5 Tips for Choosing the Best Kitchen Splashback for your Home

Kitchen splashback tiles are functional and convenient. They are ideal alternative to kitchen wall tiles. Mostly, splashbacks are installed on the wall behind the kitchen stove or bench-top. Irrespective of the type and style of splashback, these are able to protect your walls from water damage. 

Splashback Tiles Material

Currently, trending splashback styles include rustic timber, window splashbacks, single stone slab or raw textured tiles. Still, porcelain and ceramic continue to be the most popular choice for kitchen splashback today. You can buy a wide range of kitchen splashback tiles from leading stores, such as Initial Tiles & Bathware, Sydney. This is an incredibly popular tiles store in Australia and offers an excellent variety of kitchen tiles. 

You can choose from a variety of materials, from ceramic and porcelain to marble, glass, granite and even metal. One of the main concerns when buying the best kitchen splashback is the cost. This is especially true if you are on a tight budget. In such cases, the best type of kitchen tiles would be ceramic or porcelain. However, if you have a considerably extensive budget, then you can choose more expensive and stylish options, such as glass, marble or granite. 

Nowadays, style is not a big issue when buying kitchen splashback tiles. The reason is that technology can even transform the cheapest ceramic tiles to resemble more expensive marble or granite and even metal surfaces. This is incredibly useful when you want to achieve a specific stylish look for your kitchen but at a more affordable price. 

Best Kitchen Splashback Tiles for 2022

Here is our selection of the best kitchen splashback tiles for 2022:

1 – Mosaic tiles

Today, the porcelain mosaic tiles are trending the most. These are trendy porcelain tiles for feature walls. These tiles are ideal for use as kitchen splashback, regardless of the interior theme of your kitchen. It comes with a unique texture and gives a contemporary vibe to the kitchen. 

You can choose between light grey, dark grey, black, white, etc. 

These tiles can be bought in different sizes:

• Chip size = 95 mm x 95 mm
• Sheet size = 295.5 mm x 295.5 mm

2 – Subway tiles

Subway tiles are another style of ceramic tiles for use as kitchen splashback in your home. The latest range of subway-style tiles are a modern version of the conventional tiles you see at subway stations. You can choose to lay these in a conventional pattern or have fun with installation design. These tiles are ideal for kitchen splashback, as well as for other bathroom walls and commercial countertops. 

The subway style tiles come in a variety of colours, including glossy black, dark grey, light grey, light taupe and white. You can also buy matte-finish subway tiles in several colours, such as black, dark grey, light grey, taupe and white. 

Big Format Tiles

Big format tiles are another popular style for kitchen splashbacks. These are distinctly similar in appearance to conventional marble and come in large sizes. Using these, you can create a smooth, unhindered kitchen splashback without the need for grout lines. These tiles bring a sense of innovativeness with style. You can choose big format tiles in three main colours – black, grey and ivory. 

Splashback Tiles Maintenance 

The extent of maintenance of kitchen splashback tiles depends on the colour and opacity of the chosen tiles. Similarly, the type of material you choose will also determine the range of colours you can select from. Thanks to modern technology, it is possible to give almost any colour to any material. Still, using acrylic or toughened glass as kitchen splashback will require considerably more maintenance than ceramic or porcelain tiles. 

Splashback Tiles Shape

Kitchen splashback tiles come in various colours, shapes and sizes. You can choose plain-tiled splashback without any bold or colourful highlights. Still, you can add character to the plain kitchen tiles by using different shapes. 

You can create amazing subtle features with plain geometric tiles. These are also usually easier to install. You can choose pentagonal, hexagonal, square or diagonally-shaped kitchen splashback tiles.

However, you must remember that the shape of kitchen splashback will determine the ease of installation. 

Splashback Tiles Layout

You can add an interesting twist to plain black-and-white kitchen tiles by laying them out in a herringbone pattern. You can even use black or grey grout, as opposed to the traditional white grout, to further highlight the shape and pattern of the kitchen splashback tiles. 

