (red checked seat pads, red flowers in valence fabric), but having red accents wouldn't influence my backsplash choice. From what you've described, I like the idea of the white subway tiles.

FYI, here are some of my inspiration photos. I love the red accents in this first one (my compliments to SoonerMagic--I hope it's OK that I'm re-posting this) but I'm just not sure if white subway tile might be too stark in our kitchen. Our cabs are white rather than off-white, there's no window above the sink and there won't be much painted wall showing. If we went with this color scheme we'd probably do something like BM Bennington Gray on the walls. Not certain if we'd use the contrasting grout or go with something whiter.

I like how the beige-y backsplash in this 2nd photo adds a little more color to the room. Was thinking a subway tile in this shade might still work nicely with red accents (with paint in a similar beige shade):

A third option would be to do a grayish paint (BM Gray Owl?) and go with a subway tile in carrara marble something like the one below (sorry--I'm not sure whose pic this is). The problem is I'm not sure that would coordinate well with the red in our dining room. It's also a cooler color scheme than I'd originally planned.

Any thoughts? Our floors are hardwood, by the way--similar to the color in pic #2 or just a touch lighter.

Thanks again for all the input!

What are your floors? You really need to consider the overall look with the cabinet color, counters AND floors IMHO.

BTW, some times it helps to live with the room before choosing a B.S.
We've delayed installing a B.S. for over a year and are happy with paint for now. Eventually I'll pick one, but I like living with the kitchen first.

Do you have ideas for the paint color?

You can also do other patterns in a white other than subway (herringbone, basket weave, pinwheel, etc.). I have blue/green/grey walls, which I like, so I may do a white field with a touch of this blue/green/grey color in our B.S. Something like the tile below. Or I may just do classic white subway to play it safe. I find a lot of my B.S. is blocked by my toaster, scale, yogurt maker, etc. so maybe I don't want to spend the extra money on expensive tiles.

Ooooops. Cross posted : )

I love all 3 of your inspiration photos! ANd I definitely think all three would work with red accents!!

Thanks so much, Judy. Unfortunately, we don't have the option of delaying the backsplash. Our contractor has already been paid for the work and he wants to get it done and move on.

Anyone else with thoughts on the options above? Very much appreciate all the input thus far!

Your inspiration kitchens are similar or the same as mine.

We have creamy white painted cabinets and a dark/honed black granite is being installed on Tuesday this week. (I chickened out on soapstone at the last minute and went with honed Black Pearl.)

We've picked Walker Zanger Tuileries in "blanc" in the 2" x 3" staggered subway pattern. The tiles are whiter than our cabinets (hope we aren't making a mistake!). We hope that the texture of the tiles and thicker grout lines will add texture and visual interest in a very white kitchen.

Like your contractor, our contractor wants to start the backsplash tile as soon as the counters are installed. We don't have the luxury of waiting. If we wait, we'll lose our tile guy to another job.

So if you lose your tile guy to another job, won't he come back to you when he is done? I would not rush because of that.....

These are bold and fun while vintage looking.

Here is a link that might be useful: mission tile