Kitchen Backsplash Ideas: Tile Backsplash Ideas

Check out these ideas for adding style and color to your kitchen with a unique tile backsplash.

Renee Freemon Mulvihill

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Neutral Drama

Unifying Color

Tile Guide

Textural Backdrop

Shimmering Focal Point

Craftsman Character

Three-Dimensional Style

Classic Subway Tile

Small-Scale Pattern

Old-World Charm

Sophisticated Focal Point

Contemporary Texture

Colorful Inserts

Realistic Stone Texture

Decorative Designs

Modern Simplicity

Elegant Marble Tile

A Twist on Tradition

Instant Warmth

Retro Flair

Inspired by Nature

Contrasting Tile Treatments

Stylish Accent TIles

Classic Elegance

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Neutral Drama

Paired with frameless cabinetry and streamlined cabinet pulls, this glass backsplash looks sophisticated and contemporary. The champagne-color glass tiles, gray-stained alder cabinets, and creamy marble countertops maintain a neutral color palette, but their varied shades ensure the look is anything but boring. The tile's glossy finish mirrors the sheen of stainless-steel appliances and reflects light and views.

Do it yourself! Get our How to Tile a Backsplash guide!

Unifying Color

If you plan to use several colors in your kitchen, a multicolor backsplash is a great way to pull your scheme together. This kitchen's multitone mosaic tile backsplash unifies the island's tangerine cabinetry, the perimeter's pale and dark wood cabinets, and the rich espresso walls.

Learn more about types of tiles for kitchen backsplashes.

Tile Guide

Learn about types of tile, installation, and more.

Textural Backdrop

Stained-glass mosaics bring a sleek contemporary style to this kitchen's backsplash. The thin, narrow tile emphasizes the streamlined design of linear stainless-steel cabinet pulls and blends with the surrounding kitchen cabinetry. To fit the custom tiles in his remodeling budget, the homeowner opted for thermofoil cabinets that offer the look of solid wood for a fraction of the price.

Shimmering Focal Point

A distinctive tile backsplash can bring a bit of glamour to your kitchen and transform your cooking area into a design showcase. This onyx mosaic tile backsplash adds a luxurious touch to the space, complementing the room's ornate painted cabinetry and custom molding. The stone tile shimmers in the kitchen's natural light but remains neutral enough to blend in with the kitchen's soft colors and natural surfaces.

Craftsman Character

A tile backsplash can be a great way to create a period look that matches the architecture of your home. With so many kinds of tile available, it's easy to find just the right look for any home. In this kitchen, Arts and Crafts-inspired tiles behind the range complement the 1896 home and kitchen cabinetry that features Arts and Crafts-style paneled doors. The dark decorative tiles stand out from the surrounding field tile.

Do it yourself! Get our How to Tile a Backsplash guide!

Three-Dimensional Style

When brainstorming backsplash ideas, think beyond color. Three-dimensional texture is another way to add unique character to the cooking zone. In this kitchen, pillowed metallic tiles form a simple quilt-like pattern on the range backsplash, attracting attention with soft shimmer and pattern. The tile's understated elegance works well in a kitchen that features cabinetry with lots of ornate embellishments.

Classic Subway Tile

Rectangular white subway tile installed in a traditional brick pattern gives any kitchen a welcoming, vintage charm. In this cooking zone, the classic tile choice is a perfect fit for the room's traditional cabinetry and marble-look countertops. Subway tile is available in ceramic, glass, and stone and in a range of colors to fit both traditional and contemporary spaces.

Small-Scale Pattern

When kitchen cabinetry is relatively simple and unadorned, you can easily opt for more pattern on the backsplash. Here, 1-inch glass mosaic tile creates a dramatic backdrop for the kitchen's white cabinets. The backsplash's neutral hues also blend well with the kitchen's gray countertops and stainless-steel appliances.

Learn more about glass tiles.

Old-World Charm

Several varieties of marble and limestone on the backsplash, floor, and counters help give this kitchen its inviting old-world style. The backsplash also features variations in scale for added interest, showcasing a mosaic tile niche set within larger square tiles. All of the stone is honed, and some is even distressed, to emphasize the kitchen's aged character.

Sophisticated Focal Point

To extend your kitchen budget, consider installing standard field tile throughout most of the kitchen backsplash, then adding hand-painted tiles as decorative accents. The stone tiles in this kitchen provide a rustic, textural backdrop for the cottage-style cooking space. Four accent tiles above the range create a focal point that adds visual interest but doesn't overwhelm the small room.

