You may have already made a decision on this but I thought I'd just weigh in with my thoughts anyway ... six months ago we finished fitting out a new kitchen and we are thrilled with both the look and the practicality of it all. Initially I was going to go down the glass splash back track but eventually I chose tiles because I decided that, for me, the seamless splash back was a bit bland and same same. I also love blue, brown and white as a palette – and the tiles I chose were just slightly wonky (not too crazy – they still had to be easy to wipe over etc), rectangular, hand-made Spanish tiles in a lovely duck-egg blue. The slight wonkiness means they catch the light beautifully as you move around the room. The benches and cupboards are a warm white and the large island bench is a fantastic slab of spotted gum with another long piece of spotted gum on the upstand behind the sink. Behind the stove (which is the only place that the real concern about grotty grout really comes into play) we have a stainless steel splash back going up to the rangehood. Not sure if this helps but I am thrilled with my kitchen and have no regrets about going with interesting tiles.

Hi, we recently built a home with a gorgeous white kitchen and bar with smokey mirror splash backs. Fair to say it has lots of wow factor and our clients tell us about the numerous compliments they receive. Cleaning isn't as much of a problem as you would think with this product. Here's a pic, and there are more on our page in 'Projects' and ' Linwood St Development'. Good luck! Creative Home Plus

Looks lovely and I'm so glad you're happy with it (and love your little styling touches!) We're about to start building so no pics yet but we're supposed to be deciding already - bit soon for me to get my head around it when I can't actually see it. I was happy to go with a glass splashback but as that can look green because of the glass it's become a bit more complicated! I'll make a decision one day... Thanks for posting the photos - enjoy your new kitchen.

Depending on your taste of course, I would introduce some colour - either as tiles or a glass splashback. Personally I think you will need to fill the entire area otherwise there are simply more lines to take in and will create an unwanted feature. We've had a glass splashback painted back and it was super easy to clean. For one kitchen, we've gone for a bright yellow to give it some pop. You can also have photos too but it's not as easy as the file sizes mean that they need to be taken/supplied by a professional photographer. If tiles is your preference, there are many great patterned tiles out now. Good luck!