we put the home depot "stainless" color pressed tin backsplash in at our last house and everyone loved it. Not sure, but I would check about the heat conductive nature of a true copper if it is the backsplash behind a range.

Oh allison0704 your house is amazing! It's good to hear that copper's easy to keep clean. Did you seal yours or are you letting it age natural?

aedevm, copper is an excellent heat conductor... we're getting a slide in range, so that is a really good question I'll need to look into.

Thank you! Did not seal it. Had we not been in a rush, I would have taken outside and hosed it down (letting it dry inbetween) to start aging it. (Did that with the fridge panels, last house.) We've been in 5yrs, but when we first moved in, I would spray it with water now and then. Now, I just wipe with damp sponge.

The copper on the TV cover in the great room was hosed down several times. It has a great patina on it. I really need to take down copper on hood and do it outside.

GW member Nottoosticky, over on the metalworking forum, shared a bunch of fabulous photos of making her own copper backsplash:

It's a great material to work with, and for a backsplash application you can use the thinner metal sheets that are pre-aged, patinaed, etched, etc. Easier to DIY than tile, even.

We made our own copper countertops and can guarantee that copper gets no more gunky that any other surface in the kitchen. It is metal, after all, so all it takes to clean is a quick wipedown. For a pre-finished sheet, you will probably be sealing it anyways to avoid further oxidation.

Because our entire kitchen's counters are copper, we looked into the conductivity issue rather extensively and found it to be unproblematic. I can't imagine this would be any different than a stainless steel backsplash.

I'll take the liberty of posting Nottoosticky's gallery of DIY backsplash photos here:

Here is a link that might be useful: Copper Kitchen Album

Oh cool beans! You know I never even thought to look at the metalworking forum. I'm gonna go swing by there right now.

Maybe something like this?

MMMmmmmmm ... copper. drool.

Mellifera, there are a few threads in the metalworking forum dedicated to copper countertops, and some of them also contain pictures and descriptions of backsplash work. I have ample pictures in them of my own.

A few collected sources:
Colorcopper.com

Basiccopper.com

metalbythefoot.com

Outwater Copper Laminates

Here is a link that might be useful: DIY copper countertops

I didn't decide on copper until 4-5 years after the cabinets went in so roofing copper like everyone else used would have been difficult. Mine is craft weight from old stock that had never been used & mounted on 1/8" plywood - perfect for me since I wanted patina & the job had to be DIY. I can't think of anything easier to keep clean or looking good. If you want it just-polished-shiney, that might be a different issue.

@bill: OMG Gorgeous! my kitchen is only 10'x8' so I was leaning toward just plain raw copper sheet all along the walls, but you've inspired me to try a tile design behind the range. Maybe a diamond pattern.

@circus peanut: I saw your lovely countertops over there and I really loved seeing how the patina grew and changed over time. As drool worthy as the pre-patinated stuff is, your counters really sold me on the idea of having an *evolving* finish.

@antiquesilver thanks for sharing yours. I'm going to show it to DH because I think his biggest hang up is that the sink and all the appliances are SS and wont go with copper. How did you get that fabulous texture? Was it light enough to crumple or did it come that way?

Mellifera - the texture was my screwup! The copper is slightly thicker than a soda can & when I glued it to the plywood, I didn't brush the Gorilla Glue evenly - just zigzagged it & left the copper on it to bond (the copper was weighted down but apparently not enough to make a difference). The glue swelled & left 'alien worms' running under the surface. I've gotten used to it but it wasn't intentional although most people seem to like it.