How practical are painted walls above kitchen upstand?

[Bearbehind]

The kitchen saga continues! Having been convinced I wanted glass splashbacks, after getting quotes, I'm struggling to justify the cost.

We will be having granite upstands and can get a stainless steel splashback behind the cooker and extend the granite upstand behind the sink up to the window but everything else would be painted.

To those who have no tiles or splashbacks except behind the cooker and sink- is it easy to live with?

I'm slightly OCD in terms of marks on the walls and unless I found paint that wiped clean it would drive me insane.

Is painting madness?

[Knittedfrog]

Yep, madness!
Mine are painted, it's a nightmare.
Wish I'd tiled now.

[offblackeggshell]

We have this. We are however only three months in. The walls are F&B Modern Emulsion, so washable, but not indestructible. We have 10cm granite up stands. So far, despite my best efforts, there is not a single mark on the walls. Even a rich and oily tomato sauce wiped off.

I don't expect it to stay this way - it wasn't deliberate, we just lost patience with the guy who was going to fit the glass splash backs and haven't got round to getting them. I am sorely tempted just to leave it as is now - it is a nice clean line from wall to wall, and I'm loath to break it up.

[Bearbehind]

TBH I'm kind of thinking of painting and living with it for a year then getting the splashbacks when £2k isn't yet another add on to a project that is currently costing a fortune!

[Garnethair]

Totally no problem here. If the walls get a bit yucky I go over them with emulsion. But only had to do so twice in a couple of years.

[namechangedtoday15]

Same here - except we don't have a splashback behind the cooker or sink either!!! Not an issue - think its such a better, more contemporary look.

[Tfoot75]

Never had a problem with ours, but majority of food prep is done on the island, where the hob is also so that may be a factor. Some water marks where the kettle is but nothing obvious. We have wipe clean kitchen & bathroom paint

[BikerChick45]

Dulux kitchen paint is your answer here. Got it in my kitchen, wipes clean, resists grease and comes in matt too. We even got it mixed in bright pink matt for DD's bedroom to stop the dreaded greasy blue-tac marks - worked a treat!

[cujo]

I tried, but it was difficult to be able to prop things up against them to dry, we got splashes of water on them and the wiping just was too onerous.

So we went for glass metro tiles, much cheaper and they look lovely imo

[RNBrie]

I have the exact set up you describe and my only kitchen regret is not getting glass splashbacks the full length of the wall. It's stained and grubby (2 years old) but I might give it a coat of paint as suggested above!!

[thenightsky]

Ooh timely thread. My new kitchen is being fitted next week and I've been told by posh designer that upstands are the thing and 'nobody' tiles anymore. Stainless steel plate is going behind hob. Looking at dulux kitchen paint, but me and DH are both skeptical.

[Leopardpink]

Ha! thenightsky when I recoiled in horror at the lack of tiling I was told the same thing. Six months later, we've touched up the paint roughly monthly and tbh it never looks quite right. We have stainless behind the cooker and 10am upstands.
I actually like tiles! And they are so much easier to clean. Saving up to have it tiled.

[Bearbehind]

Oh no, opinions are divided!

My head says even if it needs repainting quite a lot then you can buy a lot of paint for £2k, my heart says glass splash backs!

[Lucisky]

We've got just one run of tiles as an upstand, fully tiled behind cooker. The wall is painted in Crown kitchen paint and everything wipes off easily. The tiles were left over from another job, and finance meant that was all we could have. However, I am pleased with the effect.

[8misskitty8]

We have upstands and then tiles above to the underside of the cupboards. Easy to clean just a wipe over every now and again. We've got dark tiles with black grouting (much better than white grouting as that usually ends up looking grubby after a few years )

Unless your walls are very smooth and flat having no tiles just doesn't look right imo.

[ChishandFips33]

Painted here and no issues

Tiled behind the cooker

I'be just touched some marks up but it's survived a year

[fussychica]

Painted here with F&B or is it Little Green in Brassica. 2 years in and looks like new though I am a pretty tidy cook. Have washed off a few marks without any problem. DH wasn't convinced at first but I said we can easily paint over it if we mess it up or completely change the look of the kitchen by changing the paint colour. I might go green next year but perhaps not as I like the colour I have so much.

[MiladyThesaurus]

My current kitchen has this and I hate it. I will be having tiles (or a splashback) when we get the kitchen redone.

[Bearbehind]

On the basis that i'll never win the argument about upstands with glass splashbacks or if I do I'll never hear the end of it I'm going for the stealth option!

Get the upstands fitted and paint the walls then, if they don't stay ciean, fit the glass splashbacks later when the upstands are already fitted

Any suggestions on the best wipable paint?

[dontcallmelen]

Hi Op I have upstands & painted walls, have used every paint known to man & the best ones I have found, are either Dulux diamond Matt or Mylands marble Matt, both scrubable & very hardwearing.

[pinkpanda101]

My kitchen (and the whole house in fact) is painted (I hate tiles) Crown Clean Extreme paint which is totally washable and I keep a tin handy for the odd touch up. It's great! There is an upstand as well

I also have plain clear glass splash backs above the hob and every sink in the house - clear glass is not expensive (~£50 for 80cm square) and I think makes the kitchen look really clean-lined and uncluttered. If you don't like/want tiles, don't do them! They're a reyt bugger to remove and the wall will never be the same again

[DevelopingDetritus]

I have a glass splash back just behind the hob but have painted walls, needs to be wipable silk/satin paint not matt though.

[ExConstance]

18 months in we have had no problems with paint above up stands. our work surfaces and up stands are white Carrera Minerva. The paint is Dulux endurance and any tiny splodges wipe straight off.