One of the most visible but often ignored areas in your home is the backsplash of your kitchen sink. In order to make this area a little more interesting – and keep it easy to clean, here are 2 unique kitchen backsplash design ideas worth trying out. They’re easy to do, relatively inexpensive, and will certainly be a conversation piece when guests come over and admire your handiwork!

Backsplash Blackboard

Ever get a great idea and curse the invisible kitchen gnomes who seem to have stolen all the notepads and paper from the room? By making your kitchen backsplash into a chalkboard, you’ll have a handy and convenient place to write down ideas, recipes, grocery lists, and even telephone messages.

How To Make It:

1) Prepare your wall surface for painting, just like you would in any other situation. Then prime the area and wait for it to dry.

2) Paint your backsplash with blackboard paint, available at your local hardware store. Don’t be afraid to include some portions of wall on either side of the immediate backsplash area; try extending the blackboard by one cupboard on either side.

3) When that has dried, mark off a 3-inch border with painter’s tape at the top of the painted area, and mark off a 6-inch area along the bottom. Using a high-gloss, scrubbable paint, paint these two areas in a color that complements the blackboard but also provides some level of contrast.

It’s really as easy as that! When it’s dried, you can start using your new blackboard to write messages and anything else that comes to mind. To clean the backsplash, simply wipe it off with warm water and a bit of mild detergent, and then wipe it dry with a towel. Try not to rub, as that could scratch the blackboard, but it’s easy enough to do touch-ups in future if they’re needed.

Cork Backsplash

Similarly to the blackboard kitchen backsplash design idea, making a cork backsplash is practical and provides a clean, crisp look. You can post coupons, recipes or memos on the backsplash, and avoids taking up extra wall space with a separate post-it board!

How To Make It:

1) Determine what area you want to cover in cork, and buy enough tiles (12 square inches each) to completely cover this area. If it looks like too much, don’t worry – you’ll be cutting it to fit.

2) Cut one tile at a time with a sharp utility knife in a way that allows it to fit around the cupboards, edges of windows, and so on.

3) Using a water-based polyurethane, coat both sides of the tile and then let it dry fully before doing anything else. This seals the tiles so that water can’t get in and induce rot.

4) Apply a water-based contact cement to the backsplash wall and the back of your tile, and place it on the wall in position.

5) Repeat this process for each tile, and be very careful to avoid gaps. If you want, you could put a little bit of contact cement along the edge of each tile before placing it against another, just to be sure it doesn’t raise off the wall when it dries.

By placing each tile down at a time, you’ll be less likely to rush the job and leave gaps – also, contact cement dries very quickly and you don’t want to apply more on each tile than you need to. A careful placing of one tile at a time also ensures you’ll have the positioning of each tile correct. Then when it’s all done, simply wipe the surface with a damp cloth when needed, and enjoy!

photo by Craig Wyzik-CreativeCommons Attribution