yes the 4 inch backsplash is dated whatever backsplash you decide need to go up to cabinets. Designer on here tell everyone when updating get rid of the 4 inch backsplash

I have one. No one has died from it. 😆

I didn't want a full height backsplash. So I went with a short strip of granite. I think mine is only 2 inches instead of 4, which is enough of a difference from the ubiquitous 4 to look marginally better. IMO, obviously.

It's a design choice, and it's your kitchen. Be confident to get what you want.

I'm with @Ally De and my new kitchen will have a 2" backsplash, same as my countertops.

I especially agree with this: "It's a design choice, and it's your kitchen. Be confident to get what you want."

I have only the 4 inch splash. I do not care if designers or anyone else thinks it is dated.

I think it only looks dated when the stone itself looks dated (some types of speckled granite, for example). Or when it's paired with traditional cabinet styles like a detailed raised panel, that really calls for a full backsplash. A 4" splash with a pretty stone and a streamlined cabinet style is beautiful.

While it is a personal choice to have a self splash from the counter material, for too many people, it too closely resembles the laminate counters that they just paid good money to upgrade from! Expressing your personality with an interesting tile choice for the whole splash has been what has been popular for about 15 years now. Sometimes, that personal style was a bit too personal and too much, and clashed. Matchstick glass and stone, I'm looking at you!

It can be a clean and modern look, that doesn't distract, and just finishes off the whole kitchen.

This made me laugh:

Expressing your personality with an interesting tile choice for the whole splash has been what has been popular for about 15 years now. Sometimes, that personal style was a bit too personal and too much, and clashed. Matchstick glass and stone, I'm looking at you!

I can't tell you how many times people have posted photos of their kitchens, and their tile choice makes my eyes bleed. LOL.

Getting the backsplash right if someone is choosing tile is hard. When it's done well it looks fabulous, and when it's done poorly it literally visually wrecks the whole kitchen.

Given your business I understand why you are all for tile backsplashes. I get it. :) But thank you for admitting that it's not necessarily easy to pull off either. Plus the tiles themselves are a style choice, and we're already seeing tiled backsplashes that now date the kitchen way more than any 4" strip of granite will (again, in my opinion).

When I got my new kitchen, I thought about what I wanted, and why. I looked a millions of photos. And speaking only for me, it was the tiled backsplashes that often wrecked the kitchen for me.

It's all so personal, and arguably even so subjective. Know what you want and why, and get what you want. No matter what you choose, I guarantee you can find people who won't like it. Who cares?

If you are remodeling with a relatively imminent home sale in mind, then public opinion matters more. But if you're remodeling your own home to live there and enjoy, I could not possibly care less what people on the internet think of my design choices. YMMV. :)

We did it in our kitchen - with the idea that we would replace it with a different backsplash in the future. 8 years later, we sold the house without redoing the backsplash.

But to add a little interest, I stenciled, before the cabinets went in.

Ann, I love your kitchen. I also love that it is dog approved, and that they match. LOL. (Corgi?)

Your kitchen is actually a great example. It's clean, obviously well maintained, and the cabinets themselves are still sold today. I like it.

Now imagine it with the glass mosaics that were so popular just a short time ago. or the travertine look, which has also faded. If either of those were up there, I would argue that kitchen would look "dated." (I hate that word, but there it is....)

But without the tile backsplash, the kitchen is somewhat timeless. It could have been done today or 20 years ago - without a backsplash giving off clues, it's hard to really know.

As long as it stands alone, I think it's fine (that is, don't do the 4 inch stone and then add a tile backsplash on top of it). True, it's not what people have been doing lately, but that will turn eventually too and the popular kitchens of today will look terribly dated.

It'll look at dated at your choice of countertop. Personally, I think the 4" looks a incomplete. But, that's heavily based on opinion on my kitchen done by the previous owner.

Agree it is less dated than dated/bad tile choices. we did a 2” splash on parts of our kitchen that didn’t do a full splash and it looks fine. it’s inexpensive and unobtrusive and can be changed out later if desired.