Színes Ötletek

I've been thinking about painting tiles for a long time, but I haven't dared to do it yet, even though I've read many positive reviews about it. Time and again the idea has come to the fore, I've browsed through the reviews, but somehow the indecision has always won, until now. The occasion was the replacement of the floor tiles in the surrounding rooms, including the corridor leading to the bathroom. There were no plans to renovate the bathroom block, but I insisted that the tiling should be the same in all the rooms with cold tiles, and the few extra square metres don't make much difference anyway. I'm sure many of you are familiar with this typical thing, what we describe H.R.A.E. - home renovation avalanche-effect - , which does not refer to the time taken to renovate or the mysterious doubling of costs. Rather, it's about the fact that those of us with a do-it-yourself ethos find it hard to put up with the long-term effects of a lovely new floor covering an old-fashioned, aesthetically challenged room. Even if it is not directly in front of you, as it is in a holiday home. If you're wondering how we overcame this difficulty in a weekend, cost-effectively, with our own hands and without demolition, read on!

No question, now it's time to paint the tiles! In a holiday home, with a budget close to zero after tiling, the last days of our holiday seemed like the perfect time. Our method of choice could also be useful for those who, for whatever other reason, are thinking of a quick and cheap solution, either in their own home or in a rented property. If, for example, you've already exhausted your financial resources buying or skipping work, or you're renting and don't want to spend a small fortune on someone else's. Or if you're not sure of your design ideas, couldn't find a professional in time, or don't want to demolish for environmental reasons but don't want to look at the existing tiling. Go for it, our experience is definitely positive! 

I used to have reservations about tile painting because I found the end result too risky for the time and energy invested and the value of the materials purchased. I had come to accept that it needed more care in daily use, and especially cleaning, than traditional tiles, and I was prepared for the possibility of occasional repairs. But what can I do if it gets uglier than it was? Will the paint stick? Will it be streaky? Should I expect that I might have to start all over again if it doesn't work? It's not a drawer or a window box after all!

And that's just the easy half of the question, the hard part is which of the myriad of materials available to choose and in what combination? You need a tack coat, primer, topcoat, texture coat, varnish, and all sorts of other solvent-based materials to get the perfect finish. These factors discouraged us for a long time, but new materials have since come onto the market, so we chose a special water-based, odourless, scratch-resistant, two-component material, Dulux Simply Refresh Tile Paint, which can be applied directly to all types of glazed or unglazed surfaces, ceramics, marble and porcelain - and how well we did!

Preparation

Our tiles were solid on the wall, but aesthetically the previous tiling left something to be desired, so we repaired cracks, corners and a few patches of grout with a flexible sealer. If that's not an issue, then the preparation is simply a matter of cleaning the surface to be painted of grease and dust, then allowing it to dry. Then you can paint! Don't be alarmed by the fact that it is a two-part substance, just mix the liquid in the jar at the top of the paint can with the paint thoroughly. Since we would do the latter anyway, this does not require any extra effort. Masking tape, newsprint or a combination of these can be used to cover up any areas you don't want to paint, but as we didn't manage to do it completely, it's still possible to cover up any traces of paint while it's still fresh.

Painting

We painted the corners and edges with a brush and used a flock roller for the whole surface. From the first coat, we could see that the paint was very good, with excellent coverage and a stunning finish - completely exceeding our expectations. We applied the second coat after 4 hours pretty much just to follow the rules, but it's worth noting that the original sheet was light in colour and had a pale pattern. For our warm-toned, wood-patterned floor, this silky white turned out to be the perfect choice, but otherwise the tile paint is available in three other on-trend colours.

We also made a video summary of the works..

The paint dries quickly and is then resistant to mild detergents, but can only be fully used after 10 days. Considering that we don't use any aggressive chemicals in our household, only environmentally friendly materials, I think there is nothing to worry about at this point. And we hope that the durability of this great material will justify the positive experience.

Old-new accessories, finishing touches

At the beginning of this post, I mentioned the avalanche, which was represented by the accessories after the painting. Usually we avoid unnecessary purchases, but even if there had been a need, we wouldn't have been able to buy anything worthwhile on a Sunday in the countryside. However, we did have a few functionally flawless, but many (ten) year old odds and ends. We gave it a try with matt black spray paint, and after the first promising result, we sprayed everything from the chrome hangers to the drawer handles and the flowered toilet brush holder. We're not saying you can't get a more perfect finish in both renovation and interior design, but the fact that we didn't replace anything but the floor tiles and still walked into a whole new room when the job was done should be a useful inspiration for you in many ways.

Beyond the finishing touches, we think that even for such a sudden idea, it's worth starting similar work, and after much deliberation, by all means! With tile paint, you can redecorate your paved surfaces sooner than you thought, and the rest of the finishing touches are up to you!

You can find our most recent posts on the results of our small to large renovations done by our own hands HERE. If you liked the article, you can follow us on Facebook and Instagram to make sure you don't miss the next one!