One of the easiest ways to add style and revitalize your kitchen is with a new backsplash. It can protect your walls near the sink from water and as well as grease damage from around your cooktop all at the same time.

If you think of your cabinets, floor, and counter tops as the foundations pieces of your kitchen, then the back splash is the jewelry. The eye candy that can define the kitchen as uniquely your own.

1)Figure out what you like.

Sounds easy doesn’t it? But surprisingly most of us can not articulate what it is that we like. We are apt to say things like, “Well, I know when I see it!” While that is true, it is not helpful when you are trying to describe the sort of backsplash that you want.

Before you even begin to go shopping I would suggest getting your hands on every magazine you can that features kitchens. Cut out the kitchens and backsplashes that you like and make a scrap book. After awhile you will begin to see a pattern emerge of what appeals to you.

Do you love the look of glass tile, or does the more traditional subway tile appeal to you? Natural old world tile of tumbled stone or bold, bright modern colors? Tiny mosaic tiles or larger field tiles with small accent tiles?

2)Match the style of the rest of your house.

If you live in a 100 year old home and have traditional furnishings and fixtures, suddenly going with a dramatic and modern backsplash will look out of place. You want your house to flow from room to room, not to feel like the kicthen exists in isolation from the rest of the house. Your backsplash is not the place to dip your toes into the water of a completely different style.

If you long for the modern aesthetic consider instead bold wall hangings that can be changed out should you tire of them, and seek a compromise for the backsplash design. You want people to come into your kitchen and admire your backsplash in a good way. You want it to take their breath away like a beautiful diamond necklace, not a heart shaped rhinetsone belt buckle.

3) Sit down and think about your whole design.

Graph paper is your friend. If you are designing your own backsplash you owe it to yourself to sketch out your design to scale on graph paper. It really is fun and addictive. And it helps those of us who have trouble visualizing a design on a grand scale really see the way that it will look.

I would be willing to bet that the first design that you sketch out is not the one you end up going with. How do I know this? Well, all of us tend to focus on the one part that stands out for us–a design behind the cooktop, a border around the window– and not consider other places where the tile design might become awkward. You want to avoid having pieces smaller than an inch at the top and the ends, they are difficult to cut and look unprofessional.

4)Be honest with yourself.

Consider the manner in which you really use your kitchen. You want a beautiful design, but it is important to remember that you actually have to live and work in this kitchen. Are you a messy cook who splashes sauce and oil all around you? Are you the type who doesn’t always feel like cleaning up right that very moment? Do you splash a lot when you are using your kitchen sink or perhaps have children whose idea of washing their hands means that there is water dripping off the every surface within 20 ft of the sink?

If it makes you feel any better I am raising my hand on all accounts here. Well, then you should probably eliminate unglazed and porous tile from your design plans. Both of these types of tile will stain if not properly maintained.

5) See the Light

Installing under-cabinet lighting will help highlight your backsplash and provide additional workspace light. I consider this an integral part of the backsplash design. There is nothing worse than standing at your counters and casting shadows on everything you are trying to prepare because the lighting in behind you.

A well designed backsplash can be functional and bring new life to a tired, boring kitchen.

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 17th, 2007 at 9:13 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.