When the kitchen remodeling budget is tight: six ideas for finessing the backsplash issue.

Above: Norwegian blogger Nina Holst of Stylizmo created a backsplash using birch plywood stained black; for more, go to Kitchen Upgrade: The Low-Cost DIY Backsplash.

Above: Canadian company Smart Tiles offers peel-and-stick embossed Gel-O tile look-alikes; shown is the Hexago pattern. Photograph via Atelier de Curiosite.

Above: Ann DeSaussure Davidson and Scott Davidson?s 75-square-foot Brooklyn kitchen is the quintessential urban galley. Remodeled on a shoestring budget by the couple and architect Josh Pulver of A+C, the kitchen features the original brick backsplash painted white. For a full tour and dissection of the kitchen, see the Remodelista book. Photograph by Matthew Williams for Remodelista.
Above: For a project in the Catskills, Jersey Ice Cream Co. created an ingenious backsplash out of copper flashing purchased inexpensively online and nailed in place with copper tacks. See the whole project at A Country House Reinvented by Jersey Ice Cream Co.

Above: Abbey Hendrickson of Aesthetic Outburst installed a DIY beadboard backsplash over the old yellow linoleum and contact paper. ?We picked up two sheets of cheapo beadboard paneling from our local hardware store, nailed it horizontally, caulked it, painted it, and voilà. A solution in less than two hours and for less than $60.? See the whole project at Kitchen of the Week: A DIY Kitchen Overhaul for Under $500.

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