The Inland Echo

By Gerry Frederick

A kitchen backsplash can be a fun and stylish way to finish off any kitchen upgrade large or small. It carries with it the sign of the new look kitchen that surrounds it.

Even the most penny-wise kitchen make over will be enhanced by the look of any new backsplash. Tile is by far the most common and perhaps the most inexpensive way to renovate a backsplash. So we all know for me a kitchen backsplash is the area between the countertop and the cabinets. This can be expanded to other areas like behind the appliances and even around the kitchen window.

Bathrooms have backsplashes too, but just a lot smaller square footage. Nevertheless they can be just as important when it comes to blending the whole color or style theme thoughout the room. The name states clearly what it function is – wall that we expect to splash stuff on. So at some point down the road we should be thinking about cleaning it.

This is an obvious wet area in either the kitchen or bath. Sinks are located near by and other wet activities are carried on all around a back splash. The bottom line is very simple; we don’t really need them at all. We can just paint the area with a good kitchen and bath color and be done with it. Often this is a part of home improvement that can be left until a later date because of budget overruns.

Just paint it for now and plan a great decorating challenge for a more comfortable time down the road. The average kitchen backsplash is only about 30 square feet. That is the beauty of it, only 30 square feet to tile or cover with your choice of material. When we plan tiling projects around the house we know that they are an important part of any home improvement project. And with that it is important to keep costs inline with our budget.

That being said we can worry less because the average backsplash is only 30 feet so if the design we like has a cost of $10 per square foot it isn’t a budget buster. On the other hand if we are talking about a kitchen floor that covers 150 square feet then costly tiles can eat away the wallet real fast.

In recent years stainless steel has come and gone as a stylish contemporary backsplash option. I say come and gone because although very sanitary a stainless steel back splash is very difficult to keep presentable. They need to be cleaned, wiped and polished every time they are exposed to anything liquid. This has proved to be far too demanding for the average home owner.

Years ago it was common to extend the counter top laminate to cover the area under the cabinets. Although very cost effective and easy to care for it is not very telling of your individual style. Glossy tiles are very easy to clean but still can show even the smallest blemish. Where as tiles with a rough finish like natural stone can be rather carefree, just give her a wipe when it’s needed.

The backsplash in my house is very carefree. It is made up of smooth glazed tiles and rough mosaic tiles with matching grout. We sealed it with grout and tile sealer after installation and haven’t worried about it since then and that was over six years ago.  Any time you can manufacture a carefree kitchen surface you’re bound to be happy with it expensive or not.

Paint is also a good simple option that will be very helpful to the renovation budget. You can always plan to throw money at the backsplash later on. Take your time and check photos on line by searching kitchen backsplashes. You will find thousands of ideas and hundreds ways to spend the last of the kitchen budget that is burning holes in your wallet.

Related posts:

1. How to use the economic downturn to improve your home
2. Replacing a counter top is a great job for new tools
3. Planning a new floor covering in advance saves headaches later
4. A new tile floor is a great way to change the feel of a room
5. Price-shopping a plan before beginning work saves money on home improvement projects