You can always go with textured glass or slump glass,it has a more rustic look and doesn't look so modern as plain glass, it's much easier to keep clean too as it doesn't streak and there is no grout...we have a very traditional kitchen and it looks amazing,this is my laundry and is actually quite a vibrant purple with dragonflies on it because,in the laundry,why not? The kitchen is more nuetral......

I ended up using Lea Ceramiche Slim Tech porcelain panels from the Baltic stone range. My husband (a bold DIYer) decided to use the angle grinder to cut it himself. It was all good until he glued it on and pressed it sightly to make it adhere. There was a small crack. I could have cried! We decided it was barely noticeable (a hairline crack) so we have left it and it looks superb. No grout lines, easy to clean and so modern looking. We also used it on the face of the island (in front of the bar stools). We are SO happy with it. It cost roughly $450 (aud) a panel but a panel is 3 metres long x 1 m high x 3mm thick. I highly recommend these for an alternative to glass or tiles. :)

Gorgeous marble. Love it. I wouldn't do subway tiles, too busy and too much grout. I did large gloss white tiles with white grout and it's not hard to clean if you keep it clean as you go along. Which you will do because it's white and shiny and new! I love mine as it doesn't detract at all from my bench top. The marble could be amazeballs but I'd have the same concerns re too much pattern...Good luck and post a pic when you're done!

If you're up for the cost of removing and installing a new splashback and it's bothering you that much, I'd definitely go with white... if you are wanting to do it in glass I would also highly recommend that you request Extra Clear, as it looks like this may actually be a white splashback but done on standard clear glass which casts that green tinge (this is one of the first things I confirm with my clients when we're designing their kitchen and they request glass splashbacks - darker colours it's okay to use standard glass, but any lighter colour always request the extra clear finish). To take it one step further, take a sample of your door colour so that you are getting the same white already used in your kitchen (they use RGB colour codes as it is painted).