congrats! first, sand prime and paint out those cabinets....i'd go with a grayish shade of white or pale gray that will work with the flooring. i'd also carefuly chip off the yellow tiles. since on a budget, consider applying some beadboard as your backsplash, painted in a glossy, oil based or marine paint in a crisp white to keep it scrubbable, then, dress up the edges with some small mouldings, painted in the same white paint. this is going to be SO MUCH less costly than tile! and it will look great with the butcher block countertop. you can probably refresh the butcher block with a light sand and oiling. you could even get an additional piece of butcher block (ikea) and create a step-up 'bar' for some stools on the peninsula for some casual seating. then get a pair of pendant lights to hang from the pot lights above (they make lights that insert directly into the pot light...no hardwire necessary).

I would not recommend glossy tiles in a bathroom. We have 24" polished porcelain throughout our house, and... we also have a pool. Although I love our tiles, I have to be super careful coming inside. If I am at all damp, walking on the tiles is tricky. Yes, they are easy to keep clean, but so are most tiles. For my master bath, I went with tiles that had a high COF (Coefficient of Friction). I've had my fill of slippery bathroom floors, and wanted something that I didn't have to slide a towel around on. I love them! I can step out of the shower, and have as much grip on the floor, as if I had stepped onto a mat. :)

The taupe countertops are nice. Have you seen all the new choices of backsplash tiles that are available currently? There are so many beautiful ones, there isn't a need to settle on white subway tiles. Venture out to the big box stores or flooring showrooms and take a look... There are tile caps of all sizes to finish off the ends. A nice one is called a tile liner, and it's about 1/2"-wide. There's also metal strips that can be laid in to finish the tile, it looks very nice. They are called: Schluter Systems 0.375-in W x 98.5-in L Aluminum Commercial/Residential Tile Edge Trim and can be found at Lowe's. They come in different colors.

If you put in black glossy tiles you won't just have to wipe them down once a day - you will have to wipe them down multiple times a day! And I would never put glossy tiles in any colour in an entranceway as yes, they are VERY slippery when wet. We had glossy tiles in a bathroom and would never choose them for floor tiles again.