It depends on many things, but also are within these guidelines. A splash back provides a surface which is to be impervious to water, therefore not allow water to absorb, and depending on your state, the regulations directly behind a water point including a tap or outlet is to be minimum 200mm high, and for heat and fire ratings, the area behind a cooktop needs to be 600mm minimum from your bench top is you have an electric cooktop, and 650mm for gas, with the splash back to extend 200mm either side of the heat source either side. So even if you want to only do this, there will need to be quite a bit of splash back, and often people use things like the bench top, window position and overhead cupboards to contain the splash back, providing you a rough idea of where to start and end one. Although not technically required, even in areas without services, a splash back that changes height and doesn't continue around walls to neatly finish off the surface will look out of place, so for consistency, the splash back is best used to effect, and provides an opportunity to incorporate a colour or interesting surface to the kitchen. By no means should a splash back be an after thought or put in simply in response to the minimum regulations. If you have a layout of your kitchen, start where your overhead cupboards are and draw a line around the entire room (even through windows and openings) to see it complete each wall that is part of the kitchen. Meaning any wall that has a bench top attached. Tis is a good place to start. Hope this helps.

I agree! Go for what you love. Down the track at resale time, if you feel it's too dated then, there are many splash back materials that can be applied right over top of tile. Is it just the area behind the cook top that will be tiled? I think anything will feel like "too much" at first if you've become accustomed to how it currently is. It's like when you paint a room. It can feel overwhelming at first until you begin to put furniture and decor back in place. A simple way to trial colours is to tack up some wrapping paper, fabric, contact paper (backing left on) or whatever you find that has a colour you think could work. Try use things with different sheen/gloss. Even paint a board and prop it there. Leave for a few hours and see what does and doesn't work for you.

Thanks everyone for your comments and advice. Wuff, the handles were in the kitchen when we bought it. They have the exact handles in 'Early Settler'. We are changing the timber bench because we think it looks country and we want a change. The timber is very strong and durable. Very good quality but we simply don't like the colour. I was looking for someone to stain it darker and I would have kept it but can't find anyone. No water marks or had any issues with it. I we thought we would have to be careful with timber but it is honestly a good product. I would definitely recommend timber benches for anyone wanting that look :) good luck

We did pressed metal splashbacks on a display in a kitchen showroom I used to manage, and as such many of our clients opted for the same look. Powder Coated is definitely the way to go. It stands up really well for durability and is in fact relatively easy to clean compared to many splashbacks. Often people think that glass or stainless steel are the easiest for cleaning, but due to being such a flat reflective surface they show up every splash and if you're going to clean them you really have to clean the full length of splashback. The textured surface of the pressed metal means that it doesn't reflect the same amount of light so you are able to get away with cleaning it less often, and you can also get away with just cleaning the dirty area rather than the full length. The biggest difficulty we found was getting the splashbacks installed as there aren't really any tradesmen who specialize in fitting pressed metal, and those that were willing to cut & fit it were concerned about what would happen if they damaged the paintwork. We had the panels cut to size first before they were powder coated to minimize the risk of chipping the surface.