Thank you! This is actually our first house. As of right now, we want to do something for a minimum of 3 years, but if we like it we will leave it up much longer. We want to start adding our own touches to the house, and see where it takes us.

We are not sure what colors would look good with these items. We've never been allowed to decorate before due to strict apartment rules, so this is a whole new experience for us. We have discussed doing a dark backsplash to blend the floor into the room better, but we aren't sure if that would make the countertops look out of place or the area too small.

Do you have any suggestions for colors or patterns to use?

Congratulations on your first home. If you just moved in..I would live with it for awhile and not rush in to making any major decisions.

You could start bringing tile samples home and trying them out for fun. However, I would not tile unless you are sure you won't be changing out your countertops in the future.

Painting is a great option. Are the rooms a different color?

it looks like a great kitchen.

My dd just painted her entire house (their first too) in Kilim Beige by SW. It is a great neutral.

Thank you both!

Part of why I want to do a backsplash or something else to the kitchen walls pretty quickly is to make the kitchen more enjoyable for my husband. He absolutely hates the contrast between the dark floors and light countertops with those cabinets. However, it is new construction so I can't justify ripping anything out and replacing it right now. He wanted to do that with the countertops right away, but said if we can find a nice way to tie it all together that he would be willing to hold off on replacing the countertops until they actually need work done.

If we were to do vinyl like Mama Goose recommended, would you guys recommend finding one that matches the floor some, something that incorporates light and dark, or what?

If we did paint like ILoveRed suggested, is there a certain color you would recommend (other than the beige) or any colors that we should avoid due to the shades and contrast that already exist? I think if he does paint, he will want something with more of a pop of color, since we have lived with beige and off whites our entire time in apartments.

Sorry guys, I know these probably seem like no brainers to a lot of you - but we have no decorating experience at all. We've never even been allowed to paint rooms!

Currently, all of the visible rooms are still the colors as in the photo. Our big focuses are the kids' bedrooms followed by the kitchen right now, because of how unhappy he is with it. We don't mind painting or decorating other visible areas around what we decide to do for the kitchen, if that's what it takes to keep him from replacing countertops or anything right now.

The furniture for the dining room is going to be replaced, so the colors on walls won't have to match what we have right now.

Congratulations on your first house! A way to tie together your dark
floors and light countertops could be with gray mixed backsplash
tiles if you want to accentuate the gray colors:

Eden Mosaic Tile Installations: Modern Random Dark Gray Mix Steel-Glass-Stone · More Info

Eden Mosaic Tile Installations: Stainless Steel Bricks/Gray Basalt Stone Tile · More Info

Brown copper tiles might also work for your project if you would prefer to accentuate the brown colors between the floors and the countertop. Here is an example. We offer other models of copper tiles.

11.8"x11.8" Cobble Pattern Antique-Style Copper Mosaic Tile, Single Sheet · More Info

We
are a premium online supplier of metal mosaic tiles for backsplash and other
wall applications. If you are looking for ideas, feel free to browse our
customer installations for metal backsplash ideas:

http://www.houzz.com/projects/72838/eden-mosaic-tile-installations.

You
can also check out our Houzz store at: http://www.houzz.com/photos/products/Buy-on-Houzz/seller--edenmosaictile

We
offer the possibility to receive samples. Good luck with your
kitchen design!

Thank you very much. We will have to sit down and browse those links tonight. I wish there was an app or something that allowed you to upload photos of your kitchen, so you can "try on" different back splashes and paint colors

Actually Houzz came up with such an app.. Here is an article explaining the app with the links to download:

https://ipadwisdom.com/2016/05/25/house-app-winner-best-app-google-play-awards-home-decorating-made-easy/

We have not tested it and are not sure whether it would work with our products. However, do let us know if you try it and it works well for your project!

What about something like this tile from Home Depot: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Smart-Tiles-9-85-in-x-9-85-in-Adhesive-Decorative-Wall-Tile-Backsplash-Idaho-in-Grey-Green-Beige-and-Rust-6-Pack-SM1032-6/202885410 

I can't tell for sure if this particular one would go with your counter and backsplash but there are a lot of options in that type of backsplash "look" and would bring some color and bling to your kitchen.

I agree with Lily'smom. Just paint and live with it for a bit. It looks nice just as it is. Choosing a backsplash is something that takes time. Yes, you can rip it out and replace it if you don't like it, but who wants to do that if you can avoid it? I wouldn't do wallpaper, not a fan of it although I've seen some lovely wallpapers on GW. Its just a pain to replace, IMO and yes, I know, I know if you prep and size the wall first it is easier to remove. I've had a good amount of wallpaper over the years, I find I tire of it pretty quickly, but that's just me. Paint is much easier to change up if you want a change of color.

Exactly what Lily's mom said.

How all of the space will look like? How you imagine it to be? Maybe what you really like less about the kitchen-are the floors? Or maybe you'll decide to change your carpet in the future-and all the colors will look slightly different?

Don't hurry to invest in something as costly/permanent(relative to other things) as backsplash tile. Especially in the kitchen where you do have some movement in the floor(I mean color of course)), and some, even though very subtle, in the countertops.

It's a nice kitchen. It really is. I'd live with it some more time before rushing into anything semi-permanent. You'll know so much more about space and yourself in it when you're there for a little longer..your decisions will be much better considered simply because you'll know more what your needs and wants are.

The lighter countertops actually provide a good contrast with the cabinets. You might not like these exact countrertops-but don't be in a rush about this too. Maybe you'd rather paint the cabinets, in a couple years or so? Maybe you need time to figure out what countertops you'd rather see there?

Don't let one element dictate the rest of the decisions for you.

You really need to see the space as a whole-and it takes time.

To summarize it-I'll go for paint.

I'd pick something more saturated. Even if it's neutral( and I'd go for neutral here, at least for now until other things get figured out). More saturated color will take the certain blandness away, and will make you happier..I think.

Wallpaper can be cool decision, under acrylic sheets for example..or painted glass might be cool too. But I wouldn't wrap it around..just the backsplash, not the sidesplash..so you'll need to consider it too. Where will it stop? What to do with the existing sidesplash? Etc, etc.

And if in the future you do decide to keep everything-the cabinets stain, the floors, the countertop, everything- the same and just add the backsplash-the last thing I would do for the backsplash would be glass mosaics. Just my humble opinion.