Quirky tiled kitchen splashbacks

The kitchen in the flat in Berlin I've been helping out with has been the hardest room to get right for one reason or another. The basics are now in place, but due to things not being available, timing being tight and doing the whole thing remotely, it's turned out neat and functional, but – so far – lacking character.

So. It's down to a few final touches to warm it up a little and give the room some more individuality. First port of call is the splashback: currently tantalisingly bare walls just poised for something creative and colourful to (we hope) do the job. I'm arguing hard for mismatched tiles in the same colour; mustard yellow or dark grey I'm thinking (elsewhere it has pale grey walls, Yves Klein blue floor and handle-free walnut-y cupboard doors). Here are the early inspiration images. Above, the greens are closest to the look I have in mind; the tonal consistency calms down what could look chaotic. Then again, the many-coloured version, top right, pulls together very well too. I like the tiles on the top left too, but think they may not be right to solve this problem: the kitchen needs roughing up a little, and these would be beautiful in a kitchen that already has a couple of quirks, I think. Do you agree?

I can't remember where I found the image on the left, which is floor tiles somewhere. But I love the apparent randomness of the layout and colours and, yet, how well they hang together. The image on the right is a bit of a risk that I wouldn't want to recommend without trying it first – but if it it worked it would look excellent. These are original 1950s or 60s vinyl floor tiles. You can sometimes find complete sets on eBay, so it would take a lot of patient searching (or a very small splashback) to make this one work. If anyone has tried something similar I'd love to hear about it.

The tile design on the left was a one-off for the Mayor's Eid Celebration last year, creatively conceived by the London-based designer, Tom Lancaster, and designed by Liana Bakar. Isn't that combination of colours striking? The image on the left is, in fact, wallpaper (Remix, by Pretty Dandy, £64.50 per roll); but I am thinking floor tiles arranged similarly would work too. Fired Earth's Evora, would look excellent.


What other ideas has anyone tried for a special splashback or, indeed, for a clever quirk in an otherwise plain kitchen?