kitchen tiles necessary?

[georgedawes]

Is the kitchen paint suitable instead of tiles, or will my walls get wrecked?

We have an island hob so if we tile it will be along 3 walls, including a sink under a window. I'm not keen on tiles I've seen so far but not sure if paint is up to the job?

not keen on tiles either. I just applied some matt varnish to the wall behind the hob making it easy to wipe over. I'm not great at cleaning and my kitchen is not that mucky despite a lack of tiles and extractor

What kind of worktop do you have?

We have oak worktops and hob is on an island so no wall there.

We have a similar setup - wooden worksurfaces, hob on an island. We have a matching upstand and then paint above. It looks great and the walls are still in perfect condition two years later.

No tiles here. I have a granite upstand to match work top all around the work surfaces and a stainless steel splash back behind the hob.

I do like the look of the wooden upstand but not sure it would work unless matches completely to the worktop, which I don't think it will as already installed.

If you don't like tiles what about an acrylic or glass splashback? They come in different colours, and can be cut to size.

Yes Santa think the matching with the worktop seems to look best?

Anyone know if paint on its own is a viable option?

I can't picture it sweep but am definitely open to ideas! I've only seen splashbacks behind a hob not along wall units and in a window, would that work?

There's a selection of them here. I think it could look lovely, was considering the sea green one for my kitchen, but shorter, a bit taller than an upstand.

I wouldn't do paint on its own, because you'll be wiping the surface and likely be using spray cleaners. Some paint is tougher than others (eggshell), but I'd imagine even that would deteriorate in time.

I've only got kitchen paint on the walls. Slightly different set up to you as the hob is against a wall, but has a splash back behind it. The rest of the kitchen is B&Q kitchen paint and wipes down brilliantly, even behind the sink has stayed on the wall and still looks good. We decided we didn't want tiles and it's much easier to repaint a manky wall after a year or so than to replace curry stained grout!

We had a granite upstand (8cm) and cream paint above with a SS splashback behind the range cooker. It was fine and I only repainted to move 9yrs later.
We are having similar here but we have Silestone worktop/upstaged, White paint & a glass splashback behind the hob.
Here it would be daft to have tiles as I have so much window/door space that they would only be little patches.

you can use a silk or satin paint. Masonry paint is hard wearing, washable and very cheap. If it does get marked it is easy to recoat after you have removed dirt and especially all traces of grease.

Matt paint and eggshell hold dirt and are much more difficult to keep clean without wearing them away.

I love tiles but you don't need them. It's such a small area you can repaint it every six months if you wanted. It would take no time at all. Just keep some paint handy and use a 'kitchen' paint which is durable and easy to clean.

I love tiles. That's all

Ah, didn't think about masonry paint!

Thanks everyone! Think the splashback looks nice but prefer it round a hob which we don't have. I think we will go for paint then as that's what I wanted anyway, nice bright white walls. We have a good extractor and deep worktops so hopefully not too greasy in any case.

We have matching upstand and gloss paint above. Looking great after 5 years.

We have granite worktops snd upstands and then paint as I don't like the look of tiles in a kitchen. However, I am nervous of the area behind the sink and do we have a minimal washing up rule in the kitchen. Crockery etc goes in the dishwasher, pots and pans get washed up in the utility room, the kitchen sink only gets used to wash up the odd glass or to prep veg.