45+ Twists on a Subway Tile Backsplash From Design Pros and HGTV Shows

Realtors, builders and designers alike report that our relationship with subway tile has been a love affair for the ages. Nearly 120 years after their creation by George Lewis Heins and Christopher Grant LaFarge and their debut in the New York City subway system, these 3" x 6" beauties feel fresh and functional in residential spaces all over the world. Making a match that will last in your space is all about balancing palette, finish, arrangement and scale — and we have more than 45 brilliant designs to inspire you to do just that.

Our first twist on subway tile is this variegated green backsplash. Designer Brian Patrick Flynn chose this tile because of its mix of earthy hues that tie the other elements of the room together — the blue-gray quartz countertops, the silvery appliances and hardware and, of course, the gorgeous forest green cabinets.

A change in hues and a couple of clever additions were just what this kitchen remodel from Home Town needed to bring it into the spotlight. Erin and Ben Napier painted the walls white and used traditional (but extra-long) white subway tiles for the backsplash to serve as a bright backdrop to forest-green upper cabinets, the woodgrain of the refurnished lower cabinets and the new breakfast bar. The glossy tile works with the glass cabinet doors and vintage mirror to amplify the natural light in this renovation gem.

This luxurious butler’s pantry is all about the moody, solid coastal blue that carries across its walls and upper and lower cabinets, then develops into a gorgeously mottled, counter-to-ceiling backsplash with hand-glazed variegated tiles. These sophisticated subway tiles both add dimension to the space’s oceanic tones and contribute a bit of opulence that pairs beautifully with the brass pendant and cabinet hardware.

This storm-blue kitchen by designer Jenn Feldman delivers even deeper dimensionality with a hand-glazed subway tile backsplash arranged in an intricate herringbone pattern that is even more classic than the tiles that comprise it. (By the way — herringbone patterns date back to ancient Egypt!) For just a hint of pattern in a monochromatic arrangement like this one, reach for tone-on-tone grout that creates minimal contrast with your tile of choice.

Jenny and Dave Marrs have a talent for pairing time-honored elements with just the right amount of contemporary chic. Apparently, they know how to rock a range hood, too — evident in this redo from Fixer to Fabulous. A serene gray marble subway tile and countertop provide the traditional context for a stand-out industrial black range hood with riveted steel trim. It’s like the edgy nephew at a garden party who the country club crowd finds simply fascinating.

This midcentury-modern kitchen’s sunny backsplash evokes fresh-squeezed OJ and breaks up a bank of sleek white cabinets with a custom floating shelf and butcher block countertop. We love the clean, contemporary look of the horizontal straight stack, a tile arrangement installers say is the best way to showcase the tiles themselves.

Christina Hall brought a little SoCal dazzle to a spacious Tennessee kitchen using a black counter-to-ceiling subway tile, black stone countertops with gold veining and black cabinetry with gold-accented hardware. The Christina in the Country star told HGTV she’s never gone this dark before in a kitchen, but the greenery outside flows in to make the space warm and inviting.

One of the easiest ways to mix up your kitchen’s subway tile backsplash design is by laying tile in a fun, unexpected pattern, such as this herringbone design featured in HGTV Magazine. By pairing the design with simple shelves and black-and-white art, the charming tilework remains the star of the space.

Don’t let the toasty, neutral hue of this kitchen’s subway tiles fool you: This running-bond arrangement is a series of exclamation points, thanks to its vertical orientation. Bonus: That unexpected tweak creates graphic, 90-degree angles with the kitchen’s quartet of floating shelves and its sculptural range hood.

This contemporary take on farmhouse style is all about the combination of confident, super-saturated blue cabinets with softer pastels, such as the mint green enamel on the Marais barstools and the counter-to-ceiling subway tiles in barely-there gray with a hint of sea foam. To nail this look in your space, follow designer Kristina Crestin's lead and choose a bold, primary color to anchor the room, then look for tiles in a pastel, secondary color that you can complement with accessories.

If you are thinking of going with the classic 3” x 6” white subway tile, take a cue from Leanne Ford of Restored by the Fords. She paired the tile with jet black grout and installed them in a standard staggered pattern. The classic backsplash allows other elements in the room to shine — in this case the beautifully styled shelves, wood countertop and handsome recessed-panel cabinets. And if Leanne teaches us anything, it’s florals definitely belong in the kitchen.

A forest palette is a lovely choice for this Bentonville, Arkansas, kitchen reimagined by the Marrs on Fixer to Fabulous. Using flat or satin finishes minimizes reflections and reduces visual clutter so it calms a room. In this case, the honed marble subway tile backsplash with a medium gray grout joins white quartz countertops to confer a cloudy-sky backdrop for the mossy cabinets and wood accents in the floating shelves and bar stools.

An obvious way to add a personal touch to a subway tile backsplash is by ditching basic white and opting for a favorite color instead. In this Craftsman kitchen, the vibrant green backsplash contributes a cheery accent to the Shaker-style cabinets and stainless steel appliances.

To avoid any sterile side effects from a wall of white, Erin Napier brightened this Home Town kitchen using a shiny glazed subway tile backsplash to accompany ivory cabinetry. The counter-to-ceiling tile mimics the pattern of the adjacent brick wall and offers vague recollections of its warm red tones on the tile’s unglazed edges.

Why stick to just one color when you can give your kitchen a totally unexpected look simply by mixing variant hues of the same color? In this transitional kitchen, blue tiles with different levels of saturation are tied together by white upper cabinets and solid blue lower cabinets.

This 1930 Atlanta bungalow’s remodeled kitchen still oozes old-school cool in the form of its existing antique green sink. Its chic new cabinets, on the other hand, feature Farrow & Ball’s Green Smoke and tailored brass hardware that complements a new bridge faucet. The backsplash boasts handmade zellige subway tiles that add subtle dimension and a hit of contemporary flair.

Jonathan Scott uses his tile selections to stretch the boundaries of this kitchen revamp from Brothers Take New Orleans. The gray subway tile backsplash pairs nicely with the gray slab countertop, chrome hardware and stainless steel appliances. The herringbone layout over the cooktop breaks up the long wall of rectangles. This lively tile pattern and the black-and-white encaustic tile on the peninsula move the eye around the space and energize a largely neutral palette.

Drew Scott’s kitchen project in Brothers Take New Orleans is smaller than his brother’s but looms large, thanks in part to the large-format subway tile. The tile's variegated color and pattern work well with the reclaimed wood in the island base providing texture and warmth to the room.

The subway tile backsplash provides just a hint of slate blue to this cool kitchen from Love It or List It. Arranging the subway tiles vertically draws the eye upward, giving a lift to the space and making the room appear taller. The smooth glossy tile keeps the look both elegant and simple while offering a reflective surface to bounce light around the room.

To liven up a basic backsplash, consider a beveled tile. "Having the tile done this way added a lot of dimension to the walls,” explains designer Tobi Farley. “It adds texture to the neutral kitchen, and the varying shades of bisque and sand complement the Roman shade perfectly. I love working with tile in new and different ways — it can really add to a design!"

The statement range in this cool, coastal California kitchen merits a style moment of its own, and the gradient-glazed subway tiles to either side of its blue tile backsplash frame it perfectly. Follow designer Erica Bryen's lead and deploy vertical color blocking to highlight a wide, symmetrical installation, such as the gold-grated upper cabinets and spacious drawered lower cabinets flanking the range here.

On Celebrity IOU, the Property Brothers helped actress Emma Roberts transform a builder’s-grade kitchen into this cheery and functional space. A vibrant grass color was chosen for the cabinetry and then paired with an ice-gray 3D subway tile backsplash. The stacked, not staggered, tile layout lends a modern touch that keeps the kitchen from feeling too predictable and traditional.

Warm wood accents and gold punctuate a sea of white in an expansive modern kitchen courtesy of Property Brothers: Forever Home. Jonathan and Drew Scott oh-so-subtly used the subway tile backsplash to mimic the kitchen’s other elements. The Shaker-style cabinetry is reflected in the dimensional detailing of the tile itself, and the light gray grout color complements the veining in the slab countertop and waterfall island.

This kitchen is a lesson in complementary contrast in the way each element is reflected somewhere else. Ben and Erin Napier of Home Town paired the glossy charcoal subway tile backsplash with the color of the island base and the back door. The white grout chosen for the backsplash draws in the window framing and Shaker-style cabinets. The wood cabinet hardware pairs nicely with the butcher block work surfaces and rattan bar stools. The use of dark colors doesn't diminish the size of the space at all, rather it pushes the other elements forward.

The dynamic, winningly irregular teal zellige tiles in this verdant kitchen are just as sun-loving as the plants trailing from its floating shelves. This lively look by designer Justina Blakeney is all about celebrating the distinct look of each tile, and the not-too-perfect grout between them does just that. The barely there green paint above the backsplash, in turn, echoes the teal’s deeper tones.

An elongated matte subway tile is the perfect accompaniment for the soft blue-green cabinetry in this gorgeous Love It or List It kitchen makeover. Thin grout lines in a light gray join the shaker-style cabinetry to keep the eye lines simple and uncluttered. The color of the grout and the size of the grout joint can be used to define individual tiles for prominence or, like here, make the backsplash more cohesive and textural.

Erin and Ben Napier chose a faux brick subway tile for the backsplash in this inviting Home Town renovation. The variegated brick joins the original hardwood floors to contribute natural texture to the soft-and-simple vibe that is provided by smooth soapstone countertops and ivory cabinetry. The result is a lovely, updated kitchen with timeless foundations.

With wraparound floating shelves that carry across the picture window, ebony-stained seating and stainless-steel appliances, this is unquestionably a 21st-century kitchen. That said, historic touches like its flush-mounted lights and sconces, shiplap island detailing and stone-cold classic subway-tile backsplash lend it timeless character.

The Home Town team transformed a spacious kitchen into a fantastically functional open-concept eating and dining space. For this renovation, Erin Napier selected deep gray quartz countertops, white cabinetry and a tiny version of classic subway tile with contrasting grout to pull everything together. Using smaller tile for the backsplash kept it discreet while adding a little pep to the newly renovated space.

This Southern California kitchen channels crisp coastal chic with ease, thanks to its gleaming white walls and cabinets, driftwood-inspired flooring and rich blue island. The subway tiles’ smoke-blue glaze is a tonal half-step between that island and the far brighter hues of the rest of the room — and they perform the neat trick of integrating those contrasting tones as the eye moves into the kitchen.

Stainless steel inserts combine with white glass subway tiles for an almost futuristic vibe in this ultra-modern kitchen. Smart lighting and sleek appliances further the room’s high-tech design.

This striking industrial kitchen features seamless, floor-to-ceiling cabinetry with robin’s-egg blue lacquer and an upcycled “island” with a picture-perfect patina. In a boldly designed space like this one, subway tile should stand back and let those major players take center stage. An apt (and contemporary) supporting character? This straight-stacked array of white subway tile that finishes the backsplash in subtle style.

Add a little depth and interest to your subway tile design with an insert of a unique tile for contrast like this delicate tile pattern framing out the cooktop.

Speaking of defining spaces in open-plan homes, consider how effectively the horizontally stacked chartreuse subway tiles and teal flat-panel cabinetry establish the kitchen in this contemporary loft. Such a vivid choice would be a lot of look in a room with additional walls and a lower ceiling — but in this soaring home, swinging for the fences is just right.

This ostensibly neutral transitional kitchen is all about subtly rich finishes that benefit from close scrutiny. The translucent blue stain on its lower cabinets and island reveal rich graining in the wood beneath it; the upper cabinets, in turn, feature crisp chrome trim that evokes the work of a shipwright, and the intricate parquet flooring underfoot is downright stunning. The pebbled, pearl-gray surface of its subway tiles, now? That provides a velvety backdrop for the kitchen’s quiet luxury.

From the upper and lower cabinets’ bold color blocking to a trio of curvaceous pendants that emphasize the right angles behind them, this high-concept kitchen is all about juxtaposition and geometry. The darker grout anchoring (and drawing attention to) its straight-stacked subway tiles creates a graphic grid that supports those oversized forms — clever, no?

Marble subway tiles have made a splash in luxurious baths for some time now, and we’re ready to see more of them in public spaces like this one by designer Naomi Stein. That paler stone contrasts beautifully with the black marble countertop beneath it, and it also echoes the much bigger slab of marble atop the waterfall-edge kitchen island. The effect? Pure opulence.

The white-on-white tongue-and-groove ceiling, window treatment and cabinetry in this contemporary kitchen let the subtle beauty of the white oak floating shelves, flooring and island catch the eye. The white-on-white zellige subway tiles that rise to the ceiling and echo its lines in a horizontal stack, in turn, contribute a rich but subtle texture that also provides just a hint of distinction between the kitchen and other areas. An application like this one helps define functional spaces in open-plan homes.

This chic and colorful Los Angeles bungalow kitchen demonstrates what Heins and LaFarge knew a century ago: White subway tile spans entire walls beautifully and just so happens to be a breeze to clean. This traditional, white-on-white running arrangement provides negative space that showcases details like the green window hardware and less-is-more upper cabinetry and floating shelves; it also gleams beautifully in all that Southern California sunlight. An enveloping yet understated choice like this one gives seemingly small design details a big spotlight.

Traditionalists and trendsetters are singing the praises of copper backsplashes, which offer more warmth than silvery metals such as chrome and stainless steel and a more unexpected tone than brass, bronze and gold. If you fancy a surface that will age gracefully into a vintage look, know that unfinished copper subway tiles will develop a dazzling patina over the years. For contemporary drama like the feature wall in this kitchen, look to copper laminate or metal-effect subway tiles that won’t require regular polishing to stave off oxidation.

Speaking of subway tiles that gleam beautifully in the sunlight, this vacation cottage kitchen by designer James Farmer on Georgia’s Sea Island dazzles like an oyster’s interior, thanks to its zellige subway tiles’ reflective glaze. This cabinet-to-ceiling backsplash is an effective tone-on-tone frame for the matte hood and upper cabinets’ elegant crown molding, and it initiates a tropical theme that the island’s whitewashed bamboo barstools echo with ease.

Organic textures abound in this rustic-contemporary cabin kitchen, where three rows of soldier-stacked subway tiles with toasty beige glaze create a backsplash and visual bridge between the butcherblock countertop and two wraparound floating shelves. Try a treatment like this one when you hanker for a kitchen that celebrates natural and upcycled materials (How about that gorgeously weathered table repurposed as a one-of-a-kind island?) without tipping over into kitschy-cutesy territory.

This light-as-a-feather, contemporary coastal kitchen features cloud-toned, offset marble subway tile that carries from the counters to the ceiling; the cumulative (cumulus?) effect is casual and luxe all at once. Using a natural material for the walls and engineered surfaces for the countertops and island minimizes cleanup, and all that handsome stone serves as a sophisticated backdrop for the playful accessories arranged on the kitchen’s floating shelves.

A sandy-toned glass backsplash was just what the brother ordered for a showstopping Las Vegas kitchen makeover from Brother vs. Brother. Jonathan Scott reduced the amount of upper cabinetry in this renovation, replacing one bank with white floating shelves and installing a quartz slab countertop atop lower cabinets. Choosing white for these fundamentals enabled him to go all out with the counter-to-ceiling backsplash. The vertical backsplash balances some of the horizontal scale of the kitchen, and the undulating pattern creates an attractive backdrop for the red and turquoise dishware.

Organic elements and reclaimed beams add variation and warmth to this atmospheric kitchen, and its creamy subway-tile backsplash and gently contrasting grout complement those rustic, darker wood selections.

Give your imagination permission to run wild by considering the look-at-me pairing of deep green subway tile and fuchsia cabinetry in this exuberant home bar nook. Who cares about square footage when you can reimagine classic materials in a statement space?