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I agree -paint would be a disasater. I think you need to bite the bullet and remove the tiles - covering them will just be hard to do and just not look good. My backsplash are stainless steel sheets and look GREAT ( you can get them cut to size at a hardware store and just glue them to your wall ). If you remove the tiles yourself you could just glue stainless steel sheets back there to hide the damaged drywall from the removal of the tiles.

stefan,
what kind of glue did you use?

YIkes-I hate to disagree with Maxwell about anything, but tiles can be painted and look fantastic. The trick is how you treat the grout and the use of glaze.

B. Moore is a great place to start for the primer. Tell them what you are doing and they can help a lot. After you prime, paint grout and tile the same color. After they dry, glaze the tiles only with a sponge/rag/etc, careful to stay out of the grout. Each tile should be a little different. Don't try to make them the same. Remember to glaze the tiles in a random manner with each batch of glaze, otherwise you will get veins of color. And I would seal the tile and grout to protect the glaze and make the tile easy to clean. This is really cheap to do except for the tile sealer which is insanely expensive, but worth it.

I've used the self-stick metal tiles (from Home Improvements catalog)before and they worked for awhile in my rental, but the self-stick tabs fail quickly---any heat or a good scrub and they fall off, very annoying. I'd try the Ikea aluminum panels, secured maybe with stainless steel screws instead.

Good luck.

Well let me start by saying that painting either the cabinets or the tiles will *probably* look terible. There are ceertain instances where people have had success but I don't know if you really want to risk it, and yes, it's almost certain to look bad.

I have a few Ideas, I hope you have a minute... it's going to be a long post. :)

#1. Veneer can do wonders! Instead of painting your cabinets, why not look into veneer. You can get PREMIUM veneers (like wenge, ash, walnut, maple, etc...) cheap. Application isn't as hard as you might think, it's just a matter of good preparation and taking care when applying.

#2. Since your cabinets are textured, you might even consider replacing the doors/drawer fronts with flat panels. These can be made of cheap materials like plywood or OSB board and veneered with a premium veneer to get that modern expensive look. This might be a touch more expensive than option #1 but well worth it if you have a bit of cash to spare. (a 4'x8' sheet of plywood is probably under $50 in the USA)

#3. Painting tiles can be an ok option if you don't mind the fact that they're painted. A stainless steel sheet cut to shape might be a good option. You can have a local shop cut it with a plasma to ensure a perfect fit and it can be adhered to the wall with a high quality construction adhesive (like the stuff they use to repare cracked stones/granite and join steel/stone, etc...)

#4. An alternative to stainless steel is LEXAN. Yes, that plastic stuff. You can buy Lexan in several different grades, thickness, colour and so on. Here in Europe it's used often in modern interiors and looks fantastic when done right. You can mount it even easer than stainless since it's light weight... silicone is good enough. You might have to be a bit more careful around Lexan as it looks like crap if you scratch it up too much, so no abrasive cleaners!

And most important of all, buy a lot of beer, pizza & snacks and use this to recruit as many friends and relatives as possible to help you do the work for free! :)

Hope this helps.

Painted cabinets can look perfectly nice. I've seen it done quite successfully. I wouldn't paint the tiles, though, because that seems like something that would only work well if you are quite experienced at it.

Although ordinarily I'd say go ahead and paint the cabinets, with oak, I wouldn't. The wood has too strong a texture. My landlord painted an oak towelbar in my bathroom and you can see the texture of the wood right through the paint. Maybe with a bunch of coats of a good paint it might cover it, but I'd test first. You could try using color to make the cabinets less of a focus and highlight the counter and backsplash instead.

I would PAINT like CRAZY! I had the nerve to try some colors out of this BHG Magazine (goes to show that just because someone elses digs look great.. may not look great in yours. Lighting is so important) anyway After paying $45 per gallon for 2 colors that looked Wack! I bought 2 cans of paint. The first was Ralph Lauren Oatmeal for the cabinets and the base of the cabnets were painted Englsh Tan.. and they look Far better than what we had to begin with. I added Drawer Pulls and for now. This is what we have until we can afford new cabinets. We have those UGLY Stock Cabinets. I think you know the kind. The cheapest there. I have never posted photo's but will look into learning how.
hope this helps.
Kat

PS.. Make sure you Lightly Sand the Cabinets and keep up with the hardware. Lightly sand. Doesn't have to be major. Prime then Paint.

Thanks for the advice kids!

As a former scenic artist, I have a bit of an aversion to decorative painting as suggested by Team Decor. I've just had my fill of textured "looks". Honestly, I was kinda leaning toward the aluminum panels. I'll definitely try to rip the tile off the wall first. Ooooo. Exciting. It is sad, though, that we're so busy patching and painting the rest of the house, as we speak, that it'll take forever to get to the kitchen refresh. I'll be sure to post pictures in the end.

in australia we can buy special tile paint (white knight) that is perfect for a job like this. it's cheaper and easier than re-tiling, and is fine if your tiles are in good condition. you can even paint over already painted tiles (i found this out!). the bathroom tiles in my new house were a sickly lavender -- before! you sand, prep with an undercoat, paint your colour on the next day, then draw in the white grout lines with a special pen the next day. now i have beautiful glossy turquoise tiles. everyone says they are great. if australia sells a product like this, surely america would.

You sound happy with the stainless idea, but I'll throw this out there....similar to Pete's thought, I've seen backsplashes made of backpainted acrylic sheets. Fasten to the wall at the corners, and use clear silicone to seal. You could use any color you want, or get more creative with gilding or paper. Whatever you decide to do, I'd recommend removing the tile anyway. Get out your aggression on that wall!

Team Decor: for painting tiles, what kind of glaze, and where do you buy it? Thanks!

Beatrice, I suggested that to Spouse, and he seemed less than enthused. He's given me my head on most of the decorative decisions for our home, so when he really reacts strongly to something, I tend to let it go.

I'm an interior decorator for IKEA and we've done plexi backsplashes with backed with paint or fabric, and it looks great!

and E, thanks for the idea, I'll see what the internets turn up.

How about tin ceiling tiles to cover up the backsplash? You can get some pretty modern looking ones.

You can reglaze the tiles the same way you would reglaze a bath tub. It is the proper material to cover up any tile.

My son who has little technical knowledge to make these type decisions had a simular problem. He called me from the home improvement and said he found the perfect metal to cover the backsplash. I said ok thinking it to be flat, sheet stainless steel. I should have known better when he said the price. He came home with corrogated, galvanized roofing. We he convinced me it might work and sure nuff it looked great. We covered the end if the counter and bar to complment yhr backsplash and everyone loves it.