Do it yourself! Get our How to Tile a Backsplash guide!

Contemporary Texture

Bamboo-look glass tile offers a textural feel and its horizontal lines complement the kitchen's linear cabinet hardware. The unique tile choice modernizes the cooking space but keeps the overall look neutral and soothing. Installing the tile in a stacked pattern enhances the room's contemporary style.

Colorful Inserts

A celery-green glass tile backsplash offers a soft contrast to the surrounding white cabinets in this vintage-style cooking zone. For added visual interest, the homeowners inserted tan tiles randomly into the backsplash. The overall look is fun and sophisticated, but it's neutral enough that it doesn't compete with the bold orange paint that covers the rest of the kitchen's walls.

Realistic Stone Texture

Stacked pebble tiles bring a nature-inspired texture to this backsplash area. To emphasize the natural look, the homeowners chose not to grout the tiles. Used in the kitchen's beverage center, the pebbles create a unique focal point for the cooking zone; the rest of the kitchen backsplash features a more traditional choice: white ceramic subway tiles.

Decorative Designs

Handmade ceramic tile creates a unique design for this kitchen backsplash. Set within square white tiles, painted blue squares create two panels with tree motifs that subtly stand out from the surrounding field tile and white cabinetry. Using handmade tile provides abundant design opportunities; you can opt for a simple, classic design or go all out with vibrant color and pattern.

Learn more about mosaic tile backsplashes.

Modern Simplicity

This mosaic tile glass backsplash brings lively pattern to this small galley kitchen. The glass tiles match the reflective quality of the stainless-steel appliances and add a hint of color to a room with predominantly neutral hues. The square tiles also mimic the shape of openings in the partition wall opposite the cooktop, which admit light and views from the adjacent living room.

Do it yourself! Get our How to Tile a Backsplash guide!

Elegant Marble Tile

Throughout this inviting, cottage-style kitchen, Carrara marble tile forms a sophisticated backsplash. To add depth and enhance the room's upscale look, the designers chose tile with beveled edges. Above the range, they added tile in varied shades of blue and green, which complement the soft blue paint on the walls and the cool colors used in the adjoining dining and living rooms.

A Twist on Tradition

Round penny tiles are often used as flooring, but in this kitchen they are brought up to the backsplash for a fun twist on traditional style. The mosaic tile came in 12x12-inch sheets, which made installation easy. Honey-color grout adds dimension and emphasizes the tile's fun shape.

Instant Warmth

Hand-painted Mexican saltillo tiles add rustic charm to this kitchen's backsplash. The warm terra-cotta tones warm up the room's white cabinetry and stand out against the black soapstone counters. Setting the tiles at a diagonal adds a touch of drama and enhances visual interest.

Retro Flair

The yellow and black tile in this kitchen was essential to creating the room's retro vibe. The tile colors inspired the yellow cabinetry and the yellow hexagonal tile countertops on the opposite side of the room; the black and white composite floor tile and marble countertop next to the range were existing elements.

Do it yourself! Get our How to Tile a Backsplash guide!

Inspired by Nature

Handmade, embossed tiles on this backsplash reflect the detailed craftsmanship evident throughout the entire kitchen. In shades of brown and green, the tiles bring a hint of nature into the cooking zone and suit the kitchen's Arts and Crafts design. A mix of rectangular and square shapes emphasizes the kitchen's simple lines and forms a unique design over the range.

Contrasting Tile Treatments

A niche above the range offers a convenient place for storing often-used oils and spices; it also provides an opportunity to play with backsplash materials. Tiling the niche in a contrasting material helps transform the area into a design focal point. Here, the homeowners chose glass honeycomb tiles, which provide a luminous sheen and a fun pattern; they contrast crisply with the surrounding white subway tile.

Stylish Accent TIles

Small blue tiles accent the white tile backsplash in this remodeled kitchen, repeating the blue color of the kitchen's cabinets and unifying the overall design of the space. Above the range, five square accent tiles with nautical-inspired themes create a distinctive focal point for the cooking zone. Thin liner pieces frame the tile artwork for a finished look.

Classic Elegance

Stone mosaic tile complements the traditional character of this remodeled kitchen and enhances its upscale look. The gray-white tiles stand out from the white cabinets flanking the range but don't demand too much attention. A central tile panel above the range offers subtle contrast and pattern.

Do it yourself! Get our How to Tile a Backsplash guide!

Kitchen Backsplash Ideas: Tile Backsplash Ideas

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