Does anyone else have a beadboard backsplash and what are your tips for keeping it clean? My husband suggested doing some sort of lacquer coating over it, which would (maybe?) fill in the grooves and give more of a uniform smooth surface?

Any ideas?

Hmmmm.....might have to come up with a new plan!

What kind of paint have you used?

Whenever I cook or wash dishes, I always wipe the backsplash down immediately afterwards..and that works pretty well. The problem I have is the people I live with (lol..my family!) My husband washes paint brushes and car grease off his hands in the kitchen sink (no matter how many times I tell him not to! and he's a big splatterer!), and my kids (18 and 20 years old) like to cook, but not clean up after themselves!

The paint we use is Behr Premium (latex), in a semi gloss finish. Spaghetti sauce, normal grunge and grease splatters (I use my deep fryer pretty frequently) are really hard to remove without scrubbing hard or using really harsh chemicals..both tactics damage the paint.

I'm thinking of maybe using some sort of oil based enamel type paint...it might stand up to the scrubbing better. It's be nice if there were a paint of some sort that magically repelled grease and assorted splatters!

We don't have a lot of backsplash because of tall cabinets and windows but the little backsplash we do have is painted (latex) beadboard that was installed 3 years ago. The cabinets we've had for 4 years contain stained beadboard on some of the sides.

I think beadboard has been successful (I feel as though I should add, "knock on wood") in our kitchen because:

1. We don't have beadboard behind the range or above the sinks.
2. We have a powerful vent hood. Grease and gunk does not disperse over our walls and cabinets like it did with our old kitchen. I rarely have to clean anything off of the walls and cabinets other than dust.
3. We use a peninsula (away from walls) for most of our prep work.
4. The beadboard side of our tall baking cabinet is inches away from our stand mixer. I'm aware of the splatter from the mixer and wipe it off before it hardens.
5. We have a 4-5" strip of stone at the base of our backsplash (same material as our counter) and I think this helps catch some of the lower splatter. This stone spans the vertical space between the counter and low windows behind our sinks. I've noticed at least one beadboard backsplash on this forum that used a 4-6" band of wood at the base of the backsplash painted the same color as the backsplash (serving the same purpose of keeping the beadboard a little above the counter instead of having come all the way down.)

I realize this doesn't help you, jiggreen, but thought it might help anyone else considering beadboard. Good luck with finding a solution!

Here's a picture of the beadboard. (taken shortly after a fresh coat of white paint!) I really want to paint my cabinets white..actually an off white or creamy white color, so I'm thinking perhaps of painting the beadboard a darker color. I will be repainting the entire room and am not particularly married to any one color. I am stuck with the blue countertop for a little while longer, but it will hopefully be replaced by the end of the year..it is certainly not something that I am planning on decorating around. I really haven't seen many (or any that I can recall!) pictures of beadboard painted anything but white, or stained. Would it look stupid to paint it an actual color? (a darker color would show less grunge!) I'm thinking perhaps a red, or cinnamon color. My island is also white beadboard, so I would probably paint the island to match.

I think if your cabinets are painted white, you could try a color for the beadboard. I saw pictures of a kitchen with quartersawn cabinets in a medium brown, and they had a fairly bright red beadboard backsplash. I didn't like that it was painted with a high gloss paint, though. I might have liked it better if it wasn't so shiny.

Beadboard looks great in any color. I've seen kitchen with it in slate blue and mustard yellow (not the same kitchen) and my bath has beadboard painted light beige.

We have had the backsplash area painted for the past 2 years while we have been deciding what to do with the backsplash area. Keeping it clean has not been easy due to this paint.

Our current plan is to put up a beadboard backsplash but I will be going to Benjamin Moore and asking them to make the BEhr paint color that we have. I'm just not certain if we should get the paint made up in semi gloss or glossy.

Any thoughts?

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg011656215647.html?27

Since we plan to replace the countertops and sink in the next year or two (or three), we went with beadboard - we like the "look" and it will save us from installing an expensive BS only to tear it our when we do the countertops. Plus, I think beadboard is a great looking backsplash. In fact, we are painting our beadboard today - we will use a solution (for the trim) that runs throughout our entire (4600 square foot) house:

step 1 - oil base primer
step 2 - oil based enamel (semi gloss) enamel (two coats)

All of our current crown molding, doors and all other trim and molding (corner cupboards, fireplace mantel etc.) had been painted and maintained this way when we bought the home - it is a beautiful long lasting finish. We tried Benjamin Moore latex (high gloss) in another area of our home (on the trim) and it is not nearly as long lasting or washable compared to the oil based paint. The oil based paint we are using happens to be Diamond Vogel - we use this because the previous owner had chosen this solution and it is a beautiful trim paint.

We (regrettably) also used latex (Benjamin Moore Aura high gloss) when we repainted our kitchen cabinets (which had been oak) and it is not holding up (aaaarghhh). We didn't do oil based because of the smell for this large project, but we should have bit the bullet.

We DID use oil based paint in our current remodel (see above link) - in the elaborate fluted trim that surrounds the cutout opened up area in between the kitchen and the family room - we just completed it but I know it will hold up as it will be the same oil based trim type paint as is in our entire house - which looks gorgeous and wears like iron.

DW & I are hoping the beadboard with oil based enamel will hold up well for our planned two years -I have a feeling with oil based paint it might last longer - and, it is very easy to wipe clean and it is TOUGH.

Good luck!