Ps I have light oak floors which is also factoring into my hopes for a warmer/more beige white (if that is even a thing. I could just be making this all up in my head, lol)

Maybe try some of the colors from Sonoma Tilemakers. They have several different shapes.

This one is Sonoma Edgecomb Crackle color:

My favorites are the Makoto or the Chloe. Looks like your counters are honed -- do you want to stick with matte or do a glossy tile like the Celine?

@stiley thank you, I actually saw your posts/photos on a couple of other discussions and was swooning - what a beautiful kitchen you have! Your post was actually the one that made me consider the Makoto. I was leaning towards a glossy but I was worried that the Cloe was too gray toned, but yes the counters are leathered! I also saw the beige cloe version but thought that might be too much brown. Picking tile is so hard!

This is the color I’m referencing - however it’s called Crème and I’m worried it’s just going to be too brown

I thought Celine would be a good fit because in some of the online photos it looks like this - but it really doesn’t pull much more brown/cream colors to me compared to the others on the two samples I got from them.

Awe, thanks! Except for a couple of small things, I'm really happy with how our kitchen turned out.

Your stone is gorgeous, and I don't think you can go wrong with any of your options. There's a decent amount of color variation in the Makoto and Celine, so you may need more tiles to get a better feel for it. Honestly, I chose the Makoto based on a single tile, and it turned out to be overall a bit more gray than I expected. I was going for a look similar to what you are. Can you take a picture from further back? What's the vibe of the rest of your house? To me, the glossy feels a bit more formal/dressy than the matte.

Thank you!! Yes I attached a picture, our house is nothing crazy fancy by any means, fairly builder grade with some minor changes made when it was first built. I definitely see what you mean by formal with the glossy! Also we are in a more “rural” (but not super rural, really) area for where we live so the home definitely had more darker tones to begin with, also built in ‘14

Also thinking of painting the walls.. getting sick of this weird brown/tan ! But not anytime soon :)

I think they're all way too white for the cabinets and counters. I'd pick something like chispa posted. Although you say you are tired of brown, you have dark brown cabinets and a beige counter top, so you've kind of boxed yourself in to a brown/beige/camel/taupe palette rather than a gray/white/black one.

Thanks Diana, I see what you mean, looking for a white or cream that has the brown undertones rather than the gray!

Taj up the wall.

Since your cabinets don't run to the ceiling, I would not select a horizontal shaped tile that will visually shorten the appearance of the room.

Options:

As Beverly points out, your backsplash area is long and narrow. Look at the photos you posted and imagine all that variation smushed into your rectangular space next to a swirling counter. I think your counters would be especially striking framed by the cabinet's wood tones and a simple backdrop.

Just from looking at online photos, I think the Makoto, stacked as you show it might work well.

I just looked at your picture on my phone on the app, and the tiles look much whiter there than they do here on my computer. But I've seen those tiles in person and know they're not bright white. The Celine comes in taupe and cotto--maybe try one of those for comparison?

I really like the idea of a small patterned tile, maybe this?

https://www.bedrosians.com/en/product/detail/palazzo-ceramic/?itemNo=STPPALAC1212BLDECO&moq=true&nbt=nb:adwords:g:20816335894:158887900049:682668735575&nb_adtype=pla&nb_kwd=&nb_ti=pla-2452728460752&nb_mi=125657189&nb_pc=online&nb_pi=STPPALAC1212BLDECO&nb_ppi=2452728460752&nb_placement=&nb_li_ms=&nb_lp_ms=&nb_fii=&nb_ap=&nb_mt=&utm_source=google&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=20816335894&utm_content=158887900049&utm_term=&gadid=682668735575&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwte-vBhBFEiwAQSv_xeze6GGKhBopCtZseAJAI0gqpEi0EYeUfhZA8He9u4YzAAZRDpeeIBoC6hgQAvD_BwE

Also if you want to pull out warm, I would suggest you switch out cabinet hardware to satin brass

I love typeandrun's suggestion.

I don't think running a rectangular tile horizontally is a problem. Most backsplashes are long and narrow, and it's really not a problem.

Thanks for all your suggestions, it’s really helpful! I was also planning to run any tile as shown in the picture vertically, instead of horizontally, just because I like the idea of it drawing your eyes up. I did consider the 4x4 tiles for a while, they are not out of the question, however I was slightly worried that I would just be hopping on a so-called “fad”, because it reminds me of the tile from the 80’s sometimes, but I still really like them. I really like Beverly’s mock up with what I think is the Cloe 4x4 tiles, in white? However those are the same colors as the Cloe tiles in the photo and they look so much more brown toned! Maybe I should try the Creme color and bring some samples home of that in the vertical and 4x4’s.

What about this? It seems like it pulls more brown than gray. I don’t really want to pay the premium for true Zellige tile though, but I guess this is more along the lines of what I was hoping for. Subtly brown with some variation but more cream. https://www.bedrosians.com/en/product/detail/zagora-tile/?itemNo=100003218

Or Marin Sand Dollar?