As I toured my friend’s new house, I felt like I knew its previous owners simply by their design decisions:
• Huge pantry. These people brought casseroles to neighbors in crisis and well-stocked coolers to soccer sidelines.
• Woodpecker-style nail holes all down the hall. These were family-oriented folks; parents who doled out Band-aids and ice packs in their sleep and life advice while combing their hair.
• A generic kitchen backsplash that screamed “missed opportunity.” In the final stages of remodeling, they caved like a half-baked cake in a draft.
The former homeowners had put in a new kitchen before selling their house. The appliances still had the plastic on them, which delighted my friend. The antique white cabinets and black granite counters also were new.
But when the sellers faced down their backsplash choice, they got Whatever Syndrome, a common affliction among remodelers. The vertical challenge proved too much, so they just said “Whatever” and ran the countertop material up the wall 4 inches. After that, they probably drew the blinds and lapped straight gin from their belly buttons.
I get that. Designing a new kitchen can feel like torture. All those decisions: floor plan, cabinetry, color schemes, fixtures, doors versus drawers, appliances, flooring, counters, wall treatments, lighting overhead and under cabinets. After a kitchen remodel your decision-making self feels more wrung out than a bartender’s towel on NFL opening day.
So when the deceptively minor backsplash decision comes up, you hit the default button: “Whatever! Just put what’s on the counter up the wall.”
But that lack of inspiration will show.
“I’ll redo that,” my friend said, pointing to her new home’s backsplash.
What a shame to see new construction torn up and replaced for lack of creative courage.
I almost took the easy way out when building the kitchen in my current house. Fortunately, a designer I’d paid hourly to steer me through the chaos saved me from my lazy self.
Rather than run the counter granite up the wall, as I was bent on doing, she combined antique cream tiles with mocha- patterned accent pieces. The custom ceramic combination looked much better than the granite backsplash would have and cost far less.
Later, when building out the kitchen in our basement a few years ago, I picked the backsplash first — before the onset of decision-making burnout. I selected decorative tile I loved, a cool antique bronze metallic, and designed the kitchen around it. I added black granite counters flecked with bronze, grey slate flooring streaked with bronze, and black iron knobs and pulls with a worn copper glaze.
I tell you. I was on this!
As things go around my house, building the basement took two years. Progress dragged on like the last week of school. When the time came for the backsplash, which goes in last — after framing, rough electrical and plumbing, drywall, flooring, cabinets, appliances and counters — I dusted off my trusty sample. I called my tile source, the one I’d borrowed the sample from two years earlier, to order my 30 decorative tiles.
“Discontinued!?”
They could hear me scream in Antarctica.
“I’ve designed my entire kitchen around this. Surely you can scrape together enough for my order!”
“Ma’am, that tile has been discontinued for 10 months. The sample in your hand is probably the last one in existence.”
This is another leading cause of Whatever Syndrome. It’s that or mail letter bombs:
“What faucets would you like?”
“Whatever.”
“And for your backsplash?”
“Kaboom!”
I found another tile in stock, which I liked less. Whatever. It looked fine, and at least I didn’t run the granite up the wall. But next time, next time! I’m getting it right.
Syndicated columnist Marni Jameson is the author of “The House Always Wins” (Da Capo). You may contact her through .
Splash of style
Cooper Smith, the spokesperson for Dal-Tile in Dallas, underscores the style statement that a well-planned backsplash will make. “Because it’s a vertical surface, like cabinets,” he says, “backsplashes are an important visual.” Here’s how he suggests you design one that rocks:
Done well, a backsplash can be a kitchen’s defining accent. If you have a boring backsplash, cutting in replacement tiles every foot or so can transform the room.
Don’t worry about your tile choice looking dated. “Tile trends move at glacial speed,” Smith says. Unlike flooring or counters, backsplashes are easy to change.
When designing, pick decorative tiles early, when — not after — you select your counter material and cabinets; otherwise your backsplash choices get limited.
Don’t wait to order decorative tiles. If you’ve designed your kitchen around an accent tile, buy the quantity you need right away and store it, before the tile gets discontinued or back ordered. Standard tiles will likely be available, but specialty ones come and go.
When choosing accents, don’t just focus on color. Pick tiles that fit the style of your home. Contemporary choices include glass, stainless, copper, pewter, cement, slab stone and windows. Traditional choices include tumbled stone, colored or textured tiles, tile murals, and rustic iron. Certain porcelain, ceramic and metallic tiles can be either. The trend is toward mixed materials.
Go big. The minimum backsplash is 4 inches. If you can afford to run the backsplash up 12 inches, or to the bottom of the upper cabinets, do it.
Have courage. Don’t be so afraid of making a statement that you don’t make any statement. Safe beats ugly. But a good custom choice trumps both.
