My opinion is to go with something pretty plain. I would look at a hand painted subway tile in a cream, gray or white. Of the options you show, I like the gray glass tile the best.

choice number 3 is my favorite

Never care for putting a natural stone look with a man made faux stone look. Two different looks don’t work great together. That being said I like a creamy look with your cabinet color but what is your flooring?

Which creamy color one did you like? Here is a pic showing my floor also.

Forget anything with more than a single color. Find a single color in a simple shape that works with your counters

I would agree with cpartist to stick with a solid. Especially with your flooring. You would want to avoid three different faux stone looks trying to “go together”

This one

We are trying to do this project on a limited budget. I have over $200 in Lowe's gift cards so I'm trying to get the tile there which limits my options. I looked for a simple gray tile, but can't find one there. Plus, my husband hates subway tile. I'm leaning to the last two pics I posted. This is soooooooo hard!!! We should have done the backsplash when we built the house!!!

I missed 5e previous thread, but why do you need a tile backsplash? If you have a short splash currently, that looks best without tile on top of it. Or can you remove the short splash?

The next to last one.

On my monitor, your countertops show a distinct pinkish tinge that is not working with any of the backsplashes you have pictured. Is that accurate in real life? Of the options you posted I like #6 best (second to last; same as beth09), but I agree with wysmama that there have to be better options out there.

On my monitor, I don't care for any of them.

No pinkish color in the counter. It cream, black, gray, with flecks of silver. I evidently suck at this! Can someone show me what they would choose? I'm also considering stainless steel subway tile.

Closeup of my counter and floor.

You need to go with off white or cream. You cannot use a busy backsplash - it really does not look good at all.

You already have two patterns - one in the floor and one on the counter. You should not do another pattern in the tile. If the same grey OR the same cream is in the floor and counter then choose that in traditional subway.

Lowes sells daltile. Get a 4" square in an off white or cream.

Second one from the bottom

Are you removing the short backsplash that is already there?

From your choices, 3 or 6

How about this simple tile from Lowes, would keep you in budget, simple, elegant, pretty.

I like Sarah's suggestion best. :) Either in that color, or something lighter/creamier.

With a "wavy-lined " countertop, i prefer a simple one color tile with matching or subtle color grout, so the lines do not clash & compete visually.

I wouldn't use any of the ones you picked. Others have already said why: Countertop is very busy, has pink undertones, countertop and floors together are extremely busy (i wouldn't even want grout lines competing against those two), and you already have a four inch backsplash (which is both a busy feature, and arguably negates the need for a tile backsplash -- sort of like wearing a belt when you already have suspenders on).

You are over-embellishing. Stick with the 4" splash.

To complete your kitchen, I would switch out those tiny cabinet knobs for a chunkier pull. They are too small for the size of your doors. The pulls you have now are also a little small for the drawers.

i agree with all the above: simple, simple, simple!! less is best in this situation!! patterned floor and counter, you need a plain simple tile. your eye has to rest somewhere. with what u picked out, it is visual overload! on the plus side, picking a simple tile is way cheaper than what u picked out so far.

you can always do a 6x6 or 4x4 tile. it doesn't have to be subway. please match the grout to the tile, no more definition is needed here.

also agree: never put real stone with fake stone, it just doesn't work !!

Try showing DH pictures of counters patterned like yours with busy/patterned backsplashes like your samples and then those with plain backsplashes to give DH a sense of how each type looks with the strong-patterned counters. One of the best pieces of advice I got was “one ‘star’ in the kitchen, and yours is the counter...then the floor.

I am not a fan of shinny, solid subway either but love crackle tile; it gives a subtlety that does not compete. Both Loews and Home Depot sell crackle wall tiles. You might also consider something other than the typical subway size...you could go larger/longer sizes. I saw several types of solid tiles at HD today that would compliment your counters, and they were not the typical, solid subway types.

I get budget but the little, varied sized tile sheets; the arabesque shapes; and the stone patterns all are too busy with your counters...they compete instead of compliment. There are better budget friendly choices out there.

Good luck!

I think I had that quartz for a sample and it did not have pinkish tones that I recall. I thought the tone was more taupe like. I would also stick with a simple back splash.

I'm heeding everyone's advise. I got more samples today (very plain and simple) and will post in a new thread tomorrow (snow day!)