We did not tile the side walls in any of our bathrooms because we aren't overly fond of that look, though I have seen bathrooms here and elsewhere with tiled side-splashes that look terrific. We made sure to use good quality, scrubbable paint in our bathrooms (we used BM Aura Bath and Spa paint; matte finish), and it seems to be holding up well*. Over the sink in the guest bathroom, we used our border tiles from the shower as a backsplash (3" high?). In our MB and hall bathroom, we tiled up to the ceilings--that decision was more for aesthetics than necessity. *I did end up scrubbing and touching-up (re-rolled) one small section of the wall between the vanity and the doorway molding in our MB after an unnoticed splatter of benzoyl peroxide gel/cream left permanent light colored spots on the wall. The section of wall next the sink/counter has been fine.

We did mirrors all way down-it's easy to clean I agree with Debbi not a fan of backsplashes myself, not in the bathroom..well depends on one's space of course. we also have a marble countertop, shaped floor tile..didn't want to add another material hard to say about the exact distance between the light and the top of the mirror..I'm sure there are standard suggestions somewhere, and one can find them, with some research and googling..but I just eyed it..whatever looks like it works usually works.

I vaguely dislike them thus I don't have them. We did run the mirrors all the way to the counter in our master bath. A hall bath and a powder room have free standing vanities both no backsplash. The walls there are not tiled either. I truly don't see why they're needed so much if one remembers to turn off the faucet..and wipe the counter... Then I grew up where we didn't have any backsplashes anywhere, so probably didn't imprint in me as a thing neccessary to have. Of course if I moved to a house that already has backplash like that I wouldn't rip it out just because I'm not a fan. But when given a choice decided not to install it. I felt like our master bath has enough things going on, and didn't want to introduce another element.

If you’re not worried about the wood counter then I’m honestly getting a wallpaper vibe. Something with a white background and a lot of negative space, maybe a large scale print. Not really busy, but whatever your taste is (floral, geometric, striped) and then look for a simplified version of it. I also like the idea of wide panel woodwork, vertical or horizontal, because I think it would contrast nicely with your tile. You can definitely do a tile backsplash but I think it’s a little more complicated on the vanity wall next to the shower because you have to choose more carefully. Since they are next to each other, there’s the consideration of how much of the wall you do in relationship to the shower, and then consider the other vanity. I think you can be more creative if you opt to do something different altogether. I’m not a huge fan of accent niches but honestly as far as they go it’s a good choice! A white wallpaper with some kind of fineline black print would look great with the tile and the wood. Something about lower tile back splashes right against a full tile wall is a little harder for me. I’m having a hard time with this one in one of my projects and I have found I generally like switching materials altogether instead of breaking up the wall. Also, i love bathrooms with little quirks and I have a feeling whatever mistakes you made you will still love this one in 20 years.