Mirror.

I've seen a stainless steel panel for exactly that purpose somewhere: maybe Ikea?

If you can find a paint sample to take to a Home Depot or Lowe's - tape of and paint a small section on the side and behind the stove a High Gloss of the same color. Super cheap. You could even get really crafty and get another color and make a cute pattern (brick or fancier) to mock the look of a back splash.

Magnet boards. I think you can get them at Ikea. or here's some from the container store. http://www.containerstore.com/shop/office/messageBoards/magnetic?productId=10000382&N=64178
you can hang knives spices etc on it to make it look deliberate. Best of luck.

The most obvious and best solution is a backsplash. However, there are so many options! As a fellow rentor, I would suggest going the cheapest route unless you plan on staying for awhile. The easiest backsplash to DIY is to simply put contact paper on the wall. Since your cabinet hardware is silver, it might look nice to use a stainless steel finish contact paper. Another option are sticky tiles that are available from homedepot.com called Mosaic Tiles. They look like tiles but can be removed with a hairdryer. Haven't tried them myself, but they have gotten good reviews.

Whatever you choose to do, it would behoove you to cover the walls behind the stove (up to the microwave) and around the corner to the right side of the stove. I would suggest not going completely to the edge of that wall (extending past the stove) because it would look weird unless you filled in the whole wall down to the floor. I hope you understand what I mean! I've also seen some creative backspashes that almost fade off (search AT for tile backsplash and you'll probably find it) into the wall. Very interesting effect! Either way, HAVE FUN and good luck!

Not super-cheap, but Homie D's has a stainless steel wall panel: http://www.homedepot.com/Kitchen-Backsplashes/h_d1/N-5yc1vZbcsz/R-100664604/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

I have the same set-up in a building I manage, we use a piece of clear plexiglass, but you could use a colored piece or put something decorative behind it to dress it up.

I have the same situation in my house- small stove next to a wall. I painted the backsplash wall (drywall) and the wall to the right (plaster) with semi gloss paint, which I continued in the entire kitchen. It is very easy to clean any splatters. I use a soapy cloth- splatters come off easily, and the paint stays.

Oh, but you might want to get a quart of Kilz stain concealer to put down as a primer first so that the stains do not bleed through.

Ditto on the semi-gloss paint. A fun bright color would be cool.

Hammer tin tile panels on as a backsplash.

I had a friend who rented, and had the same problem. The landlord didn't allow painting and he didnt' want to spend the money on a backsplash.

Because he lived alone.... he actually taped up plastic wrap to the wall when he cooked. It's super cheap, easy to clean (aka just throw out), and if people came over, he could easily remove it.

Another vote for glossy or semi-gloss paint in a fun color... will your landlord let you paint? Would really kick up those neutral kitchen colors and make the wall super easy to clean.

If not, I'm for getting a big plain piece of stainless steel (taller than the oven) and just sliding it between the oven & wall.

Ugh. My stove is next to my fridge, so I feel your pain. The stains won't come out with scrubbing? I just take a scrubby sponge and some bon ami. Good luck!

Ikea sells wall panels for this very purpose: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/kitchen/19121/

They are designed to be glued to the walls and be permanent, but you can always use command strips as an easy temp solution.

stick a wooden cutting board up their. just take it down when the oven is on so the vents aren't blocked.

I have the same issue and am going to try hanging decorative plates on the wall. I figure I would just need to wash them once in a while and it would add some color to the kitchen.

If painting isn't an option, you might try finding some oilcloth in a pattern that works with your overall kitchen style, and attaching it to the wall with plain or decorative thumbtacks.

Those Ikea Fastbo panels state right in the description they're not to be used with gas cooktop.

You could mount a piece of clear (tempered) or frosted glass to the wall. This would allow you to clean easily but remove it later w/o sticky adhesives. Maybe you could even find a tempered glass cutting board that you like and mount that to the wall.

Would your landlord really have an issue with you painting the wall with a semigloss in the existing color? I always assumed they meant "no painting the walls in a nonwhite color."

My boyfriend and I had to come up with something similar for water spray behind our kitchen sink. We bought a few linoleum tiles at Home Depot that weren't an objectionable color (12" x 12") and used Command Strips to hold them up (I've had bad experiences with them and high weight, I wouldn't use it for metal as suggested above). We then covered the seams with a little bit of clear epoxy to keep things from seeping onto the paint. Testing them a few months later, they came down just fine and cost us a total of about $5.

I would try to argue a landlord down from a "no paint" restriction if that's the case. There's no way a grease stain is preferable to a coat of paint. No way.

