Check out a line by florida tile-Pietra Art/Classic Mosaics. 3x6 subway /China White---you can get in polished or honed. Even the polished isn't super shiny. It's on one of the many boards I have home now.. I don't know price yet. We haven't gotten that far. I really like the looks of the product though. #1 for me right now. Good luck in the search. P.S.--there's also one on the board called White Statuary that looks interesting.

didn't have time to read all the answers. I have no backsplash and have never regretted it...been over 6 yrs. It is painted with BM matte...which has ceramic in it. It is as beautiful now as it was when first painted. I love the fact that I can showcase other things ...art etc in my kitchen and no competition. Also if I ever want to change it is as quick as a paint brush...expense is minimal..paint only ! All in all I think it is serene as you point out . Here is one pick. Since I have a lot of high heat cooking in my kitchen..built in deep fat fryer as well as gas cook top I can definitely speak to the longevity of paint only. c ( more at this album )

My porcelain tile kitchen flooring is matte and cleans up very nicely, love it. In hindsight, I would have chosen a matte back splash over shiny in my kitchen. The granite counter top is very shiny. We have a large window with lots of light. IMO there is sometimes too much shine with the granite and the glossy subway tile back splash.

@Sonya M, I ended up doing Venetian plaster throughout the kitchen. I did not want the walls to be very shiny, so the plasterer kept it relatively matte. She applied a special wax behind the stove, which makes it wipeable, but also gives that wall a little more sheen. So far it's working pretty well. We have splattered hot oil and tomato sauce on the wall, and it mostly wipes right off. The only issue we've run into is that she missed a few spots when she applied the wax, so we'll occasionally find a spot where the plaster stains. She's coming back to finish some other things, so I'm going to ask her to apply another coat of wax. I think if she hits the areas she missed on the first round, we'll be very happy with it. I designed the kitchen, but I did hire a kitchen design company because they had a relationship with a good custom cabinet manufacturer near me. I couldn't order cabinets directly through the manufacturer on my own. The kitchen designers had some very helpful suggestions, so I was happy I worked with them.