Designing a new kitchen comes with a million and one questions — and if you’re in the process or are thinking about updating your kitchen, chances are you’re wondering what is the best kitchen splashback?
Today we’re sharing Interior Designer Darren Palmer’s advice on the topic.
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As a judge of The Block television series, Darren has seen more than his fair share of kitchen splashbacks and immediately knew the kind he doesn’t like…
“Glass splashback? Sorry but no,” laughs Darren.
He urges people to stay away from glass and coloured glass splashbacks, and instead embrace tiles.
“There are thousands of tiles on the market so you could have fun with a cool print, pop of colour or unusual texture. Moroccan tiles or embossed tiles are great examples. Subway tiles are inexpensive and proving to stand the test of time — you can even lay them on a 45 degree angle for a different look.
It’s best to play with tiles — you can create more interest and they are easy to replace as you don’t have to waterproof behind a kitchen splashback.
Darren says tiles aren’t the only option though.
“We’ve seen many contestants on The Block using mirrors — it’s a clever design trick that can make the kitchen feel much larger and create the illusion of bringing the outdoors in.
I love to use tempered mirror as a kitchen splashback.
“I’ve used this in a range of projects, including the Darling Point apartment.”
If you’re using a stone kitchen bench, we love the look of carrying the stone up as the splashback. This minimises the need to bring in another material, which can look busy with natural stone.
On a recent tour of Interior Designer Greg Natale’s apartment, he used this trick combined with a mirror. It creates cool angles and the illusion of space.
Did you find these kitchen splashback tips helpful? Check out the other posts in our series of tips from Darren Palmer.
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