We are in the process of installing a slate floor with natural hickory cabinets and used a light grey from Lowe's called gravity. I was going to go with a darker grey, but my kitchen is on the north side of the house and only have one window, so I decided to go lighter. I also am going to have a slate brick backsplash and the color goes well. I just wanted to keep with the slate colors, though and it also goes well with my copper canyon granite as it also has alot of grey in it. Good luck. I am sure whatever you pick will look lovely.

My problem with choosing a tile color that's trendy is that it locks you in to an era and specific accessorizing framework. The close-up of the granite reads much darker than your kitchen shot so I don't know which is closer to reality. Your floor seems to have the effect of a warm travertine. The BS selection ideally would harmonize with the two though working with the granite takes priority. I love Bee's kitchen and agree that tiles are great for bouncing light and livening up the space, but think grey is very trendy. Her selection of a white neutral is perfect because it introduces personality through the Arabesque shape. I'd need to find a color that wouldn't make it hard when I wanted to repaint and take the overall feel in a different direction, so like Bee I would try to introduce personality through shape or use of accent tiles or listello. If you'd consider something other than tile, how about plate glass that can be back painted, etched, or have wall paper inserts that could be changed? Super easy to maintain and no grout to deal with. If you stick with tile, I'd choose one that could be set with very thin grout lines as yucky grout is the pits. You can get gorgeous shell accent tiles, beautiful hand thrown accent tiles, listello, etc running the gamut from feminine, masculine or neutral, very contemporary or traditional. That's why, not knowing you, I say paint, relax and take your time in picking a BS. And it is perfectly fine to not have a BS at all if that's what you'd prefer.

More than anything else, your kitchen needs better lighting. Under cabinet lighting will put the light directly on your work surface, as well as cast a warming glow to the space. You also need some recessed lights to brighten up the dark wood surfaces and to give better general lighting. A nice pendant above the island instead of a central flush fixture would be the finishing touch. Once you can see all of the colors and details that are in your kitchen, you will be able to appropriately choose a backsplash that will look good with all of the different elements. Poor lighting changes the color perception of many things.

Of romy's photos, I like that last tile color the best. I can almost picture it as a pale gray with a little bit of a green/blue undertone. ;) The second photo is the most interesting to me. There they've used a stacked mosaic glass tile. I love the little white shelf that matches the grout color. You'd really want the aqua stove too, don't you think? I also like the updated square tiles in photo 6. That would be appropriate to your house. I grew up in a 1954 Cape in upstate NY and we had square blue tiles in the bathroom, and a blue sink, toilet, and bathtub! Has it ever bothered you how the open storage wall was tiled? Typically we recommend stopping at the upper cabinet, not the counter. My eye keeps going to that inch or so of tile that juts beyond the upper cab.