Sleek and contemporary. Classic and timeless. Dark and moody. Bright and light. Design styles for any client-requested look are determined by featured elements and finishes used within a space. Cabinetry is often the most influential given the amount of visual, and physical, real estate it encompasses.
However, designers often refine and hone a style through the selection of backsplashes and countertops. And given the range of available options, it is possible for them to achieve just about any desired look. That is especially evident when cabinetry colors and door/drawer details are similar, as is the case with two designers profiled here who each included a foundation of cabinetry painted in shades of green for their clients’ kitchens. However, each completed space has its own unique style and personality, attained with different backsplash and countertop choices.
This month, KBDN asked designers to share kitchen projects that showcase their own unique vibe via their backsplash and countertop selections.
Jerel Lake, Principal Designer
LakeHaus Designs, Atlanta, GA
When Jerel Lake initially considered finish selections for this kitchen renovation, completed in collaboration with Jigsaw Construction, its design was a bit more masculine with elements such as dark countertops. But whenever the designer met with his client, he noticed she was always wearing very colorful clothes.
“People’s personalities often shine through their wardrobes and what they choose to wear out into the world,” says the principal designer of LakeHaus Designs in Atlanta, GA. “For her, she truly enjoyed color, brightness and floral prints.”
That revelation inspired a shift in material selections, including a switch to Calacatta Manhattan marble for the countertops. The honed finish visually softens the room and gives it a cozier feel. Lake also extended the marble into a backsplash around the kitchen’s perimeter, highlighting it with a narrow shelf with brass rails that safeguard treasured artwork.
“We’re going a bit away from full-height backsplashes that show off a massive decorative hood,” he relates. “A half-ledge such as this one, that goes up about 18″, isn’t quite as grand and makes a quieter statement.”
Marble is a frequently requested finish in many of the kitchens Lake designs, and he credits its popularity to its timeless aesthetic and its ability to add value.
“Marble can be a bit intimidating for some clients, but when managed well and maintained appropriately, it can be a great long-term investment,” he indicates.
The stone’s cool tones and its blue and gray veining inspired the selection of several other finishes used throughout the space, including the GP & J Baker Little Magnolia wallpaper tucked safely behind a piece of glass and showcased to create a focal-point moment with the La Cornue range and custom ventilation hood.
“When we showed her the wallpaper, she really responded to it,” he relates. “It’s a perfect fit for her personality and it marries well with the stone. The wallpaper is also a unique way to make a statement and it gives a bit of a twist to the home’s traditional style.”
To ensure an exact match between the blue hues in the wallpaper and the Periwinkle blue range, Lake had a faux finisher meticulously paint over several of the flowers.
“When the wallpaper came in, it was a bit bluer than we were expecting,” Lake says. “We also added a matching periwinkle stripe to the lip on the hood to tie everything in a bit more. Brass nailheads play into a traditional style.”
To further the traditional vibe, the designer incorporated walnut into the island, using it to frame the marble and define the seating area. He also used the wood as the interior for the glass-front wall cabinets.
“We’re introducing more wood into our designs,” he indicates. “This kitchen is very light and bright, and the dark walnut offers some contrast and warmth.”
Alicia Torosian, Principal Designer
Alicia Torosian Design, Corona Del Mar, CA
Any discussion regarding backsplashes would not be complete without including a reference to zellige tile. The handmade Moroccan clay tile is seemingly everywhere these days.
While currently beloved, zellige tile isn’t necessarily new, since its handcrafted process dates back centuries. In fact, it’s that steeped-in-history, traditional vibe that designer Alicia Torosian is drawn to.
“Design trends are currently leaning more traditional,” says the principal designer for Alicia Torosian Design in Corona Del Mar, CA. “This shift towards more traditional design feels warm and inviting.”
For these clients, traditional design was the right direction to serve as a backdrop for their abundant heirlooms. As part of that, the designer, who worked in collaboration with Cornerstone Construction, included elements like beadboard; warm white flat panel cabinetry; mixed-metal hardware including Polished Nickel and Satin Brass; a furniture-style island, and zellige tile from clé. The neutral-toned Zio & Sons 4″ Sea Salt octagon and 1″ Weathered White bouchon tiles combine to give the traditional tile an updated look with ‘clipped’ corners and ‘dot’ centers.
