Kitchen tiles/upstand - need to make a decision!

[GraceGrape]

We're having a new kitchen fitted really soon and need to decide what to do about tiling it. DH wants it completely tiled between worktops and units. I am undecided between getting tiles or an upstand. The kitchen will be cream, shaker-style with an oak-effect worktop. I quite like the look of an upstand from the same material as the worktop, but I'm a bit messy and am worried the walls will get grubby.

If we do tile, what do people recommend as a "classic" sort of look that hopefully won't date too badly? I thought of metro tiles, but don't know what colour. We're having quite a lot of units to store all our crap so white or cream would probably be a bit like overkill. I had considered a sort of duck-egg blue or sage green. DH likes some natural stone effect ones in a sort of beige colour, but I'm still worried it will look a bit samey.

Any suggestions from someone with a better eye for design than me?

We have granite worksurfaces and an upstand. I have a glass splashback behind the cooker and am planning to tile the area behind the sink with metro tiles in a similar colour to our vanilla painted units. The painted walls are fine except for behind the sink as this bit gets splashed and I have to keep painting it, hence the tiles plan. I love the glass splashback as it adds a splash of really bright colour in my otherwise pale room

Had my kitchen and bathroom done recently and I was sooooo relieved to get rid of the tiles I've kept re-tiling to a minimum in both rooms. It's so much easier to change the look of a room with a quick lick of paint. But of course, on the other hand, tiles stay cleaner for longer.

We have upstands in the kitchen and I love them. Also have a glass splashback behind the hob (wish I'd gone for something bright like Marmite - the cappuccino colour which looked so lovely in the shop is lost in the kitchen). One potential problem area is behind the sink. I'm careful but when DH comes in from gardening and washes his dirty hands very enthusiastically, muddy water goes everywhere. We used kitchen paint so it wipes clean ok, but I tend to prop a glass worktop saver up behind the taps just as a bit of a safeguard. Also, we have a lot of stir fries and I noticed that the paintwork either side of the cooker splashback was getting spotted with fat. I've now got a couple of things standing against the wall to take the brunt of it. Swings and roundabouts really!

Thank you! We are getting a glass splashback for the hob, so maybe I'll think about a brighter colour for that, but DH is definitely still pro-tile, so he can scrub the grout....

I am getting upstands in grey oak and a tek wall with glass section on the wall with the hob. It is a thin version of the laminate continuing up the wall. Sounds horrible but I like the look of it in the shop and it means I can avoid any tiles or grout!

If you did choose tiles, I think natural/stone colours would go very well with your colour scheme. If you get the right ones (darker than your units) it won't look samey. You could get 2 contrasting colours and do them one then the other and so on. We did this in our last kitchen and it did look very effective. We had a chocolate colour with a pale beige.

This time we have gone for an upstand as I like them a lot and it gives the work tops a nice finish I think. We were going to get a glass splash back but we went for mosaic tiles behind the hob instead. Our worktops and upstand are black as is the hob and the mosaic tiles are black, silver and clear glass and glittery with the odd stainless steel tile dotted about. I have to say it looks amazing and makes such a difference. We used black grout too and it really gives a clean finish. You can get some stunning brown mosaics. There were several I was disappointed that I couldn't use. I think it would go with your colour scheme.

We have tongue and groove on the walls with an upstand, and it looks great, especially if you are after a more cottagey kitchen look. The tongue and groove stuff comes in sheets (easipanels I think they were called) that you just stick to the wall. We've painted them in a satinwood paint and they are very durable and scrubbable, far more so that just painted wall. They will also be very easy to paint and change colour scheme etc. And no grout to clean!

You all sound like you have very good taste. I've ordered some tile samples - chocolate was one of the colours I was looking at - and I do like a bit of tongue and groove. I've seen several pictures of kitchens with glass all around, which I think looks really effective, but sadly seems to be a bit too £££ for us.

GraceGrape - nearly identical situation here - my kitchen starts in a week - having white gloss shaker style units, wood block effect worktop plus upstand with sage green metro tiles. Plus kind of bleached driftwood effect floor tiles. So looking forward to it after crappy kitchen I inherited. On my own so had to make all decisions - daunting. I like tiling around worktops but will be painting majority of wall. Good luck.

Your kitchen is very similar to mine. We originally had up stands and a glass splash back behind the hob. I liked it but OH was determined to tile it! We went for metro tiles, same colour as the units, and have added colour with accessories. It's so neutral i can change the colour scheme very easily! I have to say, now the tiles are on, it is a bit of a relief not always worrying about splashing the walls.....