What are the cabinets? What is the floor? That countertop is busy. I would go with a subway tile. Probably white

Jcj910, the cabinets will be white, and the floor will be a dark brown wood-look tile.

it's a really busy combo you have. once the countertop is in, you want something a bit more sedate on top of it. what if you went with one color in the tile, but it had a shape?

part of what's in that linear mosaic you have is Athens Gray marble.

looks like this by itself

this is a white scallop w/gray grout

what about either of these?

or, if you like that look Encore Ceramics has something like this. you can order any blend of colors you like. this is marble and truffle crackle glaze I think. these come in all kinds of shapes and sizes.

in any case, you should wait. there is no rush to choose a tile now. Always wait until the cabs/countertop and flooring is installed so you can see how everything looks together.

Try Marrazzi Costa Clara https://www.marazziusa.com/product/Costa-Clara

The general guideline is to choose a simple backsplash if your countertop is busy. I would find a solid color tile that matches a color in the countertop, in an interesting shape.

I agree it's a busy counter, and a simple backsplash would be nice. Let the focus go to one or the other.

Another vote for a simple, one color tile for the backsplash. A different shape or installation (such as herringbone) would be enough “interest” for the backsplash. Your countertop is the star and should not compete with a busy patterned co-star.

I agree. If you don't want a white tile, you could look for a light taupe color, but keep the color solid and the shape simple. Your stacked stone inspiration is too busy and outdated.

kitchenCRATE Buckboard Way Richmond, CA · More Info

Here are some solids.

Dont get any narrow or teeny tile. Too many grout lines, and narrow tile is dated.

Let me show you some Cambria quartz countertops with all diff backsplashes so you can get an idea.

Bellingham is pretty close to what you have.

This one is Berwyn, but I really like the glass mosaic paired with it.

this look would be similar to the white hex tile I showed you

while I don't care for this plain white subway tile, I want you to look at the countertop paired w/the flooring. I think you said you're doing something like this? now imagine a multi-colored backsplash on top of both of these.

for some reason this works. I don't like the flooring in this picture, but I do lke the tilesplash w/the countertop

I don't like this one. I wanted to show you linear tile and how busy it is.

this is nice. looks like IvyHill Newport tile. 2x10 size.

another similar quartz w/this white pillow-type of tile and a marble accent. It works. it's busy,but it works. can't really see the floor, but it's probably very simiple looking.

I like this flooring w/the white. if you must do a white subway tile, get a longer size.

this is nice, but too boring and blah for me. others may really like it.

what you can do is take a shape tile (arabesque, hex, whatever) but bring in one color that's in your counters. like here. (and try to match your outlet color to your tile color, or move the outlets up high under the cabs and turn them vertical)

the floors are a warm wood tone

Thanks for all the suggestions. I've had white tile in my kitchen for 20 years, so I'm not sure I want white tile, but I do like this brown grout.

debbie, paired here w/berwyn again, this person got some samples from Fireclay tile. Fireclay has amazing colors (like Encore Ceramics) and a whole host of shapes and sizes you can do. you don't have to settle for plain subway tile!

these are just sample bars to show the colors^ they will send you out samples like this.

they have a bunch of sample packs ready to go for $10:

https://www.fireclaytile.com/samples/stories

here are some other colors next to your quartz The one on the far right is pretty.

might be Cardemom

https://www.fireclaytile.com/tile/colors/detail/cardamom/tile-field-3-x-9

for instance, you could do something like this layout

With this tile, but in a color that matches your quartz

https://www.fireclaytile.com/gallery/detail/picket-to-perfection

diff types of layouts w/these subway shape tiles

this would be a 3x12 or a 2x10 size. much better than a 3x6 size.

I like the brown you sampled a few posts back. It is different and the darker color goes really well with your countertop.

nope.

on this picture it matches. IRL, it's going to look blah and rather dated looking.

this one works because the grout color is very subtle. that dark brown grout is just too 1995 looking.

you don't match grout color to your countertop. match that color int the tile if that's what you want, but don't do a brown or gold grout!

and lord in heaven, please, no 3x6 white subway tile.

do you have a picture of your flooring ??

Floor

with this floor I'd go w the white scallop tile ..... but bit lighter grout. maybe a sand color grout. Its a simple shape but yet something interesting..... not fussy ... all white cabinets and the medium plain classic floor...... the scallop is a great tile...... a simple arabesque might work, but some of those get complex with extra curves.....depends on the piece. Are you more classical or transitional in this space????

so the floor isn't busy looking, that's good.

no to a gold/amber/brown grout color.

No to any linear bar, multi color tile.

just wait on picking something until the cabs/counters are installed. what's the rush w/picking now?

I've shown a ton of pictures w/similar quartz patterns and colors.

Did you like any of them?

The very last pic from Beth with the subtle grout looks nice to me. We all look at this differently. Your original photo is a definite color match, but just too much going on. It also does look like the tile would be a PITA to clean. If you like the look of pattern with pattern, the suggestion of a "shaped" tile with one color seems like a good option.

Beth, I like a lot of it. Thank you for all the suggestions and pictures. I like the brown/taupe tile that is in the star shape. I also like the shape of the tile that looks like leaves.

The installer wants to install the backsplash when the flooring is installed. We are also painting the walls and painting the cabinets white.

The installer is doing your floor tile at which point? will the cabs already be in? You said you're painting them white. does that mean they're the existing cabinets? (it would be so much easier to handle questions and supply advice if we had better info or even some pictures)

he can't install the backsplash tile until the countertop is in.

So are you saying the cabs and countertops will be in first? if so, you can wait to pick a tile.

Doesn't really matter what the installer wants to do, it's your kitchen and you're paying him to do what you want done.

The guy can come back at another time to do the backsplash. He can't do the flooring and the backsplash at the same time, or even finish on the same day.

if you order from Fireclay tile, they have a long lead time. if you like their tiles, you better put in an order now

We are using the existing cabinets and will paint them ourselves and add new hardware.

The countertops will be installed first. The floor will take 2-3 days to complete with demolition because we are having our entire first floor redone. The installer would like to install the backsplash at that time if we know what we want.

I understand that. but if you don't know what you want, why rush to pick something just so the installer is happy?

you can live without a backsplash for months. better to do that and get what you want, then to rush to grab something so the installer isn't unhappy. He can come back to do it.

Thank you for the great suggestions, everyone. Beth, thank you for all those great backsplash comparisons with a quartz similar to ehat I've chosen. It's a lot to think about. I think the Cardamom is my favorite color, as it picks up the color I like best in the quartz.