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aladams2

Can backsplash go above cabinets?

4 years ago


My kitchen cabinets don’t extend to the ceiling (I wish they did). In an effort to make the kitchen look taller, I am thinking of carrying the backsplash up to the ceiling on both walls. Do you think this will look bad? I’m struggling with where to stop the backsplash if I don’t go to the ceiling. I plan to use the cloe tile from Bedrosians Tile, which has some variation so it won’t be a sea of white. Thanks!

Comments (11)

  • 4 years ago

    You can do anything you want! For the most part at least...


    For tile you could do it all if you really wanted to. I don't think it would look bad at all. Usually it would run just under the cabinets all the way around and up to bottom of hood. Around your window you could just use a Schluter type edge to keep it a straight line. You could also go all the way to the ceiling behind the hood as well.

    aladams2 thanked J Hack
  • 4 years ago

    That's what we are planning in our remodel. Even similar tile (pure white zelliege, from Zia). I think it will look like a tiled wall with cabinets/shelves on it, rather than a wall with some tile, like a traditional height backsplash would look.

    aladams2 thanked HU-876090495
  • 4 years ago

    I don’t think it will look good above the upper cabinets, sorry. The purpose of a backsplash is to protect the walls against splatters from prep and cooking. So what would a backsplash be doing up there? All that tiling up there would do is call attention to that stretch of wall above the cabinets. Just leave it alone.

    When you ask about where to end the tile, are you talking about the hood area? If so, then tile up to the bottom of the hood. While you could tile up to the ceiling just in that hood section, keep in mind the added cost to do that, and I think the tile to the ceiling behind the hood would not be in keeping with the rest of your kitchen - it may be an overwhelming focal point in your kitchen. You have to look at the kitchen as a whole, not just the single element of tile.

    aladams2 thanked M Miller
  • 4 years ago

    I would lean toward a more traditional backplash, having the tile run up to the bottom of the cabinets and hood. Tile dates really fast these days with all the Insta/Pinterest exposure, and what seems classic today may not feel current in just a year or so - that being said if you absolutely love the "full tiled wall" look then I say go for it, there's no right or wrong and it's your kitchen :)

    aladams2 thanked la_la Girl
  • 4 years ago

    My splash goes to the ceiling above the cabinets. I like it but okay, it was already here when we moved in but my ceilings are 12ft high so there is quite a bit of it. I’ll try to find a picture of ours.

    aladams2 thanked cubby14
  • 4 years ago

    Mine goes up and around the cabinets and down to the floor, but I don't have a lot of space between the cabinets and ceiling so that worked well and made more sense than painting to my eye:






    In your case, though, you've got a buttload lot of space up there, and all tiling is going to do is highlight that, so no to tiling to the ceiling in your kitchen.


    aladams2 thanked porkchop_z5b_MI
  • 4 years ago

    Here is that picture

    aladams2 thanked cubby14
  • 4 years ago

    ^^ That looks really nice, Cubby! It's a feature wall.

    aladams2 thanked porkchop_z5b_MI
  • last year

    We did ours and it draws your eyes up and really made the ceiling look higher and you don’t notice the fact that the cabinets don’t go to the ceiling. The tiler was skeptical at first, then he said it looked so much better

  • last year

    ^^ That looks really good - I like it! Yes, my tiler was skeptical about how I wanted mine done, too, but same thing -- when done he liked it a lot.