I have that exact slate. Mine is enhanced, so it is a bit darker. If you wanter a lighter, dustier look, just seal it and don't enhance it. Here is a picture of my kitchen. My cabinets are Honey Maple, and the granite is Ubatuba, a very dark green, which is very similar to your choices.

I love your kitchen, it's beautiful! I guess the baoding creme is not that common, a thread you posted on this site with photos was the only info I could find about it! Went to several tile stores and The Tile Shop is the only place in my area that sells it.

Funny about the granite, we've put the Peacock on hold, but haven't measured because we're considering a change to Ubatuba. It sure looks great with the slate.

Have you experienced at problems with stains from grease spatter around the stove at all? That was also a concern for me.

Thanks for the info about the enhancers. I thought the sealer was the brightner. :c) ooops.

wrote this late yesterday, wow did it move down the page fast! So I'm bumping it up!

lukkiirish-
I bought my slate at the Tile Shop also. I live in the Chicago suburbs, where are you? I have had absolutely no problems at all with grease, food spatters at all, just wipes clean! To clarify the enhancers for you, you can buy just a sealer, or you can buy a sealer with enhancer, which is what I did. Very easy to apply. My GC just wiped it on with a sponge, and the used a rag to wipe off the excess. If you want to see in person what the slate will look like when it's enhanced, have the Tile Shop use a spray bottle of water on it--thats how I learned about the difference. They were extremely helpful! Here is a picture of my slate before it was sealed/enhanced so you can see the difference.

Thank you for that clarification. They sprayed it for us to show the brighter colors but we thought it was the sealer that did that! The saleman let us bring home a mosiac square to see how it looks, but I just don't think we have enough light in there to make it work. We're very much into open and airy, something else I love about your kitchen. hmmmm, one day....maybee. Can post some pics later today to show you what I'm talking about. After seeing them, you may be able to give me your thoughts? In addition to the backsplash, we're also gutting and redoing our master bath (refurbishing an older home) and without question, we're going to install it in there! I love The Tile Shop, their prices seem a little bit more expensive especially since they raised them 6% last week, but they have been really just so helpful, we feel it's worth it.

Now this is funny, we're a hop over in Michigan just north a few miles of Troy, so hello neighbor!!! And, I have the same name as you! Just go by lukki online!

lukki-
Hi neighbor! I had also picked out this tile below from the Tile Shop to go with my Ubatuba. They had a display in the store with a black granite and it looked very nice and that was what I was going to get until I went into the store for the second time I found the baoding cream. Maybe it would be a little lighter for you. When you post your pictures, I'll give you my thoughts.

Here is a link that might be useful: D'Assisi Beige

First of all, patti, I can only hope my kitchen turns out a fraction as lovely as yours!

I didn't want my slate to go too rustic either, so this was my solution - It is a shower floor but I think you will get what I mean -
this is a photo of my new shower floor during construction. It is slate, with porcelain tile on the shower itself. If you look carefully you can see that I replaced about eight to twelve little tiles per foot randomly with glass tiles in colors similar to the slate. We love the look - it isn't obvious, but it does show. I will enhance, but haven't yet. Anyway, its just what I did, I think you could do it with larger tiles as well.

Thanks Betty! Your shower is beautiful!! I only wish my bathroom looked like that!! One room at a time, I guess.

Betty! Thank you for the response and photo, it looks awesome! I love it.

Hi Patti! Well, here are the pics, sorry for the mess, but we're diyers on a mission...I loved the floorplan of this house when we bought it, but wish we could open it up some. Again, we'll be refacing the cabinets within the next couple of years, leaning towards white which will help to lighten it up, but don't want a completely white kitchen when it's done either. arggg...

Thank you for the tile link, I took a look at it and I like it, looking at the cabinets, do you think it will match? I may want to lean towards something with a slight bit more color in it, travertine maybe? We're making a list of tiles to check out when we go there tomorrow with cabinet door & granite samples in tow. I've added yours to the list. In the meantime, we have 2 slates the in photos I took, the small mosaic is Baoding Creme, the other, I'm not sure of the name, but is more bold in it's colors. I like the tile size you used. What do you think? Is it too dark for the room? Once again, any input is much appreciated!

The first pic is with the with tiles wet:
{{!gwi}}

And here they are dry:

{{!gwi}}

And here is lighting on typical day, see what I mean about being dark?

{{!gwi}}

Hi Lukki-
I know what you mean about opening it up. We lived in this house for 23 years before we did the MAJOR kitchen remodel. We went down to the studs, knocked out our living room wall, took out a window & put in the skylights. We did this the beginning of last year, and sometimes I still think I'm in someone elses house! I give you a lot of credit, I would never attempt a DIY!! Back to the topic. I think the baoding cream would look good with what you have right now. You have a lot of wall space still showing, so that will lighten it up. I don't think it looks dark at all, you've got the window above your sink and the patio door. Are you keeping the yellow? Funny that you have the same colors as I do! I would go with the larger tiles like I have. You can decide after they're in if you want to enhance or not. I spent a LOT of time spraying my slate with water. One minute I wanted to enhance them, the next minute I didn't. I am glad that I did, and I think for my kitchen I made the right choice. You will just have to see what looks best in your lighting. I'm not sure if the beige tile info I gave you would go, I think you'll have to bring in your door and granite to tell. If you can, paint a foamboard with your paint color & bring that in too. I had all 3 in tow when I picked out my backsplash. It was one of the hardest decisions I had to make about my kitchen. Best of luck tomorrow, and let me know what you choose. Who knows, you may find something completely different that you like!
Patti

Thanks Patti! I love yellow, and plan on keeping it. Great minds obviously think a like! I know I've said this already but I love your kitchen and if you had to wait 23 years for it, I can only imagine how happy it makes you every time you walk into it.

When we bought this foreclosure house, our kitchen had old blue laminate flooring (to match the laminate counters) black appliances and painters tape blue walls. It was gross! I think once we get the backsplash and counters in, and replace the frige it will look fine until we can afford to move some things around and update the cabinets. That should be a couple of years or so. The projects just seem to never end. (sigh) Thanks for your input, I'll keep that in mind tomorrow, so nice of you to help, it's much appreicated. :c)

Wow, looks like you did a lot of work already! You've done a beautiful job so far. I can't imagine what that must have looked like. Good luck in your search for the backsplash!