Stuck on kitchen splashback tiles

[Heytherek]

Hi all,

I just found this forum and it has been fantastic since I am just organising to build our first home.

I never thought there would be so many colours that had to be decided for a home and I have been spending all my spare time on it.

I really would love some advice on my kitchen splashback. I looked at tiles today but am worried about how much all the extras will cost us.

So far I have decided on a kitchen with oyster linea top cupboards, new antique white bottom cupboards. A dark fossil colour for behind the kitchen island and at this stage Laminex diamond gloss benchtop in Toffee Mineralstone.

I really loved some black mosaic tiles and I liked some chocolate ones too for the splashback but don't know how much this kind of feature costs. I also want to add a bit of colour or something different to the kitchen as it is pretty neutral. Something earthy like in colouring or something that really stands out. Whisper white walls and the next room has chocolate coloured carpet.

Should I just go with the white tiles that won't cost me anything else or go mosaic glass?

Any help most appreciated as I am a real novice to this home design lark

[Julie-Ann]

Hi Heytherk- welcome to the Decorating Forum. How exciting to be building. We would love to help you with any choices you need to make. And we love seeing progress pictures of your new home.
Do you have any pictures of the selections you have already made for the kitchen? And pictures of any of the tiles you are considering? You can see how to add pictures here on the forum over here.

[Heytherek]

Hi and thanks for the welcome.

Here are the samples for the kitchen
1) Toffee Mineralstone diamond gloss laminate benchtop.
2) Oyster Linea for top shelves.
3) New antique white colour for bottom cupboards.
4) Fossil colour for the back of the kitchen island.

Underneath is the tile colour for the entrance, kitchen and meals area. Having a chocolate coloured carpet in the living area off the meals.

My main decision now is what kind of tiles for the kitchen splashback.

Saw a lovely black glass mosaic feature tile and chocolate one but not sure what to do or whether to just go with plain white tiles or even cream?

Karen

[Di]

Hello Karen,

I am not a designer or anything but my guess is you have to decide what "look" you are after, what your personal preference is and do you have the extra money to outlay for something a bit more "special" like mosaic tiles? Sometimes the extra outlay is so worth it.

You could add colour with the mosaics or keep it more neutral with the browns/black. Some people keep things neutral and then add accent colours with accessories.

Some people would say no to mosaics due to the cleaning issues but the tiles and grouting could be sealed to make cleaning much simpler.

[Eli]

We had a white mosaic tile and grout splashback in our last house and never had any problems keeping it clean. Everything was white and we used red as an accent colour....I miss my old kitchen!

[Julie-Ann]

I am biased because I hate grout with a passion. But I do love the look of mosaics. I think Di is right it comes down to the look you are after and your budget. Mosaics will generally cost more than a standard white tile. You may also find you want to change it sooner than if you choose a white tile. But in the mean time it would make quite a statement. Is the fossil colour a deep charcoal?

[Heytherek]

HI,

Thanks for all the suggestions and ideas. I really liked the mosaic photos.

I guess everything else in the house is going to be pretty neutral in colouring so would like to add something special with the splashback. A lot will probably depend on how much extra it will cost. I do like the look of the mosaics, especially the black looking one.

The fossil is a dark green, brown type grey colour. Still not really sure about adding that. Just want to add something earthy but dark in colour behind the splashback as most of the kitchen will be fairly white and neutral.

It is just so hard to choose.... my colour consultation meeting is on Wednesday.

Karen

[Julie-Ann]

I am wondering though if you add the darker laminex on the front of the island and the mosaics for the splashback and have 2 different door fronts - you may have too much happening.
Would you consider either:
Having the Oyster Linea for the front of the island and the top cabinets?
Or having a Laminex product called Metaline for the front of the island and the splashback. It looks like a glass splashback but is cheaper. You can see the colours here. You could go for a lovely black colour to give you lots of Wow.
Who are you building with Heytherek?

[Heytherek]

Hey,'

Thank you. Funny I was tossing up using oyster linea on the back of the island. Agree it could just be too much.

I have seen the laminex splashbacks but figured they would be too expensive, but then again I have no idea how much the mosaic feature I like is going to be quoted at so maybe I will see what both cost and then decide.

Really like the Sophisticat and the Style Queen. The Nimbus is also quite nice.

I am not sure yet if I can be brave enough to go black even though I like it a lot.

But thanks for the advice, it is really great to get different ideas. We are building south of Shepparton in Victoria.

Karen

[Julie-Ann]

The Paladium Pearle silver colour looks amazing in real life. It may be a slightly less bold statement but still give Wow to the space. When you find out if it is in budget pop out to a showroom to check the colours.