Kitchen Subway Tile Backsplash Ideas
I have another aspect of my kitchen makeover to share with you. It is about the fresh and clean white subway tile backsplash.
After looking at a few different types and styles of white subway tiles, I decided to go with 3-1/2″ x 7-1/2″ size ceramic tiles in the color Imperial Blanco and white grout. I bought them at The Tile Shop. They cost a little more, but the Home Depot and Lowes near me only had smaller subway tiles and I liked the slightly larger size that The Tile Shop had in stock.
White cabinets, white tile and I even painted the countertop to resemble Carrara marble. I still have to caulk around the cooktop, but I will be sharing how I painted the counter next week.
After living with…
…a brown kitchen for the last year, it is so refreshing to see bright and white on every surface now.
Tiling is not hard, but you do need the right tools and supplies. Having a wet saw is needed if you have to tile around outlets or windows. I didn’t have one, but a friend did and he cut 4 tiles for me to fit seamlessly around the outlets. I cut the rest using a simple tile cutter…
…that looks like this one.
I didn’t write a tutorial about how to tile, but did want to show you a little bit about the process. There are literally hundreds of great tutorials on YouTube that are better than I ever could create.
I started tiling from the bottom center of the backsplash and worked out to each side. I only needed to make cuts on the tiles at the end of each row.
Tile spacers and a bubble level are crucial to make sure you applying the tiles level and spaced evenly on each new row.
Once I had the tiles attached, they sat without any grout for a few weeks until I tiled the other side of the kitchen. Once all the tiles were up, I then grouted all of them using white grout.
Here is what the backsplash and counter on the other side of the kitchen looked like before. There was a telephone jack on the left side of the backsplash that I removed and Spackled over.
Here is the AFTER. Bye-bye brown….Hello updated and white!
I still need to caulk where the tiles meet the counter, but I am waiting to do it right after I finish painting the last section of counter this weekend.
The cost of the tiles and all the supplies I needed came to $267.37
Other Subway Tiles I Considered Using
When I first started thinking about how I was going to makeover the kitchen, I was going to use Aspect Peel and Stick glass tiles in Frost. They are so pretty. They do need to be cut with a tile saw or cutter just like any other tile, but they don’t need any mortar or grout!
See the left tile above, I started to peel the paper backing off so you can see how easily these tiles are to install.
When I held them up on my backsplash however, the light in my kitchen made them have a slight grey tint that threw my plan for a bright white kitchen color scheme off.
I will be using them soon though, not in the kitchen, but in my laundry room… so stay tuned.
The Aspect Peel & Stick tiles come is a variety of colors and even matted mosaic.
I like the glass the best, but they also come in a few metals in a different colors and shapes from Subway, Square, Hex and Honeycomb.
They even come in stone! The stone peel and stick tiles are the easiest to apply since they can be cut with heavy duty scissors or snips. No tile cutter or saw needed.
You can learn more about them on the Aspect Tile website. They are sold at Lowes and Home Depot.
I am truly loving my kitchen now :-) Making it over by myself has been a long process, but worth the time and effort. I will post the tutorial on how I painted the counter to look like Carrara marble next week.
I will have to wait for Ed’s help to cut away the wood valance over the sink and hang a new light fixture. As soon as I get that done I will post all about it and then do a final Before and After.
If you have any questions about the subway tile backsplash or any part of the makeover, please leave it in the comments. I am sure I have left a few things out. :-)
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