Kitchen backsplash where to begin & end

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

We are trying to figure out where to install backsplash in our kitchen - we have a fairly large kitchen with a lot of cabinets however the cabinets do not go to the ceiling.

On the large back / main wall there are a lot of cabinets as well as the stove hood - we are unsure if we should:

1. put the backsplash all the way to the cieling

2. put the backsplash to the bottom of the upper cabinets (if so what do we do around the hood?)

the wall to the right has a long countertop that extends past where the cabinets end and there is also a window -- should that be a place where we continue the backsplash to the end of the countertop just following the line of the bottom of the upper cabinets?

Thank you so much for any advice!

Featured Answer

felizlady

8 years ago

It depends upon what you are using for the backsplash. We could give you more suggestions if you show us what you intend to use.
A large tile with a particular pattern may look odd if you have to cut it to fit a narrow spot like around the window.
A small simple tile with no pattern may work fine everywhere. I like tile around a stove hood to go up to the top cabinet molding or to the ceiling.
I would consider painting the over-cabinet area to match the backsplash.

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Comments (7)

K R
8 years ago
I don’t know I’d do any backsplash at all. It’s a lovely kitchen. The way the cabinets line up and how the hood is there is no way to really figure out where to start and stop the backsplash.
Keiko Childs
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Cabinets, over the , finished

--sorry, something weird happened on my phone. I would do it up to halfway between the canopy of the hood and the top of the cabinets, then do the same height on the window side and finish it with bullnose.
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loobab
8 years ago
You don't need to backsplash the whole kitchen unless you are a really messy cook.

Just backsplash behind the cooktop.
marylut
8 years ago
To tile behind only the cooktop, extend the cabinet top crown across the cooktop vent and tile width of cooktop and up to crown.
acm
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
The suggestion not to tile is a good one. If you start, it will be hard to stop easily and get a good look. You have a 4-inch stone backsplash already, which is what most of the country made do with for decades. (You would probably want to remove that before adding tile anyway.)

Otherwise, if you're wedded to a tile, you could choose among:

1) just behind cook top. (usually cooking splatter and sink splatters are the things you want to protect the wall from, and your sink is on the island.) Might as well look for something close to the paint color.

2) the stove wall, up to lower cabinets most of the way across, and level with the top of the cabinets behind hood.

3) the stove wall as in (2) and then continue at same height next to/under window to end of counter, moving the switches to avoid a mess, or stopping just before the switch plate.

I'd live without for a while. Hopefully you painted your kitchen with eggshell at least anyway, which cleans up well. You'll probably be happy to discover that you don't need more and you'll save a fortune in tile and labor.
njay
8 years ago
Sign behind cook top looks combustible. I'd encourage you to find a different spot for it, and put something behind the cooktop that meets code.