25 eye-catching kitchen wall tiles ideas

Wall tiles can completely change the look of your kitchen. Here are 25 eye-catching kitchen wall tiles ideas you’ll love, whether you’re going for slick and modern or calm and classic.

For most of us nowadays, the kitchen is the heart of the home. So, it’s one room where it really does pay to invest in the little details.

Kitchen wall tiles are a great way to level up your kitchen by adding depth and texture. In fact, the right wall tiles can completely transform your cooking and eating space!

Here are 25 eye-catching kitchen wall tiles ideas to kick off your kitchen renovation in the best way possible.

1. White subway wall tiles for kitchens

We simply had to start with an absolute classic – the white subway wall tile!

Simple and effective, this is an affordable kitchen idea that should definitely be on your radar.

Here, the homeowner has laid them out in a classic running bond and teamed them with an oak worktop for a rustic look.

2. Kitchen walls tiles with black grout

This kitchen also uses subway tiles. But this time they’ve been paired with black grout to give them a more bold and modern look worthy of this industrial-style kitchen.

Swapping out your white grout for black is a cheap kitchen makeover idea that can create contrast and really level up your cooking space.

3. Subway kitchen wall tiles with contrasting layouts

Playing with the layout of your subway tiles will give you infinite possibilities.

This homeowner has used a classic running bond layout for the walls of this cream kitchen, and then a herringbone pattern for the splashback, helping to differentiate the two and add some interest.

Our selection of kitchen tile ideas has more tips and tricks.

4. Split face kitchen wall tiles idea

Split face tiles are thin strips of stone that are cut to different lengths and depths to give your walls a sumptuous textured look.

We love how the different shades of grey in these tiles complement the grey worktops and kitchen floors.

To keep your tiling costs down, opt for split face effect tiles – these have a textured surface that provides a realistic stone effect for your home.

5. Bright kitchen wall tiles

If you’re on the hunt for bright kitchen colour ideas, you’ll love the rainbow colours of these geometric kitchen wall tiles. Fun and playful, they can’t help but catch your eye – especially in this predominantly white kitchen!

Read our dedicated guide for help choosing the perfect colours for any room.

6. Contrasting kitchen tile walls and splashback

Whoever said you need to pick just one type of tile for your kitchen?

This homeowner has chosen two completely contrasting tile ideas to tile the splashback and the wall – one square, glossy and white, and the other slim, matt and laid out in a herringbone pattern.

It’s a simple interior design idea that makes a big impact and fits perfectly with the current quiet luxury design trend.

7. Hexagon tiles for kitchen wall

Hexagon tiles are at home in both a modern and traditional kitchen, so they’re great if you’re striving for a mix of the two.

Here, the homeowner has chosen different coloured tiles in toned-back shades of blue, green and cream. This subtle colour variation brings an added depth that’s ideal for a kitchen feature wall.

8. Square kitchen wall tile

These white mosaic tiles with black grout may be small, but they make a huge statement. Made up of tiny squares stacked in a grid-like pattern, they’re neat, uniform and bang-on-trend.

Together with the wooden worktop and chopping boards, they help to create the perfect Japandi interior.

9. Paint kitchen tiles

If you want to keep your kitchen renovation project manageable, why not paint your tiles? You can do it yourself or find a good painter and decorator to complete the job for you.

The tiles in this kitchen have been finished to a very high standard – in fact, you’d hardly know that they’d been painted at all!

10. Retro kitchen wall tiles ideas

We love the colourful tiles in this retro kitchen. Scattered with turquoise, orange and pink triangles in various configurations, they’re a great way to brighten any kitchen – not just a vintage one (although we do love this retro kitchen diner idea!).

11. Moroccan wall tiles for kitchens

Looking for small kitchen ideas on a budget? Then you’ll be a fan of this gorgeous cooking space.

White cabinets help to increase natural light in the kitchen, while the Moroccan-style tiles add colour and evoke happy holiday memories.

12. Picket kitchens wall tiles

If you like subway tiles but you want something slightly more elegant, picket tiles are for you.

With their long bodies and interlocking edges, we like to see them as a perfect blend between a subway tile and an elongated hexagon tile – two home trends that we predict will continue long into the future.

