Farmhouse Kitchen Subway Backsplash in Englewood
About This Project
This kitchen backsplash was installed in a ranch home in the Bates-Logan Park neighborhood of Englewood. The homeowner was updating the kitchen with open wood shelving and wanted a classic white subway tile to run the full wall behind the shelving and above the countertop. The tile is a standard 3x6 ceramic subway in a running bond offset pattern with a dark charcoal grout — a combination that reads clean but has enough contrast to define each tile individually.
The main challenge on this job was working around the open shelf brackets mounted directly to the wall. Each bracket required a precise notch cut in the surrounding tile so the shelf hardware sat flush against the tile face without gaps. The tile was set in horizontal courses from the countertop up, with the shelf notch cuts planned in the dry layout before mortar was mixed.
What We Did
- Cleaned and primed the drywall substrate behind the existing backsplash area
- Dry-laid the full run of tile to confirm joint alignment with cabinet rails and plan shelf bracket cuts
- Set tile in running bond offset with 1/16-inch spacers, cutting all notches on a wet saw
- Grouted with charcoal unsanded grout at the 1/16-inch joint width and cleaned the tile face