I have glass panels surrounding my stove. They come with screws that allow you to remove them from the wall when you want to clean them. IKEA has something similar just not glass.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20169936/

Steel trivet pad: http://www.amazon.com/Range-Kleen-SM1720SWR-Sm1720Swr--Silverwave/dp/B000NO40JA/ref=sr_1_4?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1317409862&sr=1-4

Plexi glass: http://www.tapplastics.com/ Glass sounds like a shattering waiting to happen

Stainless steel contact paper: http://www.amazon.com/Silver-Stainless-Steel-Contact-Paper/dp/B000KKKSQQ

I am not 100% endorsing the contact paper... but it would be easily installed and removed. I think the steel trivets with command strip would be the best plan.

The bulk of my tenants are from countries that cook everything in grease. 90% of those tenants plaster the area around their stove, including the bottom of the cabinets above and the fridge, with aluminum foil (held by sticky tape). We (as in management) like that because the foil is reasonably fire/heat proof and doesn't damage the walls.

Hey everyone! Thanks so much for all your wonderful suggestions - there were a lot that I looked into. I especially like the idea of putting up wallpaper under plexiglass or hanging plates.

I ended up buying this metal sheet with a cool design from Home Depot that was the exact size I needed. It looks great and it hides the grease stains!
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202525460/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

- Alexis

Putting something on the wall won't diminish the amount of grease splatter and stains. You still have to clean. Real cheap solution is clean often, and use a mesh antisplatter when grease stains are going to happen. You can find those at the dollar store. And they make great Christmas gifts for the people who have everything...

You could make a tile mosaic on top of plywood with silicone instead of caulk. It would look nice, be easy to wipe down and you can take it with you when you go. I also love the idea of using tin tiles, those way a lot less and give a lot of visual appeal.

I have exactly the same setup. Do you know what I did?

It was so simple and cost next to nothing: I installed an IKEA Grundtal bar next to my stove, used 4 "S" hooks and hung 2 "jelly board" cutting boards from Crate & Barrel next to each other so the bottom of the cutting boards hang on the wall right where the stovetop starts. They're far enough away from the range itself, so there's no melting, etc. But they stop splatters EVERY TIME. *and* they're functional (even better). *and* it's easy to just take one down and clean it off in the sink.

Easy peasy. Plus, you can change out colors if you redecorate the kitchen - unlike a backsplash or paint.

Can you please tell me what brand of stove that is and how wide it is? I have a tiny stove like that in my apartment. It is very old and rusted, and I would like to replace it, but I didn't know they still made such small stoves.

You could hang a row of large 12" x 12" floor tiles. Even if you just attach a string or picture hanger to them so you only have a few nail holes to fill in when you leave... it'd do the trick.
You could also paint them or put some rub on decals from the craft store for some extra pizazz.
Just an idea...

Wow, there are some great ideas here! I have the same problem with our apartment (it sits next to the fridge). Plus, we also have a hole in the wall above the stove.... supposedly the place the microwave was "thought" to go (way to low!) but has not been fixed. The cutting board idea would be a great way to cover that up! Thanks guys!

I'll second the tin tiles suggestion. I'm about to use them for a permanent backsplash, but they can be nailed up for a more temporary solution (and you can cut them to size with tin snips).

Check out americantinceilings.com -- they run about $12-16 each and are 24"x24" with lots of designs and finishes to choose form.

That could be my stove. my landlord has zero foresite when it comes to practicality and well... anything. the paint was actually bubbling when we moved in from the heat of the stove!

I went to ikea and found those back splashes that another poster put a link up of. I screwed it into the wall (ended up being a chore as most of the walls are "wet" or "soft" strange) and it was perfect!

I stumbled across my wall mats in the as-is section. maybe spent $5 on the pair.

here is a picture (sorry for the chicken- i took this from my perch aka dining table)

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2508575673034.149252.1212346753&l=ec1fa88557&type=1

i have the same issue, but i haven't found an option yet that will allow me to take it down, clean it, and put it back up. Possibly a magnetic white board?

It sounds like you found your solution but since I had the same problem I'll just tell you what I did for future reference. I got this wall panel made out of polyurethane foam - it wasn't expensive and it was really easy to cut to fit into the little space between the top of the stove and the microwave overhead. It doesn't melt and really easy to wipe off. I got it in a little bit of a darker color so in between cleanings you can't see anything anyway. This is the Tan color I got:

Whoops - didn't paste...sorry

http://www.fauxpanels.com/oxford/stacked-stone.php?color=46