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All you need to protect your kitchen walls from water, grease, and food splatter is a three-inch backsplash, but we can’t remember the last time we met an interior designer who was interested in doing the bare minimum. Houzz’s 2025 kitchen trends study, which gathered intel from more than 1,600 homeowners who are in the midst of planning, or recently completed, a kitchen renovation, suggests that 67% of people are interested in full backsplash coverage that extends either to the cabinets or range hood. Plus, 12% of those respondents said they’d even take the tile all the way up to the ceiling. If you also want to go above and beyond with your backsplash, but aren’t sure how far to take it, here are four potential paths you can go down.
Take It to the Cabinets
Misfit House designer Monica Stewart let the upper cabinets and range hood in this Atlanta kitchen guide the backsplash’s stopping point. If you’re worried about seeing abrupt grout lines where the tile ends, take a page out of her book and add some embellishment to your hood.
Bring It to the Ceiling
Love all things monochrome? Give this look a try. Austin Carrier and Alex Mutter-Rottmayer of design firm Hommeboys Interiors swathed the walls of this California kitchen in Zia Tile’s zellige in the color Cadmium, which perfectly matches the cabinets drenched in Dylan by Portola Paints.
Cover the Range Hood
Continuing the tile over the range hood takes the attention away from a foreboding chunk of metal sticking out in the middle of your space. The optical illusion fits into large kitchens, like this Laguna Beach home by designer Jen Samson (pictured above), but it can really work wonders in smaller spaces—peep this New Jersey reno.
Encompass the Shelving
Tess Interiors maxed out the backsplash in this dramatic kitchen update by also disguising the open shelves in glossy black squares from Zia Tile.