Hi Lisa! I would look into whatever is making your undercabinet lighting look so green.

Since your granite is busy, you should be looking for plain tile for your backsplash, not something with a competing pattern. Pick a color from the granite like the creamy white if you're looking to lighten things up.

Agree that tile isn’t a good look with the granite. Too much movement in tile which will expand with the layout of it. The granite has lots of action in it so I’d look for solid color that matches a color in the granite. I’d also look for a matte finish, not polished. That’s why the current Travertine tiles work because they’re a solid color & not high shine. But, the Travertine is busy next to granite because of its texture & smaller size so more grout lines. Try samples matching the white shade or even a paler shade of the goldy tone & longer tiles than the squares you have. Tile will need to play well with both cabinets & floor. When you narrow down your choices, I suggest bringing home a box of the tile if you can for an expanded view of color & layout pattern.

Yes, off-white porcelain or ceramic tiles, perhaps with a little waviness, but not a stone, would be my vote.

Thank you all so much for your feedback this helps me so much. KW thanks for your insight, I will stay away from the glossy tile and look for a simple non movement matte tile.

Mnmammax3 those under cabinet lights drive me nuts I’m changing those too

I totally agree with solid colour backsplash tile and picking out a predominant colour in the countertop. Have you given any thought to black? It would be very dramatic.

Lori, I thought of black but I’m scared, I love things to pop and I’m open to black backsplash but what if the kitchen looks too dark?

@Lisa Robinson I wondered about black too since you have black hood, under cooktop cab & island that are black. I decided it might be too much black & adding more would lose the impact it has now with cabs. And, it doesn’t look like you have natural light in the kitchen. I’d stick with white or goldy tone from granite. @mnmamax3 is right about the under cab lighting - looks green. You might take a look at ceiling & pendant lighting too before making new BS choice - if its a yellow cast & under 3000k light - change all that first. You’ll be amazed at color change!

KW Got it, good point, didn’t think about those lights , I’ll change those to see how things brighten up and then make a BS tile decision.

Does anyone here have the ability to show me what matte black and matte off white tile for backsplash will look like with the pics I provided. I go back and forth between the two. Btw my house has a lot of windows so a ton of natural light comes into the kitchen and the walls are now painted agreeable gray by SW.

Another vote for a white tile on your backsplash. A white tile will coordinate nicely with your adjoining family room, tying them together.

I see you also have white crown molding in the kitchen which would look nice with a white BS.

I don't think a black backsplash works with your other kitchen finishes, regardless of light. It's a contemporary, drama look and your cabinets and counters are not contemporary but also provide enough drama.

Plus, you will end up with a black stripe and a couple black boxes emphasizing the wall ovens' black boxes - not what you want.

I also wouldn't do a feature behind the stovetop, but using the same tile but set in a different pattern in the eating area (?) cabinets might be something to play with.

drsaj and barncatz thanks for your feedback, I see what you mean by ending up with black boxes…..okay I’ll focus on white tile……

@Lisa Robinson yes - agree no black. ’White’ means ivory or cream or whatever shade of White matches the ‘whitish’ white in your granite. I Googled images for tonal white tiles used with granite - didn’t find that but this page on choosing tile for busy granite was helpful lBacksplash for busy granite It would be helpful if you had a piece of your granite to carry to store with you but, maybe a large paint chip that appears to match the white in your granite, tested in your kitchen & under your new true color lights, will do the trick. Try looking at the tile with it standing upright on your counter since light on vertical is so different than on horizontal. You may already know all this - I‘m sharing my recent personal experience of trying to choose a BS tile to complement our new quartz counters. We did also have our under cab lighting changed to 3500 k LED. wow - the difference. Our overhead lighting was already daylight color LED.

might also consider painting the walls a lighter cream that coordinates with the new tile. Not too light, so it still contrasts with the trim, but brighter than the 2000s beige.

Hey Elizabeth thanks for your suggestion, we did paint the walls an updated color SW agreeable gray, the entire house was painted with white ceilings/trim. It looks a lot better now just trying to tackle this outdated kitchen backsplash. I wish we could update the entire kitchen even the layout but $$$$ too much right now.

Thank you sooooo much KW