The Backsplash Could Be the Star of Your Kitchen, if You Let It

When designing a kitchen, it’s normal to obsess over appliances, cabinets and counters. But there’s another element that deserves just as much attention: the backsplash.

“They’re often an afterthought,” said George Glasier, a founder of the British kitchen company Pluck. “But they can make or break a kitchen quite often.”

Allison Bryan, the founder of Open Studio Collective, an architecture and design firm with offices in Portland, Ore., and Bozeman, Mont., echoed that sentiment. “It’s one of the most important parts of the kitchen,” she said. Because it’s a vertical surface roughly at eye level, Ms. Bryan continued, “I actually think of it as a piece of art.”

Of course, it’s a piece of art that needs to withstand splashing water, squirting citrus and sprays of spaghetti sauce, so the choice of material is critical.

There are countless options and treatments available, which can dramatically change how a kitchen looks. The starting point should always be a larger design vision — for instance, the color palette you desire, and whether you want the backsplash to blend in or stand out — but once you’ve set the direction, it’s time to explore the possibilities.

Here’s how Mr. Glasier, Ms. Bryan and other designers have used backsplashes to help create extraordinary kitchens.