Sorry for any misunderstanding, the skinny glass tiles are offered as an accent tile in tiled showers (when upgraded from fibreglass shower insert.) But still, I agree, they are darned ubiquitous and so distinctive as to likely not be a classic, though some installations are really pretty.
I’m fine with a little accent row of whatever. I’ve got a row of 1x1 irridescent tiles, also in the niche that holds shampoo. The rest of the bathroom is subway tile. I think that’s a nice way to use whatever is fashionable this year without it getting tiresome.
White kitchens themselves are timeless. The look of a particular countertop and backsplash will probably become dated sooner or later. As far as staining and chipping the quality of the finish or factory finish is very important.
I dislike subway tiles. We did not bother tiling the kitchen walls at all- just went with the 3" (4" would have gone to the outlet plates) granite used on the counters. Granite/quartz are what I debated between- in our area either is fine. Those waterfalls are bad in my opinion- what a waste and too much stone visually.
OP- since your budget calls for laminate (Formica or Wilsonart are good quality) go with something a that fits with your location. Locals will know at the stores. I wouldn’t bother with the shower accent tiles because of the extra cost, unless you feel they will add to the regional flair. When we renovated I avoided that stripe because years later I felt it would become out of date.
Why bother with a backsplash that goes up to cabinets? The 3" of counter material works well and doesn’t look too busy as most backsplashes do. I have never had the need to cover my eggshell/satin/easily washable kitchen paint. With cabinets and counters to look at it can be visually restful to not add yet another texture/pattern to see.
Think vacation in your area. Going with colors that reflect it is part of the vacation experience. Good choice with light wood toned (birch) Shaker cabinets!
Lowes and Home Depot have designers in their cabinet/counter sales areas who can give free advice. You don’t need to buy from them, just ask questions.
I love my white kitchen, especially when it’s cold and gray out in the winter. It always looks cheery and clean. If I have a choice, I’ll always choose white cabinets.
For a rental, the strength of the finish would be important. My current cabinets look new after 15 years.
I think that what might appear dated in about 20 years or so is the trend to do white cabinets on the uppers, and wood ones on the lowers (or vice versa).
I’ve had my white kitchen cabinets for 15 years and they still look nice and up-to-date.
If you are doing a laminate countertop, look at doing one with a beveled edge. We used a beveled edge on a somewhat stone-looking Formica countertop when we put in our kitchen 15 years ago, and everyone thinks it’s a solid surface material. When we refinanced our house, even the appraiser thought that they were solid surface. There’s a picture of what the beveled edge looks like on this webpage:
https://www.wilsonart.com/laminate-edge-options
We choose a black granite that doesn’t show finger prints. Kind of like a textured matte. For glass tile backsplash we used Diamond grout by Dimensions. It is clear and has glass in it. Regular grout looked muddy. Off white for cabinets in Shaker style.
^^Not your grandma’s laminate for sure! 
Dark colors show dirt easily too, but white worries me with all the red clay stain possibilities and renters who wont care.
Love white shaker cabinets and subway tile. I remodeled my kitchen and it looks modern. I wanted modern and clean. It is true you can see the dirt on the finish but for me that is a plus because I clean it right away. My wood cabinets hid the dirt and when you look closer you can see the grubbiness in the corners, gross and it is harder to clean old dirt. I also went with quartz countertops because I wanted the least maintenance. I also suggest handles on the cabinets, you don’t have the finger marks on the corners of the cabinet doors.
There are styles that come and go but white stands the test of time and is never out for long as long as you like white to begin with.
I think classic whether it be in your kitchen, furniture or clothes is always in style and usually tends to have simple lines and not be ornate. Ornate is trendy, it has a shelf life, cultural norms aside of course. I have a friend with a house on Staten Island who wanted to remodel her kitchen before she sold the house. She was warned not to go simple to appeal to the local market.
I second the suggestion for a beveled edge. Really makes it look much more upscale.
If you dislike subway tiles for heaven’s sake don’t use them!
