I have the exact same color thing going on in my kitchen. I am also a person who loves color. My plan is to use the backsplash tile to visually link the kitchen to the LR beyond and the attached dining room. LR is a warm sand color and the dining room will be turquoise. Tile will be a mix of the two, some bend of blue and amber glass. I think your most important decision is whether or not you want the backsplash to stand out as the focal point in the kitchen or if you want it to just be a part of the whole. For me, the splash is what brings my kitchen splash! I need it to be fun and interesting and more than a little blingy. You have to figure out where you are on that spectrum and choose the medium/style accordingly. Similarly, you have to decide how much color you want/need. For me, the stark white is just too sterile. There are some really nice "clear" glass tiles that throw a bit of green or blue or gray. Or, if you're drawn to the ceramic, you could get a soft gray or taupe like you mentioned. Ann Sacks Ceramic Basics has a number of really lovely, soft-but-not-pastel colors in the field tile. Sees like everyone who was still looking for a backsplash over on the kitchens board made a New Year's resolution to get it done, so there are a lot of threads right now. You might take a peek over there and see what people are looking at...whether any of it appeals. I assume you have already looked at the FKB and Inspirational Backsplashes slideshow? Here is a link that might be useful: Ann Sacks Ceramic Basics

Thank you to everyone for all the feedback! This has been awesome. Mcps, that looks really great with the glass and tumbled marble combo with the blue pearl. I would not normally think that those would go so well together. They do make small 2 x 2" glass tiles in the same family, although I think just the lightest blue. That light color is actually a very pale blue and not white, although it looks white on the computer screen. If I go with the stainless, I would use them sparingly as we did with accent tile in the half bath. Just need to call Lowe's and find probably 4 more sheets of the glass mosaics. They seem to be very popular. Example of accents in the bath:

Misty-I have ubatuba (there is another uba tuba thread going) and I love the slate with it...likely because that is what I did and I really like that earthy texture. We did a kitchen facelift before getting ready to put our house for sale (not quite there yet but at least the kitchen is updated) also. So out of EAM's posts I like the bottom one from 1:09 and in your last one from 20:08 I like the little squares that are by the orange tape. I think it would play off of your floors but not be too matchy matchy. That said you have a very nice kitchen and I think the neutral/glass that you are gravitating too will look really nice also. I thought it might be helpful to give you an idea of what those slate tiles would look like in more than just a sample strip. At least give you a "no way" or "maybe" feeling. You look like you have a lot of natural light so the space wouldn't be overly dark. My slate seems a bit darker than the samples you posted and my cabs are not exact either but in general its close enough to get a feel. Hope it's helpful. Lisa_WI also just did a lighter slate in the shape of your first post with white cabs and dark granite that turned out really well too. Not sure if you've seen it so I posted the link here: Here is a link that might be useful: Lisa_WI Backsplash thread

You have a back splash already, the 4" piece of matching granite. You can leave it as it is and it looks just fine. My first 2 houses had this set up and we never felt a need to change it. If you want a full tile back splash are you planning on removing that 4" granite piece? 18" of back splash space is not a big area and looks much better when it isn't chopped up into two materials creating an additional long horizontal line across the kitchen.