This is the question that's been on my mind since we got the kitchen re-done two years ago. The walls are still untiled. It's been on and off my mind the entire time, but recently I've been sourcing tiles again. It's not easy because the countertops are a beige-y color, and any white makes the counter look dingy, not beige. Do you know how hard it is to find off-white but not beige but not gray but not too brown or yellow colored tiles? Not so much.
So we left the wall untiled due to my inability to find something and the fact that I was about up to my limit on the kitchen budget at the time. But I've been on a mad home improvement streak since I paid off the kitchen loan at the beginning of this year. I've been going to places with tile and looking online too. I'll show ya'll my top picks before discussing whether or not I even need a backsplash.
I ordered a sample of these from Wayfair, and really like the color in person. These look a little too off white, but they are great in person. I love online stores that offer samples.
Then I found what I think are the exact same tiles at Home Depot, so I'll have to do some math to see what the better price comes out to be.
Also at Home Depot, I found some other favorable tiles but you can't buy samples and I apparently deleted the picture from my phone but they are an off-white version of these scallop tiles.
So do I need a backsplash after two years of living without one? I think yes. It will be much easier to wipe off the wall spatters than from the wall, which sometimes need a good elbow greasing due to the location of the offending spatters between the cabinets. Plus it would add some texture and visual interest, and it just looks kind of naked there now, like we meant to take care of it but just didn't.
And I'll tell on myself, I totally didn't finish painting behind the hood vent and it looks off.
I know that tiling can be an easy thing to do but there are several considerations here that make me want to bring in a professional. One, the hood vent and undercabinet lighting will need to be repositioned. We didn't account for tile when we installed these things. Two, one of the back walls slightly slopes away from the countertop, which sucks, but once the counter guys were here it was too late to remedy the problem. In fact, there's a tile sample behind the cabinet that fell back there, as at the widest, the space is large enough to accommodate my fingers. So I want someone else to have to figure out how to make it look good. Thirdly, I hate cutting tile. I got myself with tile nippers years ago and just haven't wanted to play with tile since.
Do you have a backsplash tile? Any thoughts on my tile selections, or any recommendations? I'd love to see what ya'll have to say! This project likely won't come to fruition until summertime at the earliest, as we're about to embark upon an outdoor project and I'm trying to do just one at a time.
