Kitchen walls

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Claire

Master Chef
Joined
Sep 4, 2004
Messages
7,967
Location
Galena, IL
I live in an 1854 old house. The kitchen probably dates from the late 1800s. The last owner (a dozen or so years ago) painted everything blue or wallpapered it blue plaid. We had to replace the counters (they were burned) and did so with Corian, which is a sort of sage-green fake granite (sorry to all granite lovers, but the room is hot in the summer and frigid in the winter, and I don't want something that makes it colder). Now I can finally, I hope, do something about the plaid walls. Husband wants sunny yellow walls, and I'm thinking, what the He-double hockey sticks am I going to do about the back-splashes, which I need many yards of. I kind of of liked the glass mosaic tiles I've seen, but what they're showing me has "stone" tiles in them that I don't think will be easy to clean (really, I have a stone wall, it isn't). my husband is tending towards "subway tiles". I'll go with it if he really wants them, but I have to say, the grout becomes an issue which he's forgotten about. When you live with hard water, the grout gets discolored if you don't seal it .... and often (yes, been there, done that). If he really insists on the white tiles, how would colored grout look (remember, I get to do the "big" cleaning, and the grout will look yellow-ee to orange-ish in a year, if that, even with me sealing, bleaching, and using various hard mineral cleaners). Any suggestions? The cupboards are old, 50s vintage white wood, and we have white bead-board siding. I just want the plaid to go away (who in their right mind would put plaid wallpaper in an old house where nothing is plumb?
 
White rectangular tiles with thin black grout used to be not uncommon in early 20th century kitchens. Certainly would go nicely with a wood/coal/gas combination stove that gets polished weekly with lamp black :angel:.
 
I live with landlord white walls and harvest gold appliances from the 70's in my current apartment so consider the source.

I like the sunny yellow and also I would consider a true olive green. For the backsplash I would consider the use of sheet linoleum flooring cut into strips and fitted between the cupboards and counters. It would be cheaper than many other options and easy to clean. Also google Anaglypta paper. It looks nice in an old home that has a few bumps in the plaster.

Good luck!
 
Claire--I would do something that is easy to clean....you could do new wallpaper and then put plexiglass on top so that you could wipe it down (or drywall, paint, and then the plexiglass). Or, tin tiles--that would be cool given the age of your house.

Everything I do in my house has to meet the requirement of how easy is it to clean? I hate to clean, really, so things that are easy to clean appeal to me. My bathroom vanity is 5" off the floor so I can get the Steam Vac under it and, I use Turtle Wax on the shower walls about every 3-4 months so that that grim can be sprayed off with one of those "Shower Sprays". I hate cleaning kick boards. I know, everyone has the impression that I am anal about cleaning, but the truth is, I hate to clean. I use tools--Roomba, Steam Vac, etc., to make cleaning as easy as possible and to take as little time as possible. There are better things to do in life than clean (and it is a never-ending chore).
 
Claire--I would do something that is easy to clean....you could do new wallpaper and then put plexiglass on top so that you could wipe it down (or drywall, paint, and then the plexiglass). Or, tin tiles--that would be cool given the age of your house.

Everything I do in my house has to meet the requirement of how easy is it to clean? I hate to clean, really, so things that are easy to clean appeal to me. My bathroom vanity is 5" off the floor so I can get the Steam Vac under it and, I use Turtle Wax on the shower walls about every 3-4 months so that that grim can be sprayed off with one of those "Shower Sprays". I hate cleaning kick boards. I know, everyone has the impression that I am anal about cleaning, but the truth is, I hate to clean. I use tools--Roomba, Steam Vac, etc., to make cleaning as easy as possible and to take as little time as possible. There are better things to do in life than clean (and it is a never-ending chore).

Oh how true. Like I tell my kids. I don't want to spend my last days on earth cleaning. Go for the easiest cleaning way. My son tiled behind my stove and the backsplash behing the sink and counters. He sealed them so the grout would stay clean. It has been more than a year and they are still clean with just a wipedown.

As for color... Who is going to spend the most time in the kitchen? Make it a color you can live with and like. Most paint stores have small sample cans of paint that you can purchse. They are inexpensive. Buy a few in the colors you like. Then try them on different walls. Put the color you like most where you will be standing the longest time. :angel:
 
Claire, I just reread your post. It sounds like the store is pushing a glass tile that he can't sell and wants to get rid of. Let him know that you don't like what he has shown you and that you want to see other ones. If he hasn't shown you any others, then go to a different store. Or Home Depot. The glass tiles come in all colors, patterns and sizes. They even have ones for accent pieces. I have four diamond shaped ones over my stove. They fit right into the cutout of a regular 4x4 tile. And the are flush with them. :angel:
 
I'm perfectly happy with your Corian, especially if you're happy with it. You're happy, I'm happy. My favorite part of granite is NO GROUT. My old house had what seemed like miles of grout, beautiful tile, miles of grout and it was a very small house. I especially hated it behind the stove. So, we have stainless back splash behind the stove, everyplace else it's, granite. Check out several places for your material. We found ours quite by accident. Not wanting to stray away from the kitchen topic except for a few words... no tile in the bathrooms here either, it's slick marble as are all window sills, no grout.
 
