Painted beadboard is nice and easy if it matches your decor. DIY tile is pretty cheap (well, if you pick the right tile!) but a little more work.

Try craigslist for your area, also, I have found lots of treasures at garage sales if I get there early enough. Salvage yards can sometimes have some great high-end or unique stuff if you donÂt mind getting dirty and sorting through mounds of tile to find matches. If you find something you like in the above places but there is not enough, as long as the tile has the same thickness you can sometimes do a mixy matchy which if done right can look beautiful. And, there is always the option of making your own tile, lots of online sites for that, some you can even slow cook in your own oven and then topcoat to a sheen you like. I have made jewelry beads this way and they are strong if slow cooked properly

My vote is for the painted beadboard- we will be doing that temporarily in our kitchen until we can replenish the budget for the tile.

What about something like this?

They come in different finishes and you can get them at Lowe's. They are large, tin-like tiles. I think you just attach with either nails or adhesive.

Thanks for all the ideas... I had been told about the beadboard on the Home Dec. forum, but not sure that's the look I want.

Creeky~ I have seen these & they look like they'd be easy to install & remove later, if need be, for something new to go up. I'm keeping these in mind.

Thanks again!

My friend used peel and stick tiles that are used for flooring.. It looks WONDERFUL!! Just be sure the stove isn't directly on the tile so the heat won't affect it.. Her's looks unbelievable!

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

Clay~ Is there any way you could get a pic of that for me? I had been considering that. My idea was to cut cardboard or maybe plexiglass to fit the area then actually put the tile on that then attach that to the wall. I thought this way, it would be easily taken down if I got tired of it, w/o having to repaint, or replaced w/o having to do any major prep work... Thought w/ cardboard it could be put up w/ paneling nails, w/ plexi I would use small screws. Let me know what you think.

Mc hudd.. I am trying to get a pic of this backsplash for you.. my friend used it.. and I'm tellin ya .. it was so pretty.... I will do my best to get her to take a pic of it...
I will also ask her how she put it on the wall..

Here are the pics I promised... hope this helps!
[IMG]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y56/clayladylei/PC190006.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y56/clayladylei/citapics.jpg[/IMG]

Clayladylei: I cannot access the pictures. I get: Page not found

I've seen sheets of sandblasted glass or mirrors installed as backsplashes in more modern kitchens. Looks great and cleanup is easy because there are minimal seams. Check to see if you have any tile manufacturing workshops in your area; they often have seconds that you can buy at greatly reduced prices. The Habit for Humanity might have a local store where they resell donated building materials... often not used, but leftovers from other projects. In the show homes here designers are using found materials like scrabble tiles, upholstery tacks, and fancy buttons as accents in a plain tile field.

I am so sorry that I couldn't figure out how to post this.. but here it is again!

Here is a link that might be useful:

Clever friend claylady, nice to see someone who isn't scared to act on thinking out of the box.
I suppose a variation of this is when they did this with linoleum counters and ran the lino up the wall too. Very practical.
Did you find out how she attached it?
The patterned plexiglass or glass they use in cabinet door inserts might be interesting as well but might not be cheap.

Love the formica in that one picture, I like the idea of tin tiles but it looks a little too...something for me.

Well, I've looked & looked & can't seem to find the P&S tile that I was wanting... So, when looking @ flooring the other day, I happened upon the paneling section & found paneling that was a perfect match. I'm going to try this out & see what it looks like. It only cost $13.79, so I'm not out much if I hate it.

Thanks again for all of the ideas... I love these forums!

Clay~ Again, thank you for the pic. I wish I could see the rest of that kitchen, it looks identical (except for color) to my kitchen layout! Hopefully my backsplash looks as good as that one!

I'll try to post pics when done.

My prior homeowner used the same Wilsonart laminate that was used on the counters to go along entire wall behind the cooktop. The other walls were just sheetrock. It was one of the granite lookalike patterns. I'm fairly sure that they wouldn't have spent a lot of money on it but they went after a "look". For the most part, people who saw my original kitchen were dazzled by some tricks she used. (She is an architect.)

She also used a piece of shiny black laminate to slide into place as the dishwasher panel. (The only catch was it had to be precisely cut to size.)

jayne

Jayne~ Do you have pics of this? I'd love to see them if you do... it sounds cool!

Thanks!

$29 stainless steel backsplash 50" wide by 30" high.

Here is a link that might be useful: SS backsplash from IKEA

If the IKEA stainless steel backsplash is not to your size, go to your local metal fabricating shop. Ask them to cut a sheet of brushed #4 stainless to your specs. They can usually do this down to the nearest 1/8 or 1/16" inch. Bring it home, attach to your wall with any of the Liquid Nail adhesives, then peel the protective plastic film off.

Or, if you want the adhesion points to show, you can use decorative nails or screws in the corners.

We did this for the backsplash behind our Wolf rangetop...the appliance store wanted $800 for the backsplash, the metal shop did it for me for $98 plus tax.

Looks like a million dollars, and cleans up like a breeze with SS Magic and a soft cloth. Once you get that first coat of SS Magic on there, grease and water don't stick, and clean up with a quick wipe of a cloth and a squirt of SS Magic (you can get this at any big box store or Walmart).