Hi Helen, Did you manage to solve this or do you still need help? Thanks, Peter

Glass splash backs are very easy to clean and maintain, no grout lines, not damaged by water at all. You do need to plan socket positions and can reduce costs by mounting sockets on undersides of wall cabinets, on the ends of unit runs etc. The glass can be cut around sockets, however. Any mirror or glazing company can do it, you can just buy plain tempered glass and paint the back of it to the colour you want before sticking it to the wall with silicone. Bear in mind the colour will look a bit different through the glass. I had Georgian wired glass back painted to make it look duck egg years ago. It had a slight texture and shimmer, made it look like tiny mosaic tiles but so much easier to clean.

Matching granite and up stands, lovely granite. However, many have mentioned that when tying the back splash and up stands together the difference in the two pieces of granite is quite noticeable, so something to bear in mind. I do think however, that regardless of not wanting glass or tile, you do need something behind a hob.

And could you post your kitchen design, as the amount of splash is important (and daylight, upper cabinets, etc).