White quartz surface with upstand and white tiles( yay/may)

[Ha55leback]

Nervous about no tiles and keeping walls clean however tiles and upstand seem to be a design no.

So are just tiles better and how dirty do walls get with just upstand?

I have quartz worktops and upstands ( no tiles) and the walls are fine and don't get dirty at all. I did go for slightly taller upstands than standard, which seems to work.

I've got a wood effect laminate & upstand, with white tiles above.
I frequently wipe down the tiles, so if they weren't there would be cleaning the wall instead.
I guess okay with washable paint.

They do get dirty if you do a lot of home cooking (especially if you cook with kids). Blobs of cake mixture, splatters of oil, bits of bolognese sauce...you can get special wipeable kitchen paint, which helps. Another option is glass, cut to fit your wall (they leave gaps for powerpoints etc. It's more expensive than tiles, but the actual installation is quicker and cheaper. I have a glass splashback and it does show every mark, but perhaps a less shiny one would be more forgiving.

We have quartz with upstand and glass instead of titles. It’s fab. No grout to go grotty. A million colours to choose from. Was probably a touch more expensive than tiles, can’t really remember but worth it for no maintenance and easy cleaning.

My splashback ( behind the hob) is made of the same quartz as the worktops and upstands. I like the seamless look it gives.

Also, tile grout is more of a pain to clean than almost anything else!

We’ve done the entire wall up to the bottom of the cupboards in the same quartz on the side of the kitchen where the “dirty” work is done and behind the hob, and just the upstand on the other side.

If you want tiles, don’t get the upstand, just the worktop. Tile down to worktop as usual. I had a worktop and upstand in a previous flat and despite using kitchen paint that was supposed to be wipeable, oil and flecks of cooking got on the walls and left stains, and I had charcoal paint so I imagine it would have been even worse on pale paint. In the next flat I got tiles instead.

The only concern would be the wall around the sink. Ours is ruined from the water splashing and the upstand does nothing.
I have a stainless steel over my hob and I'm forever wiping that, if I had an upstand there then that wall would be ruined too.