Kitchen Backsplash
I’m being tortured by a lack of direction with my kitchen backsplash. Can’t sleep at night. Get cold sweats just thinking about it. Long story short, I haven’t found anything interesting/inspiring/fun that I really like. We’re doing white Ikea cabinets (I know, not thrilling, but budget-friendly) with a dark grey or black silestone countertop. Does…
I’m being tortured by a lack of direction with my kitchen backsplash. Can’t sleep at night. Get cold sweats just thinking about it.
Long story short, I haven’t found anything interesting/inspiring/fun that I really like. We’re doing white Ikea cabinets (I know, not thrilling, but budget-friendly) with a dark grey or black silestone countertop. Does anyone have any great, interesting backsplash ideas?
We’re going with the white cabs/dark silestone for resale value, but I’d like to get a little interest in somewhere.
Stainless steel or Mirror
Why not just paint it a color you like (in a pearl finish). Paint is much easier to keep clean than tile/grout (never understand why people think tile is so easy to clean–I find if something gets on the grout lines, it can be a pain to clean properly), and you don’t need to make a commitment or worry about what someone will like on resale.
P.S. if you can still change the countertops you will have more versatility with a softer, medium grey countertop for choosing colors for backsplash and wall. I really love white cabinets with a grey countertop. Black & white gets harsh IMO.
You could go with the subway tiles as suggested above and jazz it up with the grout. There are some nice gray and bluish gray grouts. Instead of blending in the background as a neutral, the tile will pop out a bit, but more because of shape and design than color, and you will not be throwing a new color into the mix. You can widen the groutlines a bit for a bigger effect. Get your tile shop to lend you a box of Mapei grout plastic color samples and take home a few tiles and play around.
(My wife isn’t gonna believe I made a design suggestion, but this one seems right to me. And grout color won’t cost you resale value.)
I disagree about going too neutral/boring because it’s assumed that’s the only thing that’s widely appealing. If it’s well chosen something unique absolutely can be widely appealing for resale. I’m a fan of visually interesting walls and backsplashes in kitchens because we do have to stand there performing tedious tasks like washing dishes. Give me something cool to look at. The fact that kitchen counters get cluttered with appliances is all the more reason to have a glam element. For example my countertop is quartz (caesarstone) with sparkle in it. Disco. I love the sparkles so much. Just a little thing but it cheers me anytime I look at it. When I picked it out I thought well this won’t appeal to everybody. But it totally has. Everyone who walks in our kitchen loves it. I still haven’t found the perfect backsplash! I’m not in a hurry. In the meantime the walls above the counters are painted and in a great color and I’m really enjoying it.
White subway tiles would look fantastic with what you describe. Or, white marble countertop and backsplash (solid, not tile). This exact combo with white lacquer Ikea cabs was on the Bed Stuy tour by an architect, looked great. Simple and classic is definitely better. You don’t want to go all crazy with multicolored glass tile.
Carrera marble comes in mosaics of all different shapes and sizes and would link the white cabinets with the grey/black counters. They come in sheets on a mesh backing. I’ve had this type of backsplash for 10 years and it reads as a neutral. If you have undercabinet lights on, the tile will give you a little sparkle. Otherwise, they provide a quiet backdrop for all the color and activity in the kitchen. More color and texture than solid ceramic tile but still neutral. You could get interesting with combining the shapes, or just pick one style and use it all over. Not sure about your budget or the amount of space you want to cover, but at Classic Tile you can find this at about $15 or so per sq ft. Might not fit your “fun” requirement” but I wanted to throw out the idea, based on your cabs and counters.
love the corrugated idea. How ’bout glass. You can paint the back any colour you want or go with white lami. It is the easiest to clean.
Go with white subway tiles. Hubby and I are serial renovators, and came to the conclusion that kitchens get plenty busy on their own, so that’s one room where less is more.