How We Painted Our Bathroom Tile for Just $150 (& Loved the Results)

If your bathroom tile is stuck in the ‘80s, we want to gently stop you before you start tearing it all out.

You can paint your bathroom tile — and do it well — without spending thousands or hiring a contractor. We did it for $150, and it turned out beautifully.

The floor grout wouldn’t come clean—no matter how much we scrubbed.

The walls? White speckled tile that hadn’t been stylish since Reagan was in office.

But gutting it? That wasn’t in the budget (or our bandwidth).

We needed a low-cost, low-dust, low-stress solution.

So we did something we never thought we would:
We painted the tile. All of it. For $150.

And it turned out to be one of the most satisfying DIYs we’ve ever done.

(Some affiliate links are provided below. Full disclosure here.)

Our dated bathroom needed a major overhaul and needed to be brought into the current century.

No, it’s not magic.

Yes, it takes some work. But we promise, it’s doable. And it just might help you breathe a little easier every time you walk into your bathroom.

This post is here to walk you through exactly how we did it — start to finish — with all the supplies, tips, and honest moments included.

Why We Painted Instead of Replacing

• Budget: We set a $1,000 total budget for the entire room — tile, fixtures, paint, even the toilet.
• Energy: We were tired. A year before this project, we fully gutted our master bathroom. Tiles, fixtures, everything. We needed a quick win.
• The tile was in good shape — just dated. And painting it meant we could spend on things that mattered more: like better lighting and a taller vanity.
• And honestly? we just wanted to like walking into the room again.

But we also didn’t want to live with this:

So we asked the question we encourage every DIYer to ask:

“What can we do with what we already have?”

Turns out, quite a bit.

WHAT WE USED (SUPPLIES)

Here’s everything we used to paint both the wall and floor tiles:

Wall Tile Paint:

• Rust-Oleum Tub and Tile Paint – available at Home Depot (we used white)

Floor Tile Paint System:

• Rust-Oleum HOME Floor Coating we chose the color Aged Gray
• And Rust-Oleum HOME Floor Coating Top Coat we opted for Matte Finish

Prep and Tools:

• Heavy Duty Cleaner – we used Krud Kutter
• Wet/Dry Sand Paper – 400 grit
• Tack Cloth
• Paint Stick
• High Quality Paint Brush
• Foam Roller
• Painter’s Tape
• Breathing Mask and Goggles
• Latex Gloves
• Portable Fan

Step One: Prepping the Surface (Don’t Skip This!)

We know – it’s so tempting to rush into painting.

But prep is the real hero of this project. Skipping it is like frosting a cake that hasn’t been baked.

First things first, make any needed repairs to the tile.

For this bathroom, the grout needed to be handled and I share all the details of that project in this post.

Here’s what we did to prep:

• Scrubbed all surfaces using Krud Kutter and a stiff brush. Our grout was so stubborn, but this cleaner really helped. You want to make sure the surface is very clean before applying the paint.
• Sanded the wall tile with 400-grit wet/dry sandpaper. Yes, tile is tough. Yes, your arms will feel it. But this gives the paint something to grip.

For the Tub and Tile Paint:

You will need to prepare the tile with an abrasive pad or wet/dry medium grit sandpaper. Make sure to hit each tile. It can be daunting scrubbing the entire space, especially if you have as much tile as we do.

TIP: We sanded in 2 different directions to ensure we hit each spot. Make sure to remove all the sanding dust once you are done.

Thoroughly rinse the walls and clean after sanding with the Krud Kutter and a scrub brush. It’s a hard working chemical without it being an abrasive cleaner.

For the floor:

Wet sanding isn’t necessary, but the clean surface is a great idea. Especially if your floors were like ours.

• Rinsed and wiped everything down with tack cloth to remove dust.
• Taped off anything we didn’t want painted – edges, caulk lines, walls, metal drains, shower head, knobs, bathroom faucets (especially if it’s a new faucet like ours).
• Ventilated the space with open windows and two fans. This is epoxy paint and has strong fumes — don’t skip the breathing mask, goggles, and gloves.

Once you are sure your surfaces are thoroughly prepped, you are ready to paint.

