Did you know you can paint tile? I did not, Alex mentioned it on a whim and we looked into more. Turns out you can paint tile AND bathtubs! The tile in the shower was fine, just dated. Since we are on a budget and doing renovations ourselves painting the tile and tub white was the right choice for us. After some research we went with the Rust-Oleum Tub and Tile Refinishing 2-Part Kit. 6 months later and we are so happy with this upgrade! We also installed a new shower head, curtain rod, shower curtain and rings, and a clear recessed light cover.
We are so happy with how this turned out, huge upgrade for low cost and time spent! Definitely recommend this to anyone for and instant shower/tub refresh!
Painting the tile was super easy, mix the canisters and paint as you normally would. I used a sponge roller and it went on super smooth and easy. FYI I am a terrible painter (Alex did all the walls in our apt) and this went on great, I had no issues with streaking or watching my line pattern. It also dries really fast.
This is a great project for anyone, one call out though is the toxicity of the wet paint. WOW they were not joking about the fumes. We had 2 fans and air purifier running in there and I still had to take “fresh air” breaks. We had windows open in the house, but we do not have any in the bathroom so be warned the smell might induce headache. I followed the directions and waited 3+ hrs before applying the second coat and then we waited 3 days before turning the water on. Once we were done with painting we installed the new products we got!
Don’t skip on replacing the shower head, we always put a new one in any rental we lived in too. They are easy to replace and not expensive, it will greatly improve your shower experience. The one linked we have now purchased 3x (rental, cottage, and here), it has great water flow, adjustable, and wide spray coverage. These little details we changed out had a huge impact, check out before and after side by side – shower head, shower rod, light fixture
PRODUCTS
PAINTING TILE HOW TO / STEPS
- Remove Shower Head
- Clean Shower & Tub: We cleaned the shower with Comet, the drill brush to really get in the grout, and a big sponge for the surface area. Once done cleaning we lightly sanded the tiles using 400 grit (per the box instructions)
- Put up painters tape around edges
- Paint Coat 1 shower walls : Follow paint instructions on the box using the foam roller. We just used one foam roller for this project, we wrapped roller in wet paper towel to use again for the second coat
- Let Paint Dry, about an hour to be sure
- Paint Coat 2 shower walls
- Let Paint Dry
- Paint the tub, same steps as above
- Install new recessed light, shower head, curtain rod, and shower curtain
- Wait 3+ days before running water
TOOLS – for painting the shower & tub
- Rust-Oleum Tub & Tile Refinishing Paint, White
- 1 kit for the shower and 1 kit for the tub
- 4″ Foam Rollers ( & handle)
- 400 Grit Sandpaper
- Disposable Gloves
- Painters Tape
- Paint tray
- Shower Cleaning Products
- Black & Decker Combo Drill w/ Brush heads – not necessary, definitely can just clean a shower as you normally would, but we just love this tool so much and makes cleaning the tile/grout effortless
- Comet
- Foam Sponge
- Fan(s) – had 2 fans running during painting
- Winix Air Purifier True HEPA – ran this during and after painting too
Still remaining to do in the guest bathroom – idea board below!
- New Vanity/ Sink / Faucet/ Hardware (towel bar, etc)
- New Mirror
- New Lighting
- Paint walls
- Door Hardware & Trim
- Accessories & Decorate!
