AIBU to want an upstand and tiles in my new kitchen?

[Pocketfullofmoonshine]

I’m getting a new kitchen and am thinking of getting upstand (white quartz) with tiles (most likely white in a herringbone design) going further up the wall to catch and splashed etc as well as being decorative.

However, whenever I mention this to other people, particularly trades people, they think this is an awful idea to have upstand with tiles.

so wise mumsnetters am I being unreasonable to want both?

if you have both I would love to see pictures?

I had a kitchen with upstand and no tiles and hated it, every single spill or splash was always higher than the upstand lol.

I agree that it looks cluttered to have both. But you should always please yourself in your own home!

Thats what I have done and in my opinion it looks fantastic, tiles really would have ruined the effect.

I don't think I would have an upstand and a glass backsplash, because there's no point using two different sheets of material to protect the same wall, might as well let the glass backsplash cover the combined area. But if you wanted both, it wouldn't look bad, it might be aesthetically equivalent to having a painted wall above the upstand, if the glass is covering all the area between the counter and cupboards above.

They just don’t want to do the herringbone, find a proper tiler and this will be fiddly but no problem

This. Tiles are ‘out’ (which is no earthly reason why you shouldn’t have them if you want them) and fitters will be used to not having to faff with them (and they are quite a faff, often adding another trade and a week or so to an average job, I’m guessing) They either don’t want to do it, or source another trade to do it, or your quote is for the worktop people to do the upstands and nothing further.

I personally hate tiles and would rather repaint the damn wall than clean grout lines in my kitchen. But this is your kitchen and you should take no shit from tradesmen telling you what looks good or ‘everyone’ has.

Poor Tilers. With upstands, LVT and acrylic bathroom panels, it’s a dying art!

Tiles are out for a reason - they are not a great choice for an upstand because the grout collects all the cooking goo and it's impossible to keep them looking clean.

A quartz upstand looks neater and is more hygienic. And probably more modern, but that's a personal taste thing.

We have a quartz upstand and tiles above the hob/oven wall. The other wall is just an upstand.

Definitely can be done

This looks lovely.

Love my upstands, save the walls so much and still look good years later. We were going to tile but ended up not bothering as upstand does the job great

Do what you like, it's your kitchen! We recently had ours done without an upstand, just tiles above worksurfaces, but if you want an upstand then have one. We have glass behind the cooker and I thoroughly recommend it, so easy to clean!

The tradesman is likely not relishing having to do herringbone as it's more fiddly with more cutting to do (and associated tile wastage and time), but if it's what you want (and you have the money to pay for the extra cost) then go for it.

I have both and we love it. Our tiler tried to talk us out of it to the point where we actually went with someone else who would do what we wanted. We're very pleased with our finished result.

Whatever you choose to do up is ultimately your decision and not the trade persons, I had similar with everyone trying to put me off the colour red but I knew it would look great so done it anyway.

I chose to go with full quartz backsplash as it just seemed more practical and made more sense to carry it on rather than end the upstand and tile above.

I have quartz upstands with scrubbable paint splashback. I didn't want a quartz splashback because I think it looks a bit clinical. I'll be tiling above the upstands as soon as I can make a decision on which ones to go for. I think tiles will add a bit of texture and interest in a way that quartz doesn't.

We have quartz with a 10cm upstand and then tiles. Our kitchen designer suggest either no tiles or quartz all around. I love the way tiles bring more colour and texture and I'm please with the results.

Agree with those who say free yourself from tiles and trying to keep grout clean - just have the upstands as high as you need them. Ours go up to cupboards or the windowsill, as appropriate.

Even if you think it's expensive on the quote, it's likely to still be cheaper than buying the tiles and paying the labour to fit them.

I have a backsplash that goes all the way up to the underside of the wall units. No grout to clean!

We bought a house where the kitchen had only upstands and then painted walls (including behind the oven) and the painted walls looked consistently awful with stains and splashes which you couldn’t completely get off. We added tiles and it’s a million times better and easier to clean.