The Best Backsplash for Granite Counters
When granite counters are chosen, I always, always recommend a solid backsplash to go with the counters. I'm a HUGE believer in having one aspect be the star of the space. Granite tends to be a bit bossy - and just so you know - I don't necessarily mean this in a negative way. So what is the best backsplash for granite counters?
When a good friend of mine called me to come and see her new kitchen in the home they recently purchased, I was excited to see their new home. My good friend let me know, prior to coming over, that she wasn't too keen on the granite. Here is a close up of the granite:
The granite is very creamy and warm. It goes lovely with the two-toned kitchen cabinets that my friends inherited:
When I met my friend at her new home, she said she didn't care for her granite. When I entered the kitchen, I knew immediately why she hated her granite.
While my friend couldn't really put her finger on the 'why' - why she didn't like her granite, I told her my opinion (I know - shocking that I would give my opinion). When there is movement in granite (like my friend has in hers) and movement in the backsplash, your eye doesn't know where to go. Add onto the movement clash is also the colour clash. Her granite is very creamy and warm however her backsplash had whites and greens that did not go well with the granite. It really was a little bit of a hot mess. In my opinion, the backsplash would have looked fantastic with a solid counter. I knew the best backsplash for granite counters for her home would be a solid colour.We started with looking at options for the kitchen. One option my friend wished to investigate was ripping out the granite and replacing it with quartz. I discussed things that could happen when tearing out the granite. Items I discussed were:
- How easily (or difficult) it would be to pull off the granite from the cabinets. Since I didn't build this kitchen, I had no idea how the granite was installed. I had to disclose that the cabinets could be damaged when the granite came off.
- With ripping out the existing granite, a new sink would be needed as well as potentially a new faucet. Again, it all depended on how it would come out when the granite was ripped out.
While we were looking at the cost of all of the above, the more cost effective solution would be to replace the backsplash tile. At first my friend was not too keen on the idea however, she came around!
Best backsplash for granite counters
In my opinion, the one and only choice to have the best backsplash for granite counters is to go with a solid colour. When my friend was open to this idea, I had brought over several samples of creamy, solid backsplash tile. While some were too yellow and some were too white, in the end we decided to go with the handcrafted glossy 3 X 6 subway tile. Just the right amount of creaminess to work with the cabinets and existing granite.
What I wish to point out before I show you the after photos is that subway tile does not have to be boring. There are many ways to lay subway tile to give it a bit of a flair.
After careful consideration, it was decided that the tile would be installed in a herringbone pattern. Here are the results of this kitchen:
During the install
Right after it was grouted
Taken with lots of sun shining through. As you can see from the single image of the tile, it really is creamier than it is coming out in this photo.
A close up of the hand crafted edges taken with my iPhone.
While the tile does look brighter in the day with all of the sun shining through, it is the perfect cream colour to go with the kitchen cabinets. Here again is the before and after:
Thinking of an upcoming renovation project? Contact me to discuss planning ahead of a hammer ever being swung.
