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.

So a few months have passed and I thought I'd update this thread. We are slowly getting closer to completing the last few outstanding items, and are looking forward to being in a position to finally post finished pics. We will move on to a large landscaping project when spring eventually (?) arrives here in eastern Canada, so we hope to finish this up in the next couple of weeks and focus our attention outdoors! The backsplash behind the cooktop was completed last week. We knew we wanted glass tile and were willing to take a risk on something different and interesting. We searched high and low for inspiration, and we both instantly agreed that we had found the right tile when a local tile dealer introduced us to the Metallic Glass collection at Saltillo Imports. It has a wavy surface texture, and the tile background is in a metallic glaze with matching contours. We chose the EM113 Las Vegas (brown) in a 2x4 subway pattern (see link below). It was a challenge to install as it does not have any straight edges or flat surfaces, but we are very pleased with how it worked out. We feel it works well as a feature wall, however the darker color will not work terribly well throughout the kitchen. We have chosen lighter, more conventional crema marfil polished marble in 2x4 subway pattern for the other areas of backsplash throughout the kitchen (see below). Here is a link that might be useful: Saltillo Metallic Glass

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.

Original Poster Update I've finally made a decision on cashmere carrara quartz countertop (MSI) and Masia Gris Claro tiles. I'm hesitant about the cashmere carrara because the photos I have seen vary so much and the sample is so small... If anyone has some real-life photos of the cashmere carrara countertop, I'd really love to see them. They are coming to do the templates in two days so I'd still have time to change my mind. Thanks!