Here is a photo of the tile

of course the slab would be beautiful, but depending on the grout you use, the basket weave is a statement too. I would not do a dark grout, TO ME it would look like polka dots from across the room.

Good point, I’d have to see some samples but I’d think a light grey could work

It looks like. Floor tile to me 🫣

Its pretty but it would very busy on that whole wall given how small the tiles are.

Admittedly, seeing something on a computer screen is less than ideal ... but I'm thinking the tile looks like a brighter /more clinical white, whereas the cabinets are more of a soft white.

Thanks all for the input! Thoughts on if any of these zellige type tiles would be a better choice? The 1st photo is a (Urban Zebra, Tint ) matte 2x6 , the second is (Equipe, Riveria) glossy 2x8. i would do stacked like the photos.

The cabinets are a bright white (Ikea Axstad), counters are soapstone (my camera can never get the upper cabs to show true colour)

Slab would be my first choice. Tile 2nd. Either way I would go to the ceiling not just 18".. But...if that's a outside wall.. I would add windows instead(less than the cost of slabs) and then tile around

Love the zellige.
The first one would be my pick. But that’s what I can see from my screen.

I love the tailored appearance of the basketweave tile.

I used this marble mosaic from Jeffrey Court in my kitchen

Here is the same Jeffrey Court mosaic in a different pattern. They also have other colors for the marble accent color.

JT Ranch · More Info

I like the zelige tiles much better, but like them in a running bond horizontal pattern rather than stacked vertical. Only you can tell if the colors work--as you've already discovered, phone cameras and computer monitors are not good at rendering colors accurately.

Zellige is everywhere.

I liked that I didn't find a single photo on Houzz with my exact marble mosaic!

I love all the basketweave and marble mosaic tile examples here, but that Jeffrey Court with the creama dots is really lovely- going to search where I might find that in person here. My concern with both brands of the non-hand crafted zellige type tiles is that (while i like the irregularities of it which gives some character) when I turn on the pot lights directly overhead you can really see that each tile has the exact same irregularities in the same areas pressed into it as the others and it while I didn’t notice during the day it was very obvious with the lights on.
Our reno was done 2 years ago - originally I had planned for shelving in that empty wall space and light sconces but I’ve now decided against it as I just don’t really like having a lot of things out (but I still plan on some wall lighting), so that empty space is making me feel like the kitchen is still very unfinished. I did consider beadboard as well but hesitant to put up wood/or mdf by the sink/oven.

Jeffrey Court has some beautiful mosaic tiles. Anthology and Stonebridge are two other brands to check out

I understand your hesitation about using the machine-made "zelige" tiles. If I decided to use them, I'd want them to be authentic. It's a problem with anything that tries to look natural and hand-made, it never looks random enough to be realistic. Witness the veining in engineered stone and porcelain tiles. Or the fake look of "hand-scraped" floor boards, which look like anything BUT hand-scraped. If you can see the pattern, then it's a fail.

I much prefer the zellige. But I echo the concern about crowdsourcing preferences from the internet. On my screen, you bottom cabinets look very bright white, while the top cabinets look almost ivory. I'm assuming they are all the same cabinet finish! The first Zellige sample looks amazing with your top cabinets on my screen, but not a good fit at all with the bottom cabinets. Just using all of this as an example of why you can't just ask peopel on the internet to pick colors.

I think the slab would look amazing, but zellige looks good too. If you go with the zellige, I would go with the second option. The first is too warm of a white/cream. It clashes with your cabinets.

Easiest to clean is the slab, so get that price first. If it’s doable, that’s the best solution.

The marble is beautiful and adds a great texture. Depending on your neatness as a cook (and how much messy tomato sauce/grease is in your repertoire) the marble is elegant. I love the marble look.

Zellige is the most unique. It adds a shimmeri-ness that brings a different kind of light to the room.

Only you can know which will make you the happiest but I think there is no wrong decision here.

Consider …none of these splashes are shown with a black counter…i would look for something that goes with the black..or has an element of black…perhaps change pulls and knobs to black..then it looks like there is a reason for the black counter.. as it is now …it looks like the odd man out

Here is the Jeffrey Court collection that my backsplash came from:

https://www.jeffreycourt.com/chapters/park-place/

Mine is the Bryant pattern with the Empire Beige marble accents.

In my area there were 2 independent tiles showrooms that carried JC and they both had lots of the large grouted sample boards to borrow and test at home.

For something with a bit of black, but not the basketweave that you see everywhere, look at Daltile's Lavalier series in the carrarra flower petal. https://www.daltile.com/products/Mosaic/Lavaliere/Carrara-Thassos-Blk-Ant-Mirror

But the Calcatta Gold floral is the knock out. https://www.daltile.com/products/Mosaic/Lavaliere/Calacatta-Gold

Wow, those two Daltile patterns are beautiful! The first one is such a happy look, and a nice riff on the typical mosaics. The second one is a lot more formal, IMHO.

Thanks all for the input! Btdrvn- interesting about the black! my living room is open to the kitchen/dining and has a lot of black elements so I guess from what I see it all works, but yes I can see how just one photo it would look like something is missing., for me it’s the void of blank wall behind the sink, lesson learned on my part, I figured it would all just come together easily, lol. Red Ryder-yes, i love marble and soapstone together! Chispa - love your tile, will check out some more shops and see if they carry some different variety than the others I’ve been too. I don’t think I’ve come across his brand in the tile shops I’ve been to. Minardi- those are so beautiful and I have seen a version of that tile but I think it was priced much higher than I wanted to spend. I’m looking at some stone yards later the next couple weeks so hoping to get this wrapped up sooner than later. Thanks everyone for the advice, I really appreciate all of it!