I choose a blueish gray glass... light frosted/matte finish. There are tons out there. Large format, subway, large subway, stilatto, mini brick, offset brick. What kind of style do you like?

Sometimes when you're on overload, it's best to hold off until you can regain your vision. You've done a nice job with the reno. Would you be satisfied just patching and painting until you're sure of what tile you'd like?

Check out the gallery here for lots of beautiful BS and also houzz.com. Your options are so wide open that w/o knowing your tastes, it doesn't do much good to make specific suggestions. In general, I think you're right that too glossy of a tile may detract from your granite, but that's not a hard and fast rule as there are many stunning examples to the contrary. Sorry this doesn't tell you what you should do other than paint and give yourself a chance to destress and discover what brings you joy.

First off, you have a beautiful kitchen so far. I agree with "remo". But, I have a shiny tile with my shiney granite as do hundreds of others. Not sure why you want to eliminate a whole group of tiles.
A light gray and then maybe some accents for over the range.
Also, I have said this here many times, as someone who made a backsplash mistake and had to redo it, it is an option. Yes, try to get it right the first time, but if not learn from the mistake. The backsplash is by far the hardest and you are not alone in losing sleep over it! You will get tons of ideas here, but you are the only one that actually sees your kitchen and the way that light effects it.
Keep us posted.

Your kitchen is really beautiful. It is traditional style cabinets with contemporary touches. I like the way it's working together.

I too did not want a glossy backsplash. I have Bianco Antico granite, it has a lot of mica and a fair amount of movement. But I ended up with a gloss tile in an arabesque shape. (you can search for a photo--I've posted it too many times and really, all GW members are sick of seeing it) I love having the shine on the backsplash. When you are looking at the kitchen, quite honestly the shine from the granite is not that visible due to it being a horizontal surface. Yes, you can see it when you are closer to it. But, the shine on the b/s will give you the reflection of the light from across the room. So, don't eliminate all gloss tiles.

I like the idea of glass tiles for your space. They would be one more modern element in there. I also would consider them in a larger format, (4x8)? Personally, I'm not a fan of a stripe around the room, or even an accent area over the stove. I do like the idea of a light gray too. I wouldn't do a dark color because then everything would be too dark.

-Bee

My problem with choosing a tile color that's trendy is that it locks you in to an era and specific accessorizing framework.

The close-up of the granite reads much darker than your kitchen shot so I don't know which is closer to reality. Your floor seems to have the effect of a warm travertine. The BS selection ideally would harmonize with the two though working with the granite takes priority.

I love Bee's kitchen and agree that tiles are great for bouncing light and livening up the space, but think grey is very trendy. Her selection of a white neutral is perfect because it introduces personality through the Arabesque shape. I'd need to find a color that wouldn't make it hard when I wanted to repaint and take the overall feel in a different direction, so like Bee I would try to introduce personality through shape or use of accent tiles or listello. If you'd consider something other than tile, how about plate glass that can be back painted, etched, or have wall paper inserts that could be changed? Super easy to maintain and no grout to deal with. If you stick with tile, I'd choose one that could be set with very thin grout lines as yucky grout is the pits. You can get gorgeous shell accent tiles, beautiful hand thrown accent tiles, listello, etc running the gamut from feminine, masculine or neutral, very contemporary or traditional. That's why, not knowing you, I say paint, relax and take your time in picking a BS. And it is perfectly fine to not have a BS at all if that's what you'd prefer.

How about something along these lines? Scroll down a bit. Maybe Pavarotti Pearl? Ovation? Mezzanine Mink? I'm not sure what will coordinate with both floor and counters; you would have to see samples, of course.

Here is a link that might be useful: Artistic Tile link

Hipstress,

Maybe waiting is a good idea. There are many on GW who
have waited years before putting up a backsplash. Don't
rush your choice, let it come after thinking and dreaming.

What do you like?
What is your style?
What is your favorite shape? Color?
Your kitchen gives off a clean lined feel and the
beautiful suggestion by Sue-B could be fantastic. Do you
like that? Are you looking for subtle texture or maybe
soft matte or shiny?

One way to figure out your loves is to start clipping your
favorites. Use the green leaves and scissors up in the
right corner of the posts. And start clipping your
ideas together. After a few weeks start weeding your ideas.
Figure out which ones are in your top 10.

Meanwhile here are a few ideas. These are not to confuse
you but to generate some love or dislike so you can narrow
down something you find will work perfectly for you in
your kitchen.
~boxerpups

Boxerpups, as always, you're helping far more people than just the OP. Do you have any identifying information on the backsplash you show third from the bottom (just above the picture showing a coffee pot)? Many thanks.

Hi Redheaddeluxe,
Here is the link.
It is from MLWstone. Called Bamboo made of glass.
Very pretty.
~bp

http://www.mlwstone.com/stone_products/default.aspx?cat=14

Thanks, Boxerpups -- for this and for all your postings!