Painting my kitchen tiles: How they've held up 4 years on

You might remember a few years ago I took on a very budget revamp of our kitchen, which involved stripping and painting the cupboards, replacing the flooring with new vinyl, and painting the very dated wall tiles. 

You can read the full makeover, which cost me under £150 here - whilst it was a large undertaking, the transformation it made was unbelievable. Our dingy 20-year old kitchen went from dark, grubby and drab to light and airy - definitely helped by the fact the tiles were no longer a peach colour.

But the important question: How did my kitchen tiles hold up in the years after painting them?

I kept my kitchen in that style for four years before replacing everything last year, and the tiles held up really well. In that time I only needed to repaint once, but this was because I stupidly had the worktop replaced after painting the tiles (definitely do that the other way round!). The work caused chipping to the tiles, so I needed to repaint a few areas once this was done. 

However other than that there was no need to repaint at all in those four years! So if you're looking for a quick-fix or short term solution, or even something that lasts longer than that, this is a great DIY project to try.  

Would I recommend painting kitchen tiles?

Absolutely! Painting the tiles gave my old, tired kitchen a new lease of life, brightening it up and even making it feel bigger. This DIY project actually kickstarted a full kitchen makeover for me, as I wanted my cupboard doors and floor to look as good as the tiles did. So I would wholly recommend going for it if you want to give the look of your kitchen a major boost. 

After being blown away by the difference it made in my kitchen, I then also painted the very dated, beige tiles in my downstairs loo - these tiles are still perfect five years on! 

Don't skip the prep though!

However, I would recommend using the right tools - never skip the preparation as much as you might want to! You can find a full list of everything you need over on my original tutorial post, however in a nutshell make sure you scrub your tiles well using sugar soap s- you'll be surprised how much grease sticks to them. This step is very important as any grime will prevent the paint from sticking properly. 

Using a mini foam roller is a great way of preventing visible brush strokes on your tiles, and don't forget to protect your worktops and walls with dust sheets and good quality frog tape - the paint can be very sticky and therefore tricky to get off. Rubber gloves is a good idea too, as it even sticks fast to skin.

Also keep in mind that even if the can promises you'll only need to apply one coat, you might need to give it two! I was painting dark coloured tiles in a much lighter shade, so one coat was never going to fully cover the tiles.

Is this something you would have a go at in your home?

Thanks for reading,
Sam Xx