enduring - great collection of herringbone! It got me searching on houzz as well to compare 2x8's vs 2x6's. OK now that we know the BS will be brown/taupe/whatever color it's called - actually it's called TWIG - I need to redo the stools. I just threw this lime green/gray fabric over the out of the box fabric which is the same color as the BS and same color as my kitchen chairs and bench seats. Should i cover them with a solid lime green, which is my accent color? Or keep them them solid Twig. Would that be too much of that color?

I agree that the pencil mosaic tile would be too much with the granite. A simpler option as suggested many times in the thread is the way to go. I have also heard that pencil tile was kind of on its way "out". I get what you mean about subway tile. However, I found this image on Pinterest and it really spoke to me. Still subway tile but with a creative twist. Laying the first row vertically where the tile meets the granite and horizontal up to the cabinets takes away some of the boring and makes it more interesting. I think it would compliment your granite and cabinets nicely.

I suggest doing your research on fantasy brown if you are considering it. It sounds to me like a marble. (Super white is another that is often billed as quartzite but is is actually usually marble.). Not that there is anything wrong with marble--I chose it for the ktichen in our last house, but I did so knowing what I was getting. Those countertop geology threads are really informative.

If you like blue, you might try using a blue gray finish on your island cabinets only? It seems like so many try to attain a finished kitchen that reminds one of the old sienna color photographs. No one really wants to live in shades of brown and gray all over the world. That can be monotonous. I really like the backsplash slocoja shared in her photo. I bit of shiney is really pretty with the silver chrome appliances, but maybe limit it to one or 2 lines thru the center of your backsplash, and than use the choice for your countertops in the backsplash. I think you might enjoy that more long term. Especially since you have so many different heights of window frames, cabinet trim, lines of molded cabinet doors and vertical lines in your windows... Do a couple of lines of your silver, or even a dusty blue or blue gray even if you can find it(goes with any other color you can think of for the next 3 decades, like blue jeans do? LOL) if you like that amongst the backsplash which matches your counter top, and let your island be the color you have planned in your picture if so... That way your eyes won't tire of all the movement in the kitchen, so many angles on your backsplash, the reflection etc.. I would do it at the height that splits your outlets in half, one to 3 lines of horizontal mini tiles. Very pretty!!