13. Rustic kitchen walls tiles

These square blue tiles make us think of a farmhouse in the French countryside – particularly combined with the wooden worktop and crockery. We especially love the variation in colour across each individual tile for a rustic, ‘perfectly imperfect’ look. If you like this, we bet you’ll be a fan of our rustic bedroom ideas too.

14. Unfinished honeycomb kitchen tile walls

These honeycomb-shaped tiles are really popular right now, but we love how the homeowner here has added their own twist. Not only have they mixed white and grey tiles together, but they’ve also deliberately left the top edge of tiling unfinished.

This u-shaped kitchen certainly doesn’t play by the rules – and it really works!

15. Vertical stacked tiles for kitchen wall

This kitchen boasts small brick-style tiles – except they’ve been stacked vertically, rather than laid out in a typical horizontal running bond. In this way, the homeowner has given this classic kitchen a subtle contemporary twist.

The tiles, together with open shelving, also help to accentuate the height of the room, making the space feel light and airy.

16. Mosaic kitchen walls tiles

Intricate mosaic tiles have been popular for thousands of years. So, they’re a safe choice that certainly won’t become a kitchen remodel regret. This homeowner has teamed green kitchen cabinets with a completely green mosaic tile splashback for a contemporary twist.

17. Dark kitchen wall tile

Most of the kitchen wall tiles we’ve looked at so far have been white or neutral. But who’s to say you can’t go dark and moody with your kitchen wall tiles?!

This black and white kitchen features dark grey wall tiles in a chevron pattern, teamed with bright white kitchen worktops for a sleek and dramatic look.

18. Fluted kitchen wall tiles ideas

Another dark tile idea for you, but this time we’re oohing and ahhing over the fluted effect. This unusual tile choice is all about the texture. Paired with wood, wicker and plenty of greenery, it’s an understated kitchen design that’s oh-so-trendy.

19. Midcentury modern wall tiles for kitchens

If you’re a fan of midcentury modern interior design, you’ll love this open plan dining room. These emerald green honeycomb tiles haven’t just been limited to the walls - they’ve also been used to create a bespoke dining table!

Together with the hardwood kitchen cabinets and vintage chairs, it’s the perfect fusion of modern and retro.

20. Victorian-style kitchen tile walls

These Victorian-style kitchen tiles look surprisingly fresh and modern in this contemporary kitchen. Not only do they add a playful touch and break up the sleek, clean lines – they also introduce the colour turquoise, which is echoed throughout the kitchen lighting.

21. Herringbone mosaic kitchen wall tiles

These marble wall mosaic tiles feature an intricate herringbone pattern. Their colour variation brings a unique depth and texture to the space and just screams that this is a high-end kitchen. We particularly love them teamed with the dark blue kitchen units for added contrast.

22. Charcoal kitchens wall tiles

We’ve already covered a couple of dark kitchen wall tile ideas. But these grey kitchen tiles are right at home in this completely charcoal open plan kitchen.

We love the slight colour variation, which help the tiles to stand out amongst the dark kitchen island, cabinets and polished concrete floor.

23. Large format kitchen wall tiles

The phrase ‘the bigger the better’ doesn’t always apply to tiles – but it definitely does when it comes to this marble tiled kitchen!

By using large format tiles, the homeowner has benefited from far fewer grout lines, resulting in a seamless finish. At first glance, you might even think that these kitchen walls were covered in one big marble slab!

24. Tiles for kitchen wall and hood

Here, the homeowner hasn’t just tiled the walls – they’ve also tiled the cooker hood!

This is a fantastic way to hide your hood by blending it in with the walls around. Let’s be honest, we doubt you want to install a new cooker hood only for it to form the main focal point of your kitchen!

25. Patterned ceramic kitchen wall tile

Last but not least, we adore these charming ceramic brick-style tiles. The red and turquoise geometric print adds a pop of colour to the space, which is complemented by the turquoise kitchen cabinets and multi-coloured rug.

All in all, if you’re having a new kitchen fitted, this is a fresh and playful touch that can turn a modern kitchen into something more homely.

Kitchen wall tiles key takeaways

• A good tiler will be able to help you achieve many different tile layouts – from classic running bond to herringbone or vertical stacked.

• The colour of your grout can make a big impact in your kitchen.

• Create a mood board to understand how your kitchen tiles will fit into your kitchen design as a whole.