6 Tips for Choosing a Kitchen Backsplash

Are you installing a new kitchen backsplash? Here are six tips you must know when choosing your kitchen backsplash! 

Thank you to Floor & Decor for sponsoring this post. All opinions are my own. 

When we started looking for houses, Forrest and I both thought it would be fun to get a house with a few projects.

I mean, we’re no Chip and Joanna, so a total fixer upper was not in our line of vision. However, we wanted to be able to make the house our own.

The house we bought was built in the 70s. Even though they put in hardwood floors, new carpet, painted everything, etc., it’s still a bit stuck in the seventies. So while it’s totally liveable, we definitely have a few projects on our hands!

So I’m super excited to announce that we will be partnering with Floor & Decor while we do some of these renovations. If you’ve never heard of Floor & Decor – you are missing out. They are one of the best stores out there for renovation projects, and I think they have the best prices.

The first project we are starting on is a backsplash in our kitchen. Floor & Decor has free classes every Saturday where you can learn how to do backsplash and tiling. Forrest went to one of them, and we are excited to get started.

It took us awhile to decide on what kind of backsplash we wanted. It’s amazing how much time can go into picking something like that! So, I thought I’d share a few tips for choosing your kitchen backsplash.

1) Determine your budget

You can’t really go into this thinking it’s only going to be about $100, but you can determine how much you want to spend. This will help you focus your efforts as you look at the different backsplash options in stores.  We went into Floor & Decor to make our purchase, and one of their helpful employees assisted us in finding everything we needed

I was a little overwhelmed when I first started looking at prices for backsplash, so it was like a breath of fresh air when I found that Floor & Decor was far cheaper than other places – and it wasn’t because the materials were less quality. If you are doing a renovation on a budget, F&D is definitely a good place to shop.

2) Look on Houzz

This is basically the best website ever when it comes to inspiration for renovations – especially if you have no idea what you want.

We weren’t totally sure what kind of backsplash we wanted, so I went on Houzz and typed in “black granite countertops” so I could see what other people did with a similar countertop to us. This really helped me come up with what would look good in our space.

3) Consider Other Elements

Look around your kitchen and see what’s already in there. If you are planning on totally gutting everything, then this might not matter as much. But if you are only doing the backsplash, you want to make sure it looks great with your appliances, paint, cabinets, etc.

As I mentioned, we have black granite countertops. This was one of the more redeeming qualities in our kitchen, and we didn’t want to change them! So that did limit some of our options. For instance, we brought home some samples of travertine to see how it looked. It looked horrible! It helped us realize that just because something looks good other places, doesn’t mean it will necessarily look good with current parts of our kitchen.

4) Go in store

While you can absolutely buy your tile online (especially if you can find a good price), I highly recommend actually going in store. Things just look so much different in person, and if you go to a store like Floor & Decor, there are experts waiting to help you.

We spoke with one of Floor & Decor’s design experts (which you can use free of charge), and she really helped point us in the right direction. It was also helpful to have them help us pick out our materials and remind us of supplies that we would need. We are total newbies when it comes to this, and I’m sure we would have left the store with about 1/2 the things we needed (including too little tile!)

5) Get Samples

I’ve already kind of mentioned this, but purchase samples of your tile. With Floor & Decor, they have a great return policy, so we were able to bring back and samples we brought home.

Something may look great in the store, but you really need to see what it looks like under the lighting in your kitchen, how it pairs with your appliances, etc. It really does look different in the store!

6) Shop for the best price

Once you know what you want, make sure you shop around for the best prices. Many places charge a lot for tiles that can easily be found elsewhere. What drew me to Floor & Decor was that they had so many choices, it was a one-stop shop, and most importantly – the prices are affordable. They try and make their products as affordable as possible without adding a ton of overhead cost to them.

BONUS

Grout – the grout you choose can make a big difference in your backsplash! A dark grout can make for a more dramatic look, while lighter is a bit more subtle and classic. We are using glass subway tile in our kitchen, and when we were trying to decide on grout, the employee at Floor & Decor told us that whatever grout we chose would kind of change the tint of the tile, so it was good to keep that in mind. I think they have at least 20 different shades of grout!