Here’s how you update your completely boring kitchen with a minimum investment of time and cash: install a tile backsplash. You don’t need to paint, rip anything out, move appliances or buy a whole lot of expensive and hard-to-use equipment. Tile comes in pre-glued sheets along with a nearly limitless array of shapes, sizes, colours and materials. Expand your sense of whimsy with a few vaulted ceilings, or comparison a band of solid-color tiles with the other kitchen colours.
Perfectly Premade
Mix tiny glass and metal tile squares in copper, pewter, gold, moss, antique white, aluminum and other colours for a backsplash which goes with stained wood, white wood or laminate cabinets. Tiles manufactured in 12-inch interlocking squares are simple to install. You can trim the premade squares to match around light switches and counter edges. The tiles are configured, but you don’t need to construct them only cut and paste to get a fast, fab, wipe-down wall therapy to emphasize colours and materials from the kitchen.
You’ve Got Hired
Get the glow of precious metal and the reflective shine of mirror tile with a white gold-leaf tile backsplash. Classic subway tile gets a boost into the stratosphere with gold leaf fused with a protective glass covering that stands up to heat and moist, its glossy perfection undimmed. The appearance is arresting in a contemporary industrial-style kitchen with chrome fixtures, plenty of metallic, metallic, stone and wood. Don’t overdo it and blind the cook. Place the pricey tiles onto a tall backsplash behind the stove, and also the part of the wall above the sink. Tone it down marginally by hanging open metal shelving in front of the tile to hold white pottery plates and aluminum bake-ware.
Stark Contrast
An old-fashioned kitchen gets a style boost with a backsplash of square black ceramic tiles. White marble counters, white walls and dark tile look sharp and slick — grout the tile with white to emphasize the simple square shapes and also integrate the backsplash with its environment. Keep the colours to a minimum so vintage appliances or architectural details with period character stand out. In a U-shaped galley kitchen, run the backsplash around all walls. In a square toilet, use black tile in the sink and stove walls. Traditional black ceramic tiles may look muddy with coloured dark or walls contrary to medium gray walls, so play it safe and stick to lots of white in the rest of the room.
Viva La Backsplash
Hand-painted Mexican tile produces a brilliant, one-of-a-kind backsplash in your kitchen. Piece together patterned tile to vibrant geometric designs, stylized flowers or murals. Mix individually painted picture tiles — mariposas, flores, frutas, palomas or pajaros — with plain stone or terra-cotta shingles which have been sealed against water damage. Use big square tiles, thin border tiles and hexagonal tiles to produce your own designs and define cooking, clean-up and food prep areas. Vivid tile is just a stand-out against chalky white stucco paint, and it is strong enough to hold its own in a kitchen made from several bright colors and varied textures.