Easy DIY Peel & Stick Kitchen Backsplash

Today I have another easy project anyone can do, I am sharing our DIY peel and stick subway tile backsplash. I added this in our kitchen earlier this spring, it was so easy to do.

If you are having a hard time believing this is not real tile, you aren’t the only one. I feel like it looks just like real tile, but it was so much easier and cheaper (and less messy) to install.

This is just a temporary solution for us, I honestly did this on a whim after seeing other bloggers cover up their dated backsplash using these peel and stick products. At some point we’ll be overhauling our kitchen, including putting a real tile backsplash up but since we plan to swap out the microwave for a range hood, I don’t want to add the permanent tile until we know exactly where it will need to go.

I used peel and stick tile from Amazon, you can see the selection here. There are different products available, I used tile by “Vamos” (which isn’t currently listed) and it worked great. I did need more sheets than I had originally thought, but it is much more affordable than real tile.

Another benefit was that this was a great way to test out if subway tile is what I want to install permanently, and now I can envision how it will look. The clean, classic lines go well with our craftsman style home. The white tile also brightened up our kitchen, the walls can be shadowy under the cabinets especially with our light gray paint.

This is a very simple project, you can literally cut the tile sheets with sharp scissors and then stick them right on the wall, no grouting required. I did have to do some cutting out and piecing in places to keep the grout lines correctly lined up, but it wasn’t hard to figure out. The ends were the trickiest part, so be sure to order a few extra sheets so you can cut out the tiles that have the grout line on the end for a polished look.

Another important thing to remember is that like with real tile you need to start on one side and work all the way over to the other (don’t start on both ‘out’ sides and expect the grout lines to line up). I also did find out that if you make a mistake and peel them off to reposition them, some drywall will pull off with the adhesive so much as I want to say this is 100% renter friendly, I can’t be sure. I’d be sure to do a test if you are a renter and want to attempt this project. Our drywall seems to be fairly soft and crumble very easily so it may work better in your home. I do think these sheets would work just fine over existing backsplash tile, so this is a great way to update a dated space on a budget.

I am not sure at what point we’ll start making updates in our kitchen, before the pandemic I would have been looking toward later this year but now I am not so sure. When we do get to it, we hope to swap out the busy countertops, add a commercial range and a tile backsplash along with new pendant lighting and cabinet hardware. We decided not to pay our builder to upgrade those types of things in here as their selections weren’t exactly what we wanted, so instead we decided to wait (and save up) until we could do it ourselves. This was a nice easy update I could do in the meantime until we get around to making more permanent changes in here.

We’ve done some other projects updating tile and using press and stick products over the years, for more information on these types of projects check out the posts below.

How We Installed Press + Seal Tile on a Bathroom Floor

How to Paint Your Kitchen Backsplash

As always, if you have any questions about the process just let me know.

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