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Update: Kitchen Backsplash Extravaganza

Just a quick update on our backsplash extravaganza from last month. After reviewing my original choices, I decided to try out a few more options and finally settled on the lovely neutral Windy City blend from Modwalls. We were really looking for something to act a transition between the new Silestone counter in Mont Blanc, the maple cabinets and the darker wood of our other furniture. Windy City covers a nice spectrum of neutrals and just seems to tie everything together without overpowering the other features.

I opted to install the tile myself – my first time at tiling! It was at once fun and frustrating, but the end result (and reasonable price!) was worth it. See the gallery below for a step-by-step slideshow of the installation.

finished_backsplash

[album: https://mochihome.com/wp-content/uploads/Backsplash/]

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15 responses to “Update: Kitchen Backsplash Extravaganza”

  1. LG Avatar
    LG

    I love it! It looks awesome and I appreciate the tutorial!

  2. jay Avatar
    jay

    Looks great! I just ordered the same for my kitchen and am trying to figure out what grout color to use – White or gray? What did you go with ?

  3. carly Avatar
    carly

    I used white grout. I was intentionally trying to tie in our bright white countertop and also keep the backsplash looking bright and fresh. White seemed like the best choice for my case.

    I have mixed feelings about colored grout, though I have seen both gray and brown used in really tasteful ways with matching tiles. I think gray could also be nice with this Windy City pattern – it could even tone down the contrast of the tiles and give a more muted effect.

    Good luck!

  4. susan Avatar
    susan

    Looks great! You make it look so easy. I’m contemplating doing my own DIY backsplash installation. How hard was it to cut the tiles to fit into awkward corners and spaces, such as around the electrical outlet?

  5. carly Avatar
    carly

    It’s easy to cut the small tiles, but it’s hard to get an even edge. The tiles are so small, you do not use a big tile cutter, but tile nippers instead. Unfortunately, it’s not very precise and you will roughly cut the tiles in half.

    For areas such as outlets (I had a lot of outlets!) the uneven edge will be hidden under the switch plate. I also needed to cut tiles across the entire top border of the backsplash. If you walk up and look closely at this edge, you can notice that it is slightly uneven, but again it’s hidden under the cabinets and the overall backsplash diminishes the uneven areas.

    If you are using larger tiles, I recommend that you take then into a hardware store to have them cut. Just measure and mark your tiles and they will cut to order. This will give you a nice clean edge and is well worth it.

  6. Tracy Wolbaum Avatar
    Tracy Wolbaum

    What did you use on the edges? Did you use a bullnose tile or something else?

  7. carly Avatar
    carly

    I didn’t use anything for edges actually. I just ended with the same small tiles and then carefully grouted the ends to keep it neat.

    The tiles are so small and I wanted to keep a modern look, so I opted to keep it plain.

  8. cicada Avatar
    cicada

    What color is the floor in this kitchen? We are planning to re-do ours, and I’m having a really hard time with color scheme ideas. We’re going with a birch cabinet and probably dark hardwood floors, but I can’t seem to decide on anything else!

  9. carly Avatar
    carly

    The kitchen floors are a medium stained oak. The floor color is a shade darker and warmer than the maple cabinets you see in the images.

    However, because the kitchen floor is wood, we actually covered them with a charcoal colored Flor tile (Fedora). So basically, it’s a dark charcoal gray floor.

    The dark floor seems to go well with the backsplash,maple cabinets and white countertop. It provides a nice contrast.

  10. cicada Avatar
    cicada

    Why did you decide to tile over the wood floor?

  11. carly Avatar
    carly

    We threw down the carpet tiles because we are enthusiastic cooks and find ourselves spilling a lot of food and splashing a lot water onto the floor. We mostly did it as a way to preserve the wood floors, which already showed a little water damage from previous owners. As a bonus the tiles happened to look good too.

  12. Michelle Avatar
    Michelle

    Hi! Just wondering if I could get more info on the cabinet door hardware. Really like them! Do you know the manufacturer name or where you bought them? Thanks.

  13. carly Avatar
    carly

    We bought them at Home Depot, believe it or not! I’m not sure who the manufacturer is or what they are called. However, we happened to pick them up in a Home Depot in Manhattan. I do know that the Manhattan Home Depot’s often carry slightly different (and more design oriented) inventory than other stores. You may have to look around to find something similar.

  14. Love Your Kitchen (don’t hate your counter!) « Mochi Home – Paint Ideas, Home Decor, Virtual Makeovers

    […] is great, but you know how much I love a good backsplash. For added kitchen drama, try some tiles instead of paint. I’m partial to the Brio Blends […]

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    […] year, I updated my kitchen with a new backsplash (check out the Kitchen Backsplash Extravaganza for details). This year, we updated our appliances. From a purely aesthetic perspective, the new […]

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