I like this quote by the great decorator, Billy Baldwin, “Be faithful to you own taste, because nothing you really like is ever out of style.”
I’ve had both the beveled and the 1/2 bullnose. I personally prefer the rounder finish.
@BunsenBurner We were replacing Grandma’s cabinets. Really my MIL picked them when the house was built.They were oakish cabinets with barn door hinge accents. A old laminate counter that my son burnt when he put down a hot pan. A red brick linoleum floor. And she offered to give me cast iron trinkets to place on the wall with coordinate with the black barn door hinges. Because we have to do everything ourselves I had to live with the old kitchen for about 15 years.
The cabinets are just slightly off white because true white looked to stark.
My comment was about Wilsonart laminate in the post that was supposed to be right before mine. That laminate looks awesome. No wonder it can be mistaken for stone. Our Corian was grey speckled and did not look like a grandma’s Corian. People asked me if it was quartz. Close enough.
Have a dilemma: should I strip to the wood and properly repaint the kitchen cabinet doors that were painted shoddily or reface the cabinets to match the wood-clad beams in the “rustic modern” house. Hmmm… I kind of like the current color scheme of only 3 colors: off-white ceiling, stained wood beams and windows, and cream-like cabinets and walls.
@BunsenBurner Our cabinets from when Grandma had the house built were non standard bomb shelter quality cabinetry which are proportionally correct for the kitchen. I’d lose storage if we had new cabinets and we are frugal. So what we did was strip it down to wood and repaint all if the cabinet base but not the doors. We purchased updated shaker style doors in custom sizes from Hone Depot. The nice thing about the from factory doors is the finish is baked on. No chipping. The part that we painted occasionally requires a touch up. If your cabinets are quality wood, you may want to strip and paint. You could check out the cost. We had wood cabinets thanks to Grandma and I didn’t like them so much. We have creamish cabinets and walls which works for our modest size kitchen. Makes it feel bigger in contrast to all that wood.
That countertop link didn’t open for me but I know about edges. YUCK to sharp beveled edges. Chose rounded edges, especially island corners when did granite here, travertine pattern for laminate done in the old house. When son was six he bled a lot from a scalp wound (so it seemed, but scalps are well vascularized and a small cut sheds more there than elsewhere) obtained running in a neighbor’s kitchen- caught the island sharp laminate edge. More mess than blood loss as he had kept on going. Calm moms- I was called, inspected the wound and helped clean up.
My dislike of all white is how boring and sterile it can be. We went with the warmth of light honey stained cabinets for this house. Goes with our honey wood pieces and the beams/fireplace seen from the kitchen. I personally dislike the institutional look of stainless steel but replace appliances to go with that finish of still great shape stove/microwave. Spent enough time seeing hospital stainless in surgery areas.
I never have understood cherry- the finish banks et al seem to think is the way to show their wealth I guess. Dark and depressing to me- I do not care if my favorites (modern, light) cost less. Niece went with a dark gray stainless- yuck again. Current trends along with grays that lack any warmth or brightness and industrial old school looking fixtures.
Keep it practical since each new vacationing tenant expects a clean place. And locally themed versus what works in other climates.
“I never have understood cherry” “Dark and depressing to me”
Agree with you on the stained “cherry” but I have natural cherry. Nice warmth, not dark at all, character to the wood grain.
I am very fond of the English furniture kitchen look.
I think I would worry less about fads, and decorate to the “red dirt” you mention in the OP.
It sounds to me as though a white kitchen would be a mistake for that kitchen-- anyone with kids who rents it is going to spend lots of vacation time cleaning instead of vacationing.
I would start with floors that won’t show that dirt, and work from there.
For what it’s worth, we redid our kitchen a few years ago. I’m not a huge fan of white kitchens-- I went with dark cabinets with an orangy overtone, so much prettier than I’m making it sound. But it suits me, it suits us and we’re thrilled with our choices.
No one is going to not rent your property because of the colors you’ve chosen for the kitchen, so go with something they’ll enjoy in terms of practicality.
Honey is orangey, but ours is lighter than yours I suspect.