Several months ago, we featured a kitchen sink with a marble backsplash that rises in a curve. This simple flourish—evocative of classic Italian washstands, fountains from antiquity, and boudoir bathrooms—captured our imaginations and sent us looking for more.

It took some searching, but eventually we found a few original thinkers who see backsplashes as not only practical elements but decorative opportunities. Here, nine standout examples of their work.

Kitchen and Pantry

Above: Interior designer Beata Heuman adorned a London mews apartment with a Carrara marble and seagrass wallpaper halo. Go to Paddington Pied-à-Terre to see the whole project.
Above: The backsplash that got us started on this hunt: Frances Merrill of Reath Design designed this bar sink in Namibia White marble for a 1920s Mediterranean-style house: see LA Autumnal, a Makeover Composed in Jewel Tones. The one-handled brass faucet is by Watermark. Photograph by Laure Joliet.
Above: In a Sussex cottage, Beata Heuman skirted the utility sink with striped linen and detailed the marble backsplash with a subtle flourish. The seagrass-covered cabinets hold a washer/dryer and cleaning supplies.
Above: Cathy and Garrett Poshusta chronicle their old house renovations in their blog, The Grit and The Polish. Shown here, their own pantry in their Ellensburg, Washington, farmhouse with a backsplash cut, sanded, and honed by Garrett. “He added the concave corners for me,” says Cathy. “I love that it feels both Old World and fresh.” Watch their video of the process here.

Bathroom

Above: For this peaked space in Sussex, Beata Heuman applied what she calls an “upstand” of richly veined Arabescato marble to the bathtub.”The room felt like it could take some more stone to add drama and theatricality,” says Heuman.
Above: At Il Palazzo Experimental in Venice, a new hotel designed by Remodelista favorite Dorothée Meilichzon of Chzon Design, the mine and yours bathroom mirrors are framed in curved marble.
Above: More curves in another Chzon design: the Henrietta Hotel—see A London Hotel with a Sense of Joie de Vivre.
Above: The WC at Melbourne restaurant No. 92 features this antique marble basin sourced from Turkey. Pattern Studio designed the space to “evoke a refined rendition of an intimate salon.” Photograph by Traianos Pakioufakis.
Above: For another skirted skink in the same Sussex cottage, Beata Heuman used acero, a gray limestone finished with a classic washstand backsplash.