Because her clients wanted to keep their cooktop in the island, Torosian clad multiple walls with the tile to create a focal-point moment sans the often-customary ‘wow’ ventilation hood.
“She loves to talk to her family while she is cooking, so having the cooktop in the island functions better for her household,” she explains. “Without the hood, I wanted to make sure their kitchen still had a focal point. I was super intentional with the cabinetry layout, including space details like the plate rack on the back wall, wine fridge, open shelving and that beautiful backsplash. All of these things, including carrying the zellige tile up and around the windows, really created a beautiful moment.”
Torosian paired the zellige tile with Taj Mahal quartzite for the countertop surfaces.
“I love using Taj Mahal because it’s such a timeless quartzite,” she relates. “It’s very neutral and goes with so many different palettes. It has beautiful undertones and a creaminess that makes it very easy to incorporate into a lot of designs.”
Giving the natural stone a polished finish creates a ‘dressier’ vibe and complements the tile’s glossy surface. Quartzite is also a very durable natural stone, which was a requirement for these homeowners.
“Our client loves to cook and bake, so we needed something very durable,” Torosian says.
The designer also repeated zellige tile and natural stone in the adjacent butler’s pantry where she featured 4″x4″ Bedrosians Zagora zellige tile in Blanc as the backsplash and Fantasy Lux quartzite for the countertop.
“The simpler Zagora tile works well with the checkered pantry floor,” she says, “and the patterned clé tile is the icing on the cake in the kitchen.”
Jeannine Bogart, Principal Designer/Owner
Epic Interiors, Evanston, IL
Traditional 3″x6″ subway tile is a tried-and-true selection that, over the years, has proven its value as a kitchen backsplash. However, when clients want the traditional rectangular-shaped tile, Jeannine Bogart often likes to make selections that offer a bit of a twist, such as switching up its size, color and/or texture, to keep a space looking fresh and updated.
Such was the case in this kitchen renovation where her clients had specific requests for kitchen functionality, but they weren’t attached to any particular material selections. So, the principal designer/owner of Epic Interiors in Evanston, IL, could use her creativity to transform the residence into their dream home.
“My client loves to cook and she always wanted a beautifully appointed chef’s kitchen,” she says.
In that regard, she knew she wanted a column refrigerator and freezer, a double oven, a range and an island where she could sit with her grandkids. Beyond that, finish selections were more open-ended, although she did want a contemporary kitchen that would flow well with other rooms in the house, as well as with its ranch-style architecture and its relatively traditional neighborhood. She also knew she wanted flat-panel cabinetry, so Bogart grounded the design with a foundation of white oak cabinets.
To amp up the design, she included elongated 2″x8″ Ann Sacks Savoy tile in the Lantern colorway as the kitchen backsplash. Its ribbed surface adds dimension and interest while stacking it in a traditional brick pattern creates subtle undulations and movement.
“I like to use Savoy because it’s a great price point, and it has quite a few styles and colors that make it easy to work with,” she says, adding that she repeated the Savoy Lantern tile as an accent in an adjacent custom buffet but mixed it up by selecting a flat tile and stacking it horizontally. “I also love the deep, dark blue color. It brings color into the space and it works nicely with the white oak cabinetry. There is a lot of wood in this kitchen, so the blue tiles help to visually soften the space and keep it from being too masculine.”
For greater emphasis, Bogart used the tile to clad two walls from countertop to ceiling.
“We had plenty of windows so we were able to carry the tile up and around them,” she explains. “Sometimes a backsplash blends in, but in this case, it is one of the priority features of the kitchen.”
Bogart complemented the tile selection with MSI’s Marbella quartz for the countertops, which features a waterfall edge on the island. The quartz mimics a classic marble with tonal veining on a soft white background.
“Marbella has always been one of my favorite quartz patterns to use,” she says. “It isn’t stark white so it adds some warmth, and it has just a bit of veining that isn’t too overpowering.”
Quartz’s durability was also key in its selection.
“My clients’ grandkids are integral to their lives, and they didn’t want to have to worry about spills and stains,” Bogart relates. “They can really live in the space, and quartz is easy and very forgiving.”
Lizzie Green, Principal Designer
Popix Designs, San Diego, CA
Lizzie Green’s clients often come to her looking for ways to incorporate color into their kitchens. This client wanted that color to be green, and she wanted as much of it as possible.
