Upstands AND tiles?

[YippieKayakOtherBuckets]

We had a new kitchen put in a year ago and on the whole we are delighted with it. The units are a mid-grey shaker style (Howdens Fairford) and we have quartz worktops in white with a light blue/grey vein (Unistone Carrara Misterio). The same quartz extends as 100mm upstands and as a large splash back behind the hob. At the time we decided against tiles and the wall space behind the worktops is simply painted.

However....after living with it for a year I can’t help but feel that it looks slightly unfinished like this, and I am seriously considered having the walls behind the worktop tiled. It seems that the choice is usually between tiling or upstands but rarely both. Is it a terrible idea? Does anyone have this combination?

Having both sounds a little messy. I'd remove the upstand if I wanted tiles.

I have both
I have a greige shaker style kitchen and white quartz worktops (Beltrami bianco massa) with a grey marble veining. 10mm upstands and quartz behind the hob as a big upstand too.

I went for a glass metro tile. It’s beautiful imo w/ clean lines. Not messy. Everyone seems to compliment the tiles.

Remove the up stand but have the space between floor and wall units fine in the same material as the countertop. Much more modern than tile, and easier to keep clean.

Thank you for your thoughts. Removing the upstands isn’t really an option - it would feel terribly wasteful and I’m not sure it would be possible without damaging the worktop. We considered taking the quartz all the way up to the cabinets when we installed the kitchen but the cost was prohibitive.

I’m starting to think that perhaps I should try paint first. Some kind of geometric pattern which picks up on the other colours in the kitchen. Cheaper and more reversible than the other options...

We've got wooden work tops with an upstand and tiles. Looks fine, never even considered that they wouldn't go together

Actually, if you Google 'kitchen upstand and tiles', quite a few photos come up so you can have a look.

Have you considered glass instead of tiles? It's less busy as it's completely plain.

Have you considered glass instead of tiles? It's less busy as it's completely plain.

Have you considered glass instead of tiles? It's less busy as it's completely plain.

Have you considered glass instead of tiles? It's less busy as it's completely plain.

I am very sorry for my repeats!!! The app said it hadn't been accepted.

Or Alusplash if you don't want the expense of glass but like the look

It looks fine with a fairly plain tile. We have black granite worktops and upstands with cream metro tiles and cream grouting, next to a black glass splash back by the job. It finishes it off nicely (it did a bit unfinished before).