Splashback Tiles Cost

After an extensive market survey, our experts were able to determine the average cost of kitchen splashback tiles in Australia:

• AUD 35 to AUD 250 per square metre (according to the type of tiles)
• AUD 230 per square metre for Laminate tiles
• AUD 247 per square metre or Acrylic tiles
• AUD 300 to AUD 350 per square metre for Metaline ® tiles
• AUD 330 per square metre for Painted Clear Glass tiles
• AUD 330 per square metre for Satin-finish Stainless Steel tiles
• AUD 390 per square metre for Engineered Stone tiles 
• AUD 420 per square metre for Painted Starfire Glass tiles

Experts recommend that you should be ready to pay between AUD 300 and AUD 800 for installing kitchen splashback tiles. The exact rate will depend on the extent of installation procedure as per the type of tiles. The cost will also include the number of cut-outs your kitchen splashback needs. Cut-outs give a distinct look to your kitchen splashback and can cost upwards of AUD 50 per cut-out, relative to the tile material. 

As you can see in the table above, the price of glass splashback tiles is considerably greater than laminate and acrylic tiles. The more expensive the tile, the more maintenance it requires. So, it is highly recommended to do your research on the desired material before deciding to buy kitchen tiles. 

In short, the factors that determine the exact cost of installing kitchen splashback tiles are:

• Style (plain, herringbone, etc.) 
• Material (marble, glass, etc.) 
• Size (small, large, etc.) 
• Style (contemporary, modern, etc.) 
• Shape (square, hexagonal, etc.)
• Pattern (plain, textured, etc.)
• Colour (white, black, blue, etc.)
• Grout (white or black) 
• Price (cheap or expensive) 

5 Tips to Choose the Best Kitchen Splashback Tiles

Now that you know the basics of kitchen splashback tiles, let’s take a look at the top 5 ways to choose the best-suited tile:

1 – Determine your budget

First off, you should set a budget to work with and ensure that you follow it. This is simply common sense but you will be surprised how far buyers can go overboard their budget when buying kitchen tiles, thanks to the incredible variety of tiles available. Make sure to include the cost of purchasing tiles and the cost of installation in your final budget. 

2 – Material

This is one of the most complicated aspects of choosing kitchen splashback tiles. Despite the immense variety of products, it is advisable to choose from renowned and reliable materials. For instance, choosing glass for kitchen splashback means you can wipe the surface clean easily. It does not have small cracks or chinks for mould and fungus to take hold. Plus, glass tends to reflect light and makes the kitchen look brighter. Mirrored glass as kitchen splashback can even add more depth to the kitchen and make it look significantly bigger. 

If you are working with a smaller budget then ceramic and porcelain tiles are highly recommended. These provide a shiny splashback surface and are considerably easier to clean and maintain. You can choose from a variety of colours, shapes and sizes to give your kitchen a unique look. 

3 – Style

Besides being within the budget, your choice of kitchen splashback tiles should also add to your kitchen’s style quotient. Make sure to choose the tile style which best complements your kitchen countertops. 

You can either choose a matching colour and texture, or go for contrasting tiles for kitchen countertops and splashback. 

4 – Avoid

You should avoid bright and bold colours as these are harder to clean and maintain. Brightly coloured tiles also tend to show wear and tear sooner. This can affect your property value negatively and bring down your home’s resale value. 

Interior experts advise choosing more neutral colours as they go well with most kitchen interior designs and themes. 

5 – No hurry

Buying kitchen splashback is an important financial decision. Kitchens are considerably more expensive than other rooms in a house. So, don’t think twice about taking your time to buy the best-suited kitchen splashback tiles. Doing this, you will ensure that you choose the most affordable, efficient and easy to maintain kitchen tiles. 

Conclusion

Kitchen splashbacks are essential because they protect your kitchen walls from stains and damage. They are also a major contributor to your kitchen’s appearance and appeal. Hence, it is recommended to use the tips given above to make the best buying decision for kitchen splashback tiles.