Let me see. What have I had behind my stove in various houses:
- enameled steel
- wallpaper
- tiles
- painted wall, both latex flat and semi-gloss enamel
- glass
- Plexiglass
- metal tiles
Sheesh! That's quite a list but it's accurate.
Of all of the situations, I much prefer the metal tiles, which is what we have now. They are 4-inches square and are put up "on point." They are brushed silver-colored aluminum and they are easy to keep clean. They also provide a bit of light "magnification," if you get what I mean. That's handy.
I have spent so many years cooking and wiping up behind the stove that it finally got to me and I decided there had to be something that was nice to look at, low maintenance, easy application, and wouldn't break the bank.
I did some amount of looking around and discovered the metal tiles, I don't remember where, but learned I could buy them from Amazon. I wanted the silver finish, but they also came in copper and black. Maybe white, too. I don't remember. I ordered enough to fill the space behind my stove.
They were easy to put up. Cutting was a breeze, believe it or not, because I used our big long-arm paper cutter. I didn't trust the foam double-sided adhesive pads so I slathered on a heap of hot glue on all sections, too. They've been up for over 2 years now and I couldn't be happier.
To trim the outboard edges, I went to the home center (Lowe's, etc.) and bought a length of metal threshold, cut it to length and screwed it in place. Nice clean "frame" and easy to clean, too.
I have a glass shelf, on a decorative bracket, that holds some of my cooking necessities and it was easy to put up because I could drill right through the tiles to put the brackets in place.
I had enough tiles leftover to cover the space behind my sink that is just under the kitchen window there. I even have a few more tiles, which I good in case something should happen to any of the ones already put up.
Hope the picture gives you a good idea of what I'm trying to describe.