Can you show us your floors? That would help.

The idea of color really does sound like a great idea to me! These tiles would look good with the border too!

It looks like you want your backsplash to have a little pizazz, but check out deanna's white backsplash.

Laurie

Here is a link that might be useful: deanna's backsplash

I LOVE those colors, and the orange would be gorgeous. The one thing that jumps out to me, though, is that the cabinets are traditional. To avoid permanent culture clash hostilities between them, I'd keep it as simple as possible with the lower one--think more traditional form/pattern executed in modern glass.

BTW, before I scrolled down and saw your tile, apple green behind those cannisters was what jumped into my mind. So you can see I really do like bright lovely colors too!

I really like your overall look and the bright splashes of color! I will offer a few suggestions FWIW.

I would keep the splash either all white or do your mockup, which looks great and keeps the permanent elements of your kitchen totally neutral. That way you can easily change the look if you tire of the yellow/red in a few years.

You could use the bright yellow for a painted accent wall at the left end, below or below and above the border. I would also add a valance in a red & yellow plaid / stripe / small print fabric at the window.

If you use your mockup tile design, try a gray grout instead of the black - I think it will look less busy and balance better with the border, instead of overwhelming it. If you use white tile and don't want to look 50s, use square tiles instead of subways. And I do like the diagonal placement in your mockup.

If you do decide to add the bright color to your splash, try using it in a narrow band (2" - 3" wide) with the rest in white. You could possibly update more easily that way. But just a word of caution if you choose this route - if your backsplash surface is drywall (as opposed to backerboard), if you remove tile for a future update, the drywall will most likely be torn up and need to be entirely replaced. So perhaps, I've made an argument for doing the entire splash in the bright yellow (LOL!).

You have some fun choices here - be sure to post photos of the finished look.

I vote for Native_Tex's first suggestion - white tiles with gray grout and color in a window valance/curtain & wall paint.

Wow! Thanks so much for all of your suggestions. You have mentioned a lot of things I haven't thought of.

Kas_81057: Here's the picture of the floors. THey are ceramic tile. Basically white white gray "marble" throughout. I have light gray grout.

Mrsrose: Thanks for Pizazz. That's exactly what I want.

Rosie: My one concern is the "culture clash". My style goes from one end of the spectrum to the other. THat is why I am having a hard time committing to the Bright yellow, even though it is my favorite.

Native_Tex: I really like the mock up too. I was proud to have designed that. So here's what I'm thinking, I might still use it, but the center detail, maybe I could put a bright orange and yellow tile there. I'll have to run that by my husband.
Here I added it real quick:
{{!gwi}}

Oh and Thank you for mentioning curtains. I have just put those on the back burner for now but I can't avoid it forever.
Again thanks so much I really appreciate all of your opinions.

Ok My husband doesn't like the last one I added, so It's out. LOL

Why don't you try the original design, except put glass tiles in the middle in place of the metal(?) ones?

I wanted to show you paddytc's kitchen. She has a classic white backsplash and brought some pizazz in with the wall color.

Laurie

Here is a link that might be useful: paddytc's kitchen

I would design the backsplash around the 'bones' of the room.
You can design an interesting and unique backsplash by using texture instead of color.
Do you really want to be married to a color scheme based on accessories that you could tire of or want to change one day?
Like others have already stated, use wall color and perhaps a valance for your splashes of color.
Your kitchen is very nice, it will be fun to see what you do with your backsplash.