What appliance finish(es) do you have or are thinking to use? How high will the backsplash be & will it continue behind a range? What type & tint of hardwood floors - lighter/darker than the cabinets? A few or a lot of windows & natural light in your kitchen? Have you picked a sink, fixtures or wall color? Is the kitchen open to other areas you want to coordinate finishes or color schemes? And - what "mood" do you want? Without a larger context, I can't see the actual space... Hard to interpret from such a small tile of marble - reads as a splash of milk against the sublte (and beautiful) granite slab & milk chocolate doors. At first glance I thought it was too much contrast, but the palette grew on me the more I looked. Not a typical choice, but might be lovely. Envision it with a section of marble or milkglass shelves on metal brackets, antique white linen or lace simple window shades or shutters, milkglass or marble cabinet pulls, milk or caramel glass light shades...sophisticated & understated with a timeless flair. This could be very sleek & charming. The foggy grays in both materials soften the contrast. Since they'll be on different horizontal/vertical planes & if the marble only shows hints of veining as the sample does, I don't see the veining movement of the two surfaces competing. A wood (floor/cab or inbetween) or metal narrow shelf molding above the marble might help tie it all together. Safe & expected backsplash choices would be more of the same granite (especially if you anticipate leftovers & your fabricator can slice it thin for a backsplash), gray or warm tan glass in a continuous sheet or glass/ceramic tiles, metal or a manmade thin solid slab. What makes your heart beat faster & lifts your spirits? Tell us more!

Thank you so very much for your responses! (I've been distracted with the fact that I started this kitchen plan with a beloved 42" copper hood, and now, after my kitchen design choices for material, it seems that the copper doesn't "fit in" anymore... :( I really like my fabricator. Is there any harm if I have him install the backsplash first, and then install the hood/upper cabinets/molding? Or what happens if I find a good fabricator says he can do it in 1 piece, but during install, the marble breaks/something -- is he at fault? Then he would have to get a new slab, yes? Again, thank you very much. Amanda

they sound interesting enough to me, being crackled and having variation. larger size might work..what size you consider? Gray is already considered dated lol. Makes no sense to me personally as all this dated thing is a new concept I'm still struggling with-how a color can be dated? but in terms of what happens in trends etc-it's on its way out, yes. they move into warmer tones. they're still into greiges for now to bridge between things a bit. white is becoming big as a neutral. wood stains are making a big comeback. this update on trends can go on and on but i'm sure you can find thousand threads here discussing it so i'll make it short. if you're really worried-it might be you're simply are not attached to a color enough. which is okay, really. then pick off-white. off white is pretty. Even very much so. I like both off whites and grays(I do have preference for much warmer grays though) so I have off whites and warm grays. And many other colors too since I love them too. I commit by choosing something of course,-but it's fine since commitment, paradoxically, is a road to freedom:) But I admit I was also worrying when choosing..well choosing everything except for stuff like toilets etc. Of course one worries, it's a hassle and an expense and you want to love it in the end. So. Try to worry less. If you can remove "dated" from the equation- great. Go with your heart's desire. If no-then ok, take it into equation and don't do gray. Worry less. You did a great job on everything else, so no reason to think your backsplash won't turn out well either. It will.

Hi Chispa, House is a townhouse built in 1996, trying to modernize the look. As far as decorating style, I like modern/contemporary, nothing too funky. Something that would be cohesive with the rest of the kitchen, and bring the kitchen to life a little. It's very white right now.