Hilary Farr Explains How To Properly Match A Kitchen Backsplash With Your Countertops

Whether your kitchen style is safe and traditional, bold and modern, or even fun and eclectic there is an art to pairing a kitchen backsplash with your countertops so that they complement each other. British-Canadian designer and host of "Love It or List It" Hilary Farr, explains on her own show "Tough Love With Hilary Farr" that the secret trick to fail-proof harmony in your kitchen is to choose your backsplash first and then pick your countertops.

On the show, Farr offers tough love support to families whose dysfunctional homes and relationships are placed under strain by the unique life challenges they face. Farr guides renovations to help get them back to a happier place. Tom and Michele, in the Season 1 episode "Coming Back to America," are in despair when they find that their new 110-year-old house feels cramped with oversized furniture and their huge collection of memorabilia. During the episode, Farr transforms the dated kitchen into a bright and minimalist space with a contemporary geometric backsplash and a beautiful quartz countertop.

We don't all have perfect design instincts, and if you find decorating rooms in your home to be stressful and confusing all you need is to turn to experts and follow their universal design rules of thumb. One of these is to do things in the right order. "When choosing a countertop, you have to have already decided what your backsplash is going to be," says Farr (via Realtor.com).

You can also refer to your kitchen cabinets to help you pick a backsplash that will create a contrast and make an impact. Farr describes her choice of simple grey cabinets for Michele, saying: "This is very safe, which is what she would love," but she also states that the backsplash "makes a spectacular statement."

In the show, when it came to the new backsplash, Michele was worried — how would such a bold feature look in their old-fashioned house? Mixing traditional with more contemporary features requires skill in order to make a home feel harmonious, and Farr is insistent that it'll work. The key decision Hilary Farr makes is to go for simplicity overall, with the backsplash as a fun and contrasting feature, but not so over-the-top or trendy that it would seem out of place in the 110-year-old house.

Once you've gone all out choosing an attractive backsplash for your kitchen you're safe to go ahead and pick a countertop. Doing it this way around will ensure that you're able to achieve harmony with a countertop that complements your choice of backsplash — like Farr has successfully done in this episode.

She finds an elegant quartz countertop that adds class and an airy sense of timeless simplicity that doesn't overpower the contemporary geometric design of the backsplash. She says, "In this case, my backsplash is quite complex and it's going to make a big design statement. So I want to pull back on my countertops and make them very simple, very functional, but still very beautiful."

Essentially, the key design lesson here is not to be afraid to have some fun and be brave, even in a home that has a more traditional vibe; as long as you pay attention to toning down everything else, your contemporary features should pop! In this case, choose your backsplash first, and then pick your countertops so that both features flow and look great together rather than clash.