DIY Home Improvement: How to Tile a Kitchen Wall

Recently, I embarked on a small DIY project that cost only about $50 and greatly increased the attractiveness of my kitchen. Above the stovetop, a white painted wall was the victim of splattered grease, spaghetti sauce, and steam from constant cooking. The options were to repaint the wall again and again, or put up a block of tile above the stove to act as a shield against cooking splatter.

Learn from my experiences, and follow this how-to guide to complete a similar project in your home.

1. First things first. Get out a tape measurer and calculate the space. You’ll need to know what size tile you are shopping for. For my wall, we bought tile to fill a 1ft. by 5ft. area. 

2. Bring a paper and pencil with you to the hardware store, because you’ll want to jot down some ideas and visuals for your wall. Decide what kind of a look you are going for, and sketch it out. The most popular size of wall tile is the 4.25in. square tile, but 1in. mosaic tiles (joined together in larger sheets for easy application) are also popular. 

3. When choosing colors, it’s best to stay neutral (white, off-white, gray) if you are thinking about reselling your house down the road. You’ll also need to choose a glazed/glossy or matte look, and make sure that all of your tiles match. If you do want to throw in a splash of color, consider a brighter trim tile. 

4. To get a clean edge, you’ll want to make sure to buy thinner trim tiles to use for edging or bullnose tiles for the outer frame. Rounded-edge bullnose tiles come in single-edge bullnose (to finish off the top of a wall) or double-out bullnose tiles (to finish off a corner). Once you’ve purchase as many tiles as you need, throw in a couple extra for good measure. (There’s always a chance that you’ll break en route. And besides, you can usually return your unused extras to the store.)