I was walking with my friend this morning and we both were lamenting on tile/grout anywhere. I have had a lot of homes, both new build and renovations. I pray that my next house has no grout...anywhere. Bring the Arctic White right up for the backsplash. Photo is Arctic White.

Don't thank me now.

i think the slab ages well bc then there’s one less material in the kitchen - we redid our kitchen 12+ yrs ago and I think one reason it still seems pretty classic is we did a slab BS with the quartzite (at the time arabesque tile was all the rage)

Can’t go wrong with the white, but I love the green tile! If you do decide to go green, try to find some way to tie all the elements together….green in a rug, art, accessories etc….

Most of the time, it pays to wait on tile until your new countertop is installed. Are you making any changes in lighting? Even changing your bulbs will change how the tiles will look with the new countertop.

I’m with @elcieg - if you can use the same product in the counter and backsplash it will totally modernize your kitchen. Are your cabinets maple? They are quite pretty and adding only one more “new” element would be a terrific look.

Slab up the walls.

I always like the green but I can't tell on my screen what the texture is. Will it be easy to clean?

IMO the picket tiles are not ideal if you want modern I like back painted glass for a nice clean modern backsplash . I do like a the green tint of a glass subway tile in a large format too.

Are you sure about arctic white? What is the plan for appliances? Are you doing anything architecturally with the space at all? What about lighting? Your kitchen and homes architecture isn’t reading modern Scandinavian so just trying to see the whole vision you have before commenting further.