Creative Backsplash Ideas

There's a backsplash design for every decorating style. Find design inspiration in these beautiful surfaces that amplify interest by adding texture, color, and pattern to kitchen walls.

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Allover Allure

Small white kitchen

Tile patterns in high-contrast color pairings work well in white kitchens. These homeowners maximized the impact of graphic Cuban-style cement tiles by using them to create backsplashes on the range wall and wallpaperlike coverings on other walls. The pumped-up pattern handily highlights the white cabinets, weighty woodwork, and detailed trim.

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Directional Dimension

kitchen

Perfectly pleasing designs result when something ordinary becomes imaginative. White subway tiles installed diagonally create a stylish herringbone-pattern backsplash and make the most of a moderately priced material.

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One-of-a-Kind Materials

Looking for a standout material for your backsplash? Watch and see some of the unique ideas we've come across.

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Mellow Yellow

white cabinets

Colorful ceramic tiles make standout companions for white cabinets. Simply-lined yellow subway tiles suit this kitchen's vintage tone, make a high-contrast partner for the cabinets, and complement the retro scheme. Gray grout lines bring a touch of depth to the sunshine-bright backsplash.

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Textured Tile

sink

Neutral hues work doubly well when rendered in rough-textured materials. Stone tiles of varying thicknesses and slightly different shapes stack up for an appealingly rough counterpoint to the kitchen's shinier surfaces and contemporary fittings.

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Mix Mastery

kitchen

Melding matte and polished tiles in grayish tones builds handsome backsplashes that won't disrupt calming cadences inherent in contemporary design. Laid in a horizontal fashion, this backsplash handily balances the kitchen's vertical furnishings, mirrors the color and shine of stainless steel appliances, and brings an overall sense of lightness.

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Period Panache

kitchen

Exposed brick walls fashion a rugged backdrop that brings a historic look ideally suited to Victorian sculleries, old-world work spaces, and modern lofts. No bricks to expose? Look for thin-brick veneers that can be installed as an interesting backsplash with architectural appeal.

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High Style

orange backsplash

Instead of hanging upper cabinets, these homeowners refreshed their kitchen's outlook with glossy, light-reflective orange subway tiles running from the countertops to the ceiling. Each row of tiles is offset from adjacent rows to create a brick or running bond pattern, which brings a sense of movement to expansive tile installations.

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Artistic Tile

backsplash

Shiny glass and honed stone mosaic tiles fashion a multifaceted backsplash to highlight an artwork-like accent mosaic above the range. Bullnose tiles produce a framelike effect around decorative tiles aligned in a field of diamond-shape tiles.

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Old-World Appeal

green kitchen cabinets

Stone tiles in different colors, sheens, and shapes come together as a customized mural that underscores this kitchen's period style. Adjacent backsplashes feature crackle-finished, beveled subway tiles to further the century-old feeling in an updated manner.

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Warming Trend

tile backsplash

Stone tiles puzzled together in varying forms bring warmth to a contemporary kitchen. The tile's earthen hues and rough texture provide a natural-look counterpoint to the kitchen's bright-white finishes and gleaming industrial surfaces.

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Quilted Quality

white tile

Glossy triangular tiles boasting irregular angles are strategically spaced in a sea of white grout to create a pillowed effect. The glistening backsplash introduces understated but notable texture that layers in detail without detracting from the kitchen's contemporary character.

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Shimmering Harmonies

kitchen backsplash

Playing off both the color and sparkle of stainless steel appliances, this backsplash stacks silver, white, and black tiles in vertical bands that seem to undulate along with the shifting light. The design-savvy homeowners eased the vertical design with the horizontal planes of symmetrical black shelving units.

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On the Water

blue and white kitchen

This watery-blue glass countertop segues seamlessly into an integrated backsplash that makes a huge impact thanks to a solid facade unmarred by grout lines. The backsplash contributes watery hues and reflective shimmer to enhance the white kitchen's crisp look.

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Smooth Transition

sink

Carrying the countertop material directly up the wall creates a clean-lined perimeter in this transitional kitchen design. Custom-designed to suit the space, this backsplash boasts a sculpted edge that continues the line of the windowsills.

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Multifaceted Composition

kitchen

Metallic penny-tile mosaics supply progressive profiles and industrial shimmer to jazz up a neutral-scheme kitchen. A nostalgic notion rendered in stainless steel, the penny tiles lighten walls shadowed by upper cabinets, which in turn gives the kitchen an overall brighter look.

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