“She didn’t want a cookie cutter kitchen,” says the principal designer of Popix Designs in San Diego, CA, who worked with Leslie Morter Brown on the final decorating and styling elements for the project. “She wanted something bold and unique, so I thought it would be really beautiful to find a green backsplash, since a backsplash is a great place to make an aesthetic statement.”
To accommodate, she used Clay Imports’ 4″x8″ Oval in Cilantro. Each rectangular handmade clay tile features a partial oval imprint that, when grouped together in pairs, creates a complete oval indentation within a raised background. That dimensional design adds texture and interest to the wall behind the range.
For added emphasis and to create a monochromatic mass of color, the designer color-matched the custom cabinetry for the kitchen’s perimeter to the tile and topped the base cabinets with Breccia Capraia marble that is sealed to provide added protection from stains and etching.
“Functionality and how a client uses a space play such an important role in countertop selection,” Green indicates. “Engineered quartz and quartzite are great for busy families, and for people who like veining found in many natural stones, we often choose marble or quartzite.”
This Breccia Capraia marble from Italy showcases dark green veining against a creamy white background, making it an ideal fit for this highly colorful kitchen. Touches of gold veining complement the gold tones in the plumbing and lighting fixtures, cabinetry hardware and knobs on the range.
“We knew we wanted some green in the countertop to complement the backsplash, and when we saw this slab, we fell in love with it,” she relates. “It’s perfect for this kitchen.”
Green selected a honed finish for the marble that complements the matte finish of the tile.
“Honed and matte finishes are more earthy, which match my client’s personality and the way she lives,” the designer relates. “Polished and glossy finishes felt just a bit too fancy and glamorous for her.”
To prevent a single color from overwhelming the space, Green contrasted the dark hue with light white oak. Showcased in multiple places, it notably stands out as fluting on the island and ventilation hood surround, the latter of which is designed with grooves that run in multiple directions.
“It adds another textural element to the kitchen,” she adds. “And, it’s a bit of a surprise.”
Joseph Andre Rodrigues, Founder/Principal
Joseph Interiors, Laguna Hills, CA
Like Lizzie Green, Joseph ‘JR’ Andre Rodrigues’ client loves the color green, in particular, shades of warm olive.
“It’s my client’s favorite color, so I wanted to find interesting ways to bring it into the kitchen,” says the founder/principal at Joseph Interiors in Laguna Hills, CA, who worked with Well Done Building & Design for the construction aspects of the project.
Andre Rodrigues didn’t initially set out to showcase the hue as painted cabinetry, but his client did want to emphasize the kitchen’s perimeter, especially after the designer was able to remove a wall to expose the formerly closed-off, galley-style space to the dining and living rooms.
“My client had lived in the home for 20 years,” he explains. “They had always wanted a more open kitchen, as well as a central island that caters to gathering and entertaining. When we were able to find a way to open up the kitchen, it made sense to make a statement on the perimeter wall.”
That’s where the focal-point Bedrosian’s Casablanca 5″x5″ ceramic tile comes in. Its Torres colorway acts as a complement to the cabinetry painted in Benjamin Moore’s Windsor Green, which won out over a dozen or more other olive-toned variations.
“The backsplash is the main element in this kitchen,” he says. “It’s graphic, bold and colorful, drawing all the attention to the range wall.”
The tile’s encaustic, hand-crafted look, inspired by the medallions and motifs found in North African ceramics, also supports the upscale, sophisticated farmhouse vibe Andre Rodrigues’ client wanted.
“The tile has a very classic motif,” he says, “similar to what you might see in some of the beautiful farmhouses in Napa Valley, which is my client’s favorite place to visit.”
Andre Rodrigues also clad the ventilation hood surround in tile. The dark bronze Umbra tones of the Zenia porcelain tile from Bedrosians coordinate with the bronze plumbing and lighting fixtures, cabinetry hardware and knobs on the ILVE range while creating a bit of contrast with the hood’s custom copper metal trim fabricated by Jeff Johnson.
The Mont Blanc quartzite countertops, which feature a leathered finish that matches the matte finish of the backsplash tile, are also integral to the design. The natural stone sits atop the perimeter cabinets where its light, neutral colorway coordinates with the range. On the island, which is a light oak that brightens the space, the quartzite serves as a durable work surface.
“Currently we are seeing a broad request for quartzite countertops,” Andre Rodrigues relates. “It’s very durable and offers a similar look to marble, but is easier to maintain.”