Dept. of Useless Design

Some design features that have been practiced a long time I don’t mind using – IF they have a good reason. Like toe kicks on cabinets, for example. Your toes need a place to go when you’re standing close to a cabinet. Fine. I can live with that. I can even live with cabinets that have no toe kick & are just open underneath.

What really makes me crazy is the long standing tradition of a 4″ backsplash.

What is that? Did someone standing around just say, hey let’s plop this extra piece of material along the back of the counter for no reason? Did they not care that they were consuming almost an inch of countertop real estate? Were they partners in crime with the same people who invented wallpaper?

Does not exist.

I have news, people. Splashes – as in water – are going to go where they damn well want to. There is no invisible barrier at that 4″ mark above the counter which magically prevents any splatter above it.

If the logic is to use an unnecessarily large piece of material to close the gap between the countertop & the wall, then it serves that purpose well. But it’s a waste of material, a dated aesthetic, and there are better ways to seal the joint.

Simple is good.

• First, scribe the countertop to the wall against which it butts for an exact fit to any irregularities in the wall surface. If your contractor can’t do that, fire them immediately & get a competent one.
• Second, caulk is our friend.  It seals gaps. Which should be minimal if you didn’t have to fire  your contractor.
• Third, treat the whole wall that the countertop butts cleanly to as the backsplash. Run *that* material down to the countertop surface.

Viola. Now you have the sealant at the wall, plus you have the backsplash material down to the countertop and another sealant at that joint.

And it doesn’t look like crapwork from 1973.