To me, if you end up having to grout tile, why not have the grout match the countertops? Certainly shouldn't show discoloration. Then you could go with a paint that coordinates with it.

You might consider an almond-colored tile with paint of the same color. It's a nice restful color and wouldn't "fight" with the white you already have in the kitchen. Almond and the green you describe are a very pleasant combination.
 
In 2008 we remodeled. Our backsplash is 4" cramic tile with a non-glossy (matte) finish. Grout color was very close to the tile color. The installer sealed all the grout in the kitchen (tile floor too). I clean the backsplash with Windex and paper towels. No stains.
 
A thought, in such an old house, things are bound to be all off and crooked, and if you go with something like tile that has a pattern, it will emphasize things being "off".
 
A thought, in such an old house, things are bound to be all off and crooked, and if you go with something like tile that has a pattern, it will emphasize things being "off".

Old houses are often not square. You can often hide the mismatches in a corner where an appliance or other item blocks your view.
 
Old houses are often not square. You can often hide the mismatches in a corner where an appliance or other item blocks your view.

My sister house was built in the 1700's. I doubt if the square had been invented at that time. There wasn't a square anything in that house when she bought it. The house had settled so much over the years. In back she had a retaining wall. It was built with hand made bricks. Even that was crooked. When it had to be rebuilt, because it was historical, they had to reuse most of them. Unfortunately the best thing that happend to that house was when they had the fire. It gave them the chance to get it right. :angel:
 
I live in an 1854 old house. The kitchen probably dates from the late 1800s. The last owner (a dozen or so years ago) painted everything blue or wallpapered it blue plaid. We had to replace the counters (they were burned) and did so with Corian, which is a sort of sage-green fake granite (sorry to all granite lovers, but the room is hot in the summer and frigid in the winter, and I don't want something that makes it colder). Now I can finally, I hope, do something about the plaid walls. Husband wants sunny yellow walls, and I'm thinking, what the He-double hockey sticks am I going to do about the back-splashes, which I need many yards of. I kind of of liked the glass mosaic tiles I've seen, but what they're showing me has "stone" tiles in them that I don't think will be easy to clean (really, I have a stone wall, it isn't). my husband is tending towards "subway tiles". I'll go with it if he really wants them, but I have to say, the grout becomes an issue which he's forgotten about. When you live with hard water, the grout gets discolored if you don't seal it .... and often (yes, been there, done that). If he really insists on the white tiles, how would colored grout look (remember, I get to do the "big" cleaning, and the grout will look yellow-ee to orange-ish in a year, if that, even with me sealing, bleaching, and using various hard mineral cleaners). Any suggestions? The cupboards are old, 50s vintage white wood, and we have white bead-board siding. I just want the plaid to go away (who in their right mind would put plaid wallpaper in an old house where nothing is plumb?

Paint color is easy & inexpensive to change. I would do that last. Have you picked out a backsplash? My first thought re grouting (for the needs you described), would be to go with small darker mosaic (stone, not glass) tiles with dark grouting to match, for a seamless look. Personally, I don't like contrasting grout - it will make the wall the focal point & you wont have that seamless look. I would stay away from trendy or contemporary, & keep the flow with the rest of the home & period. I would do some research on the web & look at kitchens from that era. You may not need a backsplash. When choosing colors, take lots of pics of what you have now, & look at HGTV, etc. for some ideas.
 
Last edited:
I think a corian backsplash the same as the counters would be a nice look and not have any lines in it to draw attention to the crooked walls. Best of all no grout.
 
Nobody hates tile and grout more than I do! My counters were tile and I recently had them replaced with granite, and matching granite back splash. Actually, the grout for the original back splashes was no problem, as wear and staining aren't a problem there.

Personally, I think the new look of a glass tiled back splash would be out of place in your vintage kitchen. I'm tending to agree with your husband about the subway tiles and I believe it was Bill who mentioned black grout for them.
That would certainly be the vintage look that I think you should keep in mind.
I can only imagine how happy you'll be to be rid of the plaid wallpaper!:wacko:

Pictures!! We need pictures! ;)
 
We have a corian countertop and integrated backsplash and love it.
 
When I moved into my house with a white kitchen that needed repainting, I couldn't decide how to do the backsplash. I ended up putting three coats of a good quality white enamel on the wall under the cabinets, behind the sink & range. Wiping with a good de-greaser detergent like Dawn is all I have needed so far. I can always add tiles, etc. if I decide to, but find I like it this way just fine.
 
Just to be clear here.

Backsplash means the whole wall from the counter top to the bottoms of the cabinets. NOT just a 4" vertical piece running along the back counter top.
 
To me, a backsplash can be either, the height is secondary.

I agree it can be either. That's why I asked. There are a number of combos. One material from the counter all the way up to the cabinets Or a 4" vertical that matches the counter top and a different material the rest of the way up the wall. Or just the 4" vertical.

What's important is which Claire is asking about.
 
Back
Top Bottom