Hey friends! I am so happy that you’re here today! If you follow me on instagram you may have seen that last week I decided to take a big gamble and attempt to paint my backsplash! I’m happy to report that it turned out amazing! Maybe you hate your backsplash too? If so I am so excited to teach you how to paint a tile backsplash!
This is what I started with. A dated an dingy tile backsplash, that wasn’t horrible, but also didn’t fit my modern style.
I started this project the way every DIY seems to start, by cleaning with my favorite product ever, Melaleuca “Tough and Tender.
**This post contains affiliate links**Â Then I picked up a box of Rustoleum “Tub and Tile Refinishing Kit“. I had used it once before to refinish a tub and was pretty happy with the results. It only comes in two colors, but thankfully I wanted a white backsplash.
The way this paint works is that you mix part A with part B to activate it. It starts out really runny, but after mixing for about 5 minutes it thickened up. It’s still fairly drippy though so I recommend taping off your counters well. After taping everything I used a foam brush to edge the top and bottom.
It recommends keeping a wet edge, so after I’d foam brush a section I’d switch to my little foam roller and quickly roll that same section, working my way down the counters.
After two coats it had really good coverage and looked great! When I removed the tape I used a razor to scrape away a little bit of seepage beneath the tape. I also caulked the edge to give it a really clean look.
I can’t really decide if it looks like subway tile or painted brick, but whatever you want to call it I am SO much happier with my lighter and brighter kitchen! Eventually I’d love to replace the countertops and install a really beautiful backsplash. For now though, this $25 fix will have to hold me over!
After painting the backsplash I really loved how much brighter the kitchen was, so I also decided install a white beadboard side panel onto our pantry!Then the story sort of follows along the lines of, “If you give a mouse a cookie”. Next I decided to remove the cabinet that existed where I now have that gorgeous magnolia wreath. The the finishing touch was that I removed the glass front doors beneath the counters and replaced them with beadboard. I was able to use one $25 sheet for all three spots!
When we eventually replace the countertops we’ll do an overhang breakfast bar at the peninsula. I liked the idea of kids legs kicking the beadboard much more than glass front cabinets!
I love our kitchen so much more now that it has the white backsplash and white accents!
Just to show how much of an impact this made I decided to compare some side by sides!
This next “before” shot was before we replaced the Tuscan curvy handles. These modern Euro pulls are SO much better.Â
This one shows a better shot of the cabinet and glass front doors that we removed. Even though the glass doors were pretty the cabinet was so shallow that it couldn’t hold much and just looked cluttered.
Here is one final before and after shot showing the panel we put on the pantry.
While I was shooting these I couldn’t help but take one shot of our backyard. It has been raining for days and everything just looks so fresh and green right now! I will admit that doing dishes with this view does make the job a bit better.Thank you so much for stopping by and reading this post! If you’ve got a backsplash that you hate, I’d definitely encourage you to paint it! At only $25 there isn’t much to lose, and you might love it as much as I do!
This is such an awesome idea to paint a backsplash! I never even considered that. I really want to paint mine now! It’s amazing what a little white paint does to a space.
Totally! Thank you so much! You should totally paint yours, it was such a simple and dramatic fix!
This looks amazing! I’ve been thinking about doing a little DIY kitchen remodel and this would be a great way to change up the backsplash. Thanks for sharing! Definitely going in the ideas pile 🙂
Thank you so much for your sweet comment. Good luck with your mini kitchen remodel!
Hi!
Do you have seal this after or just two coats and done?
Nope just two coats and done. Almost a year later it still looks exactly as good as when we did it!
Would this type of paint work for the countertop too? Not sure if it’s durable enough for a work surface area.
Thanks!
I’ve done it on countertops, and recently shared an update post. Here’s all the details: https://www.brightgreendoor.com/hows-it-holding-up/
Hi there! I want to paint my tile backsplash but the kind of tile I have is very shinny! Do I need to sans it at all? Or can I just start painting this stuff on?
Mine wasn’t shiny, but for yours I would probably sand first, just to help rough it up. Good luck! I’m sure it will look great!
I’m wanting to paint just one dark piece in my mosaic tile. Is this something I can do with a small paint brush??
Totally! I think it would work great!
Where did you buy the Tough and Tender cleaner?
I order it from melaleuca, but here as an Amazon affiliate link for it: http://amzn.to/2xeHPyC. 1 bottle goes a LONG ways!
Love your backsplash and your fearlessness!!! Looks fantastic!!!!Can you tell me if this rust oleum you used had a strong odor? I need something with no odor.. thankyou
Thank you! Yes it has a VERY strong odor. I’d definitely go for a chalk paint. Many are low or no VOC and they adhere really well to so many surfaces. With a high gloss sealer it would look great.
For your counters you can use a granite overlay. It is much cheaper than solid granite countertops. You do not have to remove existing counters. You can even try epoxies that mimick granite; it is even less expensive.
Thanks! We ended up replacing the countertops for quartz, but it wasn’t cheap. We actually sold that house in December and moved to a new one! Here we are again needing to replace our countertops.