and a better view of the slate...

Do you think it would be nice to pull some of the lighter color out of the countertop for the backsplash instead of more grey? I'm no expert... can't decide on about a million things myself, lol. Good luck!

Thanks deedles, that's what the wife is thinking also.

Your granite is "to die for" beautiful. I want to come run my hands over it. Wow!

I think that the little slate mosaic will compete too much. The grout lines will make it pretty busy.
I would look for something larger and lighter.
And when you find the perfect tile, please come help me find my backsplash...

I would try to tie in the warm tones of the floor and cabinets.

I agree with cindaintx, maybe a light blue/grey craic tile? Or glass? Did you see sixtohno's kitchen?

Thanks cindaintx!

The small size of the mosaic was bugging me too!

joaniepoanie, we hadn't thought of that, but your're making us think!

Thanks ellendi, I'm new here so not sure how do I search for sixtohno's kitchen? Search for 'sixtohno?'

Ok, found sixtyohno's kitchen. Very nice, and a blue/grey glass in that size sounds worth exploring. Thanks ellendi

Bump!

Any other suggestions or creative ideas welcome! Great advice so far.

Someone has also mentioned tin or pewter tiles. Anyone have photos or suggestions for these?

Would love to see pictures from other similar kitchens.

How about sticking with a white field and then putting the slate in as an accent? you can probably also find another natural stone like a limestone that would pull in the warm cabinet colors and use that along with the slate.

I would think that you can do a white or creamy subway tile for a very low price, and then do a stripe of these 1x1 slate tiles in the backsplash - I would do the stripe at 2" or 3" thick, depending on the size of the subways. I would mix them with another color in a random pattern.

The granite is beautiful.

What about this? There's some slate, but the crackle glass tile is a very pretty touch. This Roman series comes in other colors, shapes, etc. See what you think!

Here is a link that might be useful: Slate/crackle glass tile

How about something like this?
{{!gwi}}

I quite like the idea of another natural stone. Hadn't even thought of that. I think DW would like that a lot.

That crackled glass is beautiful! I really like the diamond shape, much more interesting than the grid would have been for the squares.

Is that clear glass over thinset? I like the texture.

It's the splash glass line from Maestro Mosaics (linked below). The color is called Soda. You will typically use white thinset with glass tile so I am assuming it is installed as such for the photo.

Here is a link that might be useful: Maestro Mosaics

My preference would be a tile, not a stone. I love remodelfla's suggestion.

My daughter has a similar type of granite and has metal tiles for her back splash. In the picture below the flash makes the tile look pinkish. In real life they are a perfect match for the grey in the granite. Her cabinets are natural maple and the knobs are swirled similar to the accent tile. The tiles were there when she bought the house so I don't know where they are from but I'm sure you could find something similar if you like the look.Everyone who has seen her new house loves the granite and the backsplash.
{{!gwi}}

I love your granite. Truly beautiful with the swirls
and movement.

So many options before you. What do you prefer?
What is the rest of your home like? With your beige floor
tile have you thought about mixing a warm with a cool
tile?

Here are a few ideas that come to mind.
~boxer

badgergal - that looks awesome together and I think it would work with "Sam"
Sam- love that granite - the movement is awesome!

We saw some subwaytile similar to that today & that looks great!

Those are very inspirational. Just today, we thought about mixing the warm and cool tones to break up the field a bit on the backsplash. We were thinking a 6" stripe (or two rows or 3x6) of subway tile (perhaps travertine, limestone, or even stainless as suggested above)through the slate might be enough to keep it from competing and make it more visually appealing, as well as compliment the sink.

We really like the vertical glass subway and the rough hewn slate also!

The kitchen is very much still a work in progress but I wanted to thank everyone for being so helpful and giving so many great ideas.

Here's the before picture, just for comparison.

here are the afters

the color tems seem to vary a bit on my point and shoot camera but this gives an idea.

thanks again & any flooring, curtain or paint recommendations welcome!