Love the leathered Uba Tuba look! Re: a backsplash, most here would recommend waiting until your counters are in place and then looking at samples in your space. In the meantime, I think something in the same shade as the island would look nice (it looks more blue than green on my monitor, but that might not be the case IRL.) Order some samples and compare them to your island color.

White cabinets is a red flag because there are many whites of cold to warm shades. Find out the actual paint name used on your cabinets and if you can specify your choice of white.

The open grain of the oak you show finishes as dark to black. That characteristic is a design drawback which has led to European Oak without the open grain becoming very popular for flooring. Cabinetmakers use lighter opaque stain to fill the grain in many cases. Ikea has cabinets with European Oak. Vedhamn.

A LOT of stars in this show already. Can you post a layout of your kitchen just so we have an idea of the size of the room and size island in relationship to the rest of the space? Why? Patterns and colors breathe and live differently in different size spaces and on different ratios of surface. It isn't just about what samples look good together but how much surface space they are going to cover together. Not sure I'd mix granite and quartz. I'd figure this all out before you introduce yet another hard surface into the space by way of a backsplash.

I don't get the stella black as a modern farm cottage look. Do you have an inspo pic of it that lead you to the decision?

Love your metal finishes. Have you ever used cup pulls? My designer talked me out of them and I'm glad she did. Not very functional and harbor tons of grime and are harder to clean.

Oh, I love the inputs!! Thank you all!

janni - yes, bossy! Perfect choice of words. That quartz is running the show. Kendrah - I’m finding the Stella Black is the element that has me stumped every time I draw a mental image. Stella may have to go! Though part of me loves her drama. lol

Intention is to make the island an independent piece of furniture, as opposed to a “kitchen annex.” All black work tops leave me a little bleh, but the leathered granite is pretty sexy! So….. do I go that direction and bring the drama with the backsplash? Or tame the Stella Black to some less monochrome granite? Love veining, I’m a no on speckles.

I do love the look of cup pulls! I have read the one-star reviews on ergonomics and cleaning. Haven’t seen anything that charms up the space quite the same way…?

Not a large footprint, empty nesters hoping to fly south more often! But tons of natural light and a nice large open space.

IMO too many stars in the kitchen less is more is always a good creedo. I never like fake next to real in stone or wood. I am curious to see the layout for the kitchen since in my head all thos does not go together. I think this is a case of excited to do custom and now trying to use every thing you have liked for years in one space and IMO always a bad idea. IMO the first thing gone wrong it to name your style which right now is all over the map. Stop and get a good independant KD to rein in what you have dreamed of .