Keep looking and when you find one you love enough, you won't mind toning down the other. It does not need to be an all or nothing thing either. You can have a busy material on one and a less busy one for the other without making it boring.

After months and months of looking for a brown-tone granite with movement that wouldn't make me crazy trying to figure out how to meet at the seams when it came time to install, I decided to go with a simple (but not solid) gray-black called Impala Black.

Once that was decided I found a "quiet" silver-gray tumbled 4"x4" tile for the backsplash. The silvery color really complimented the black granite.

It came time to order the tile and as luck would have it, the place we were going to order it from just got a small shipment in so they could make a sample board for customers to refer to. I didn't even recognize the tile when I saw it. It was coming out of the quarry more blue than silver and not at all the look I was going for.

We had about 36 hours to choose a new backsplash. Because I went with a simple (no movement) granite, our options were greatly increased. As such, we ended up with the "busy" Jeffrey Court Quart Brick Fire & Ice. No regrets.

Still, I was curious what the first tile would have looked like so I did a Photoshop mock-up. While it wasn't a bad look really, I think the Fire & Ice really makes a statement and fits more into my home.

Here are the two versions. The first being the mock-up with tumbled tile, the second what we actually installed.

{{!gwi}}

Hope this helps.

Jodi-

Jodi, your fire and ice is my favorite! In fact, I almost quoted your choice in my original post. While my kitchen is not very large, I don't want to overwhelm it with too many busy patterns. Dianalo, you have a good point about adding small touches.

I think it also has to do with the layout of your kitchen. In some kitchens the countertops are more of a star and the backsplash supports them, in others it's the reverse.

We have a really long island next to another very long run of countertop and you come into the room at either end of the run, so our quartzite counters are really the center of attention.

I prefer "quiet". My life is hectic w/2 little boys, a husband, a small home business (and an internet addiction LOL) and there always seems to be clutter everywhere. I wanted the background in our kitchen to be as quiet and restful as possible. Yes that might mean boring ;-)

Here's the area in our kitchen that has backsplash...you can see that I prefer to not have much contrast (white 4x4 square ceramic tiles w/staggered layout, light counter, light cabs)

Also our kitchen is pretty open to the rest of the house and the front door, and I really didn't want it to be more of a focal point than it already seems to be.

LOL I just noticed our fire extinguisher is there...practical over aesthetics I guess :-)

I wanted a mostly relaxing space, but couldn't do without some pizazz, so have a more dramatically colored run of cabinets with a more intricate backsplash. The backsplash was more important to draw the focus than the counters for me, since you look right at them, and see them from all over the room, while the counters lie flat.

Melle- Love your glass shelves with the plants :)

Jodi- Your backsplash is so much lighter and warmer, than your mock-up version. I really like it!

Rhome- Good point, you do see the backsplash from other areas of the room, more than the countertops.

Phallky- One idea, might be a simple countertop with a colorful backsplash, for the main area...and if you have an island, put the busier granite there. Best of both worlds :)

I prefer quiet myself - I tend to get tired of patterns and strong color, and want something new, whereas the mellower things in my house have survived my design ADD much better :-) We went with a quiet quartzite (madre perola) and then I did a slab backsplash of the quartzite just to keep it all hyper simple. That counter was a serious investment and I could not risk coming down one morning and saying to myself "I think I am bored with that now..." But everyone is so different - choose what you love and pay attention to whether it harmonizes with things in your home that you have loved and enjoyed for a long time.

Our old eyes were a consideration. I want to be able to see food on the counter, but not so much fingerprints. I avoided brown because so much food is brown, and went with grey.
I chose (so far) a medium gray with some pebbly texture from cambria, and a grey hakatai tile raven blend of gloss black, matte black and metal(with a red stripe for drama).
{{!gwi}} hakatai wont let me link the picture!
http://www.hakatai.com/Raven-Blend-P531C28.aspx

I chose a wild crazy veined soapstone that I love for my counters, and a wild crazy colored copper which I also love for my backsplash--but it is only behind my cooktop. I couldn't compromise on either! However, the rest of my backsplash area is painted a nice calm beige...so I guess I did busy, busy, and quiet all at the same time.