Here the TM is used as BS. Lovely, if budget allows! (pics aren't loading for me) Most pics came with light cabs, but you get the gist. [https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-entertainers-paraside-kitchen-remodel-transitional-kitchen-san-diego-phvw-vp~6430400[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-entertainers-paraside-kitchen-remodel-transitional-kitchen-san-diego-phvw-vp~6430400) While the cabs are light, the hood is darker, so you can see this BS would easily work. [https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-work-mediterranean-kitchen-denver-phvw-vp~22348626[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-work-mediterranean-kitchen-denver-phvw-vp~22348626) This would work with dark. [https://www.houzz.com/photos/clean-kitchen-transitional-kitchen-houston-phvw-vp~5728905[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/clean-kitchen-transitional-kitchen-houston-phvw-vp~5728905) This would easily work of course. [https://www.houzz.com/photos/chic-distressed-white-kitchen-barrington-il-traditional-kitchen-chicago-phvw-vp~8982632[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/chic-distressed-white-kitchen-barrington-il-traditional-kitchen-chicago-phvw-vp~8982632) As would this. [https://www.houzz.com/photos/weaver-addition-contemporary-kitchen-chicago-phvw-vp~3282111[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/weaver-addition-contemporary-kitchen-chicago-phvw-vp~3282111) [https://www.houzz.com/photos/chicago-net-positive-luxury-home-contemporary-kitchen-chicago-phvw-vp~6280750[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/chicago-net-positive-luxury-home-contemporary-kitchen-chicago-phvw-vp~6280750)

There are lots of photos of Taj Mahal and all kinds of back splashes in Houzz Photos. I am also installing TM and spent several hours over many days browsing through the photos and saving the ones I liked to my Ideabooks. I then searched for tile stores that carried those tiles and went to look at real examples. Many that looked great online were a terrible match in person. I have narrowed it down to three different mosaics, but will not make a final decision until everything else is installed in the kitchen. I will borrow the tile sample boards from the tile stores and that should make it easy to make the final selection.

We used BM White Dove In different sheens on the walls and woodwork to complement the polished TM Counters (but we have natural wood cabs). Our kitchen has north facing windows with lots of green trees. We compensated for the low light with 3000K (the warm-ish colored not the blue-ish colored) LED undercab and in cab lighting and sconces etc. The updated kitchen doesn’t seem dark or gray now which I was concerned about. I would definitely wait until you have the cabs installed, the counter in and some of the lighting wired in before choosing the backsplash. I was very surprised at how my original white tile choices didn’t do a thing for my counters and cabinets. good luck!

Floorplan is helpful, but we also need to know how wide your aisles are currently (they look tight around the island?). Here's a quick idea (may not be feasible depending on aisle width) - it might look a little odd to leave that arch hanging but it would give you seating and remove the current barrier island. With the new opening to the LR, you could possibly close off that doorway next to the fridge (where does it go?) and/or partially close the opening between kitchen and breakfast (could be used for pantry space, etc. if necessary). I squared off the angled pantry but I was guessing at the measurements. You could leave the angle as-is with this layout, but the overall appliance arrangement can probably be improved by eliminating that angle (depending on those exact measurements). Or a similar idea with an island instead of peninsula, with the sink and DW moved to the perimeter: