20 Stylish Bathroom Vanity Backsplash Ideas

Have you hit a wall in your renovation or DIY plans? Check out this roundup of clever, chic and cost-conscious treatments to update your bathroom vanity backsplash.

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August 02, 2023

By: Lauren Oster

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Bathroom Vanity Backsplash Ideas

Most of us don’t have much incentive to think about bathroom vanity backsplashes. A wall’s a wall, right? Who notices what’s in our peripheral vision as we wash our hands and brush our teeth, and why is it worth extra elbow grease or funds? But consider how artful treatments, like this one, turn a pause in front of the mirror into a major design moment.

In this gallery, we include 20 different vanity backsplash designs to get you thinking about how this often overlooked space can be turned into an area of interest in your bathroom.

SEE MORE: 40 Incredible Before-and-After Bathroom Makeovers

From: 2to5 Design

Gorgeous in Emerald Green

Textural, emerald-glazed Zellige square tiles lend texture and dimension to the lower portion of this tropical room’s walls. That installation climbs just high enough to frame the blush concrete vessel sinks and luxe, wall-mounted rose gold hardware, and it contrasts beautifully with the vanity’s warm stain.

SEE MORE: Bathroom Looks We're Loving

From: HGTV Magazine

Architectural Assist

The shapely marble corbels built into this distressed, vintage-inspired vanity put more understated fixtures to shame. Why shouldn’t an attached backsplash make a style statement of its own?

Dimensional Ledge

Quarters are close in this powder room but bumping out the lower portion of the rear wall just a few inches creates a storage space that’s a one-two punch of form and function. We love how this subway tile wall and wood-topped ledge gives the space behind this floating vanity character.

SEE MORE: 50 Small Bathroom Design Ideas & Solutions

From: Erin Williamson

Arched Marble

This updated take on farmhouse style features a three-drawer vanity with scalloping atop its lower shelves and an integrated marble backsplash that curves up to accommodate a brushed nickel bridge faucet. That understated, feminine curve is both a fitting complement to the vanity and a clever counterpoint to linear features like the shiplap paneling, the rectangular mirror and the Shaker-style cabinet.

SEE MORE: 30 Cozy Farmhouse Bathroom Ideas

From: Ashley Gilbreath

Stacked Subway Tile

The blue-black tiles that define this bold bathroom’s shower recur to great effect in a triple stack along the concrete-topped vanity and generous sink. That crisp detail adds a bit of edge to the space’s retro panels and cabinetry — and prepares the eye for the playfully edgy mirror mounted to the wall.

SEE MORE: 10 On-Trend Pink Bathrooms

From: Caitlin Murray

Glam Green Picket Tile

This feature wall of moss-green, hexagon picket tiles functions both as a backsplash and as the foundation of a space that’s full of creative shapes. The framed painting that echoes the window’s square shape and the cerebral, circular-rectangular mirror mounted above the wooden floating vanity both gain sophistication from their chic backdrop.

SEE MORE: 20 Hexagon Tile Designs

From: Windermere Real Estate and Luxury Portfolio International®

Playing With Marble

In this updated-Victorian bath, subway and pencil tile takes on the look of molding and wainscoting. Square marble tiles enveloping the shower and petite hexagons on the floor add even more subtle richness to the design.

SEE MORE: 10 Marble Bathrooms We're Swooning Over

From: Casagrande Studio

Leaning Into Brick

This bathroom features a crisp white countertop that showcases the original piping and, behind, timeworn, exposed brick frames the gleaming industrial accessories. Updates like the mirror and sink hardware and the portrait mounted above the towel ladder, make the space feel tailored and eclectic, but the star of the show is the the brick backsplash.

SEE MORE: Exuberant 1875 Maximalist Mansion Juxtaposes Old and New Design Styles

From: Lucinda Loya Interiors

Sea Glass-Inspired

A backsplash of offset, alternating wide and narrow glass tiles adds an abstract coastal feel to this serene bath. The low-contrast white grout between this beachy tile gives the wall a muted look that’s evocative without being overwhelming.