Step Two: Painting the Wall Tile

Before you open the paint cans, again, make sure you are properly ventilated. Especially if you have a small bathroom like ours. We opened windows and had 2 fans blowing the air out the window.

The Rust-Oleum Tub and Tile Kit comes with two parts you mix together. We used a small paintbrush for corners and a foam roller for large areas. Work quickly — the paint gets tacky fast.

• One coat gave us great coverage, but we did two coats total for durability.
• We allowed the paint to dry at least an hour between coats.
• We didn’t paint our bathtub (it was already in good condition.) But it would be an excellent option to make an old tub look new.

This stuff goes on super smooth. We had the first coat of all the wall tile finished in about 2 hours. That included the tub around the tile and all the tile on the walls of our bathroom – which was a lot.

In one day, we had both coats finished.

It looks so smooth!

One package covers 110 square foot, which should work for 2 coats on an average bathroom.

We needed 2 packages since the tile extended into the double vanity area. And we had lots left over.

We suggest measuring the square footage of tile you have before purchasing. It’s a good idea to have enough product to finish the project.

TIP: Don’t overwork the paint. Smooth, even strokes are your best friend.

Step Three: Painting Floor Tile That Lasts

Honestly? This floor tile paint was what made the huge difference in this bathroom makeover.

We used Rust-Oleum HOME Floor Coating system:

1. Base Coat: Aged Gray
2. Top Coat: Matte

Again, take a moment to make sure everything is in good shape before starting.

Here’s how it went:

• We swept, vacuumed, cleaned and taped off the floors just like the walls. You have to have a clean surface.
• Started in the far corner and worked our way out (you don’t want to paint yourself into a corner).
• Cut in with a brush, rolled with foam roller. Our hex tile made it tricky to hit the grout lines, so we did a combo of brush + roller.

TIP: Gently stir your floor paint well before applying, especially if you have a darker tint. Make sure all color is incorporated together. Settling and separation can occur which may show up.

• Let the base coat dry 6 hours, then applied the top coat the next day.

TIP: We also removed the tape as we went along checking for bleed through and cleaning if necessary.

The entire first coat process took just under an hour. We couldn’t believe how quickly it transformed the room.

The top coat is a very milky texture and goes a long way and dried to a beautiful matte finish.

It sealed everything in and gave us peace of mind that our hard work would hold up.

We used the same technique as we did with painting the floor, combining the brush and roller to ensure it got into the grout lines.

You can see here how the roller alone wasn’t going to work for the deep grout lines.

Allow the floors to dry for 24 for a full cure before any foot traffic is on them.

The can does state that it takes up to 7 days for the floor to fully cure, so we kept the boys at bay until then.

But just look at this huge difference in our bathroom floor!

The Final Results (And Yes, It’s Holding Up!)

Y’all… it looks like we installed brand-new tile.

The painted floors are smooth and sturdy. The wall tile looks crisp and clean. The bathroom feels calm, updated, and ours — without the cost or chaos of demolition.

And yes – it’s lasted beautifully.

We shared a full two-year update on wear and tear here:

UPDATE: Do Painted Floor Tiles Last? Read our full review 2 years later!

If You’re on the Fence…

We get it. DIY can feel intimidating – especially when money is tight and mistakes feel costly.

But hear this: You don’t need to do it all. You just need to start with one step.

It was very DIY friendly and is one of the easiest and best ways to update an existing space.

So before you get your sledgehammer out and start tearing out your old tile, consider this diy job as an economical approach.

We changed the overall look of our bathroom tile for $150 bucks and just a few days and it looks amazing!

It took this room from drab and dated to fab and and new!

We are certainly glad we did!

Want More Bathroom DIY Ideas?

Let’s Wrap It Up

Painting tile may not be glamorous, but it’s one of the most practical, peace-bringing updates we’ve done in our home.

It didn’t require a demo crew, a massive budget, or a perfect plan — just a willingness to try, to learn, and to show up with a little grit and a lot of grace.

Pin or print this post for later — and go start your own bathroom renewal.
And if you try it, come back and tell us how it went. We’re always just an email away.

Originally Published November 7, 2019 / Updated November 21, 2025