SEE MORE: 15 Sea-Inspired Decorating Ideas for Bathrooms

From: Amy Peltier Interior Design & Home

Luxe Elevated Accents

The next-level stonework in this fashionable bath begins with a dark, veined slab atop the vanity and extends up the wall as a combination of marble rectangles give way to dramatic, light-catching blue triangles. The acute angles on the backsplash repeat in the luxe diamond hardware at the center of each cabinet panel.

SEE MORE: Bathroom Tile Designs That Are Anything But Boring

From: Mel Bean Interiors

Pattern Play

The floor-to-ceiling marble backsplash in this teenage boy’s bathroom contributes visual texture and creates a moisture-ready space that’s a snap to clean. A graphic pattern like this one happens to be on-trend, but it’s also elemental enough that it won’t look dated in a decade.

SEE MORE: This Super-Custom Home Has Purpose-Built Spaces for Everyone in the Family

From: Mel Bean Interiors

Book-Matched Marble

This monumental backsplash is all about the symmetry and movement of its two magnificent slabs of veined Calacatta Covelano marble. If you’re lucky enough to stumble upon paired pieces like these, let the rest of your bathroom design follow their lead and offer subtle support with streamlined, balanced pieces like these mirrors and wall-mounted faucets.

SEE MORE: 20 Modern + Minimal Bathroom Design Ideas

From: D2 Interieurs

Barely-There Herringbone

This backsplash deploys small, low-contrast marble tiles to create a gently variegated background that softens the room’s look-at-me punches of bold Kelly green. That whisper of interest adds a subtle touch of luxury and counterbalances all of those solid swaths of color with just a bit of pattern.

SEE MORE: Our Favorite Green Bathrooms

From: Judith Balis

Textured Tile

No only does this tile backsplash bring a textured look to this contemporary bathroom, it is a luxurious, sculptural element that defines this space.

From: Kimberlee Gorsline

Dramatic Paneling

The black paint on the wood paneling make this elegant marble console sink, the brushed-nickel sconces and framed Beatles LPs appear to float in space. And who says your bathroom vanity backsplash has to be tile?

SEE MORE: 20 Pieces of Decor Every Bathroom Needs

From: Brian Patrick Flynn

Terrazzo Time

This super-sized aggregate terrazzo, composed of four different types of marble, carries from the waterfall-edge vanity to the sink, up the backsplash and across the way to the shower reflected in the mirror. This look is pure fun. A matte black switch plate and wall-mounted faucet give the old-school material contemporary edge.

SEE MORE: Hello, Terrazzo! This Throwback Trend Is Back in a Big Way

Rustic and Contemporary

The thin, dimensional pieces of wood installed in this sleek ranch house bathroom's feature wall frames both its floating stone vanity and the solid wood drawers. They cleverly echo the mirror, vanity and sink’s horizontal shape, and contrast beautifully with the room’s shapely pendants and trio of stone decor. This backsplash has a sense of place and a sense of sophistication.

SEE MORE: Bathroom Looks We're Loving

From: Ownby Design

Transitional Pink

The rose-quartz tone of this bathroom backsplash is just right for the little girl using it at present; it’ll also grow with her and feel sophisticated in the years to come. Details like the mirror and glass vanity knobs help the space skew sweet now, and they can make way for swapped-in accessories to change its character later on.

SEE MORE: 30 Kid-Friendly Bathroom Design Ideas

From: Copper Sky Design + Remodel

Bold Black Beadboard

The bold combination of white and black make this powder room stand out in the best way possible. The black beadboard flatters the nook’s luxe brass fixtures and accessories, makes the floating shelves beneath the vessel sink pop and gives traditional wainscoting a decidedly contemporary edge.

SEE MORE: 50 Black and White Bathrooms We Love

From: Urbanology Designs

Two Tones, Three Dimensions

This itty-bitty powder room barely has room for a soap dispenser and vase. Added flair is entirely up to the backsplash — and it delivers handily with faceted tiles framed in dark grout that transition to blue and create an abstract mountain range on the wall.

SEE MORE: Our Fave Bathroom Tile Design Ideas

From: Emily Roose