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# Painting bathroom tiles: what lasts and what peels
- URL: https://haven.ghostcms.templates.codememory.com/painting-bathroom-tiles-what-lasts-and-what-peels/
- Published: 2026-06-19T09:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-06-19T09:00:00.000Z
- Description: Two bathrooms, eighteen months and the places painted tiles should never go.
- Author: Ade Okafor
- Tags: Bathrooms, #Import 2026-10-02 16:14

Painting bathroom tiles sounds like a bad idea, and in the wrong place it is. In the right place, with the right paint and careful preparation, it can change a dated bathroom in a weekend. We painted the tiles in two reader bathrooms and checked them again after eighteen months.

![A small foam roller gives the smoothest finish on tiles.](https://haven.ghostcms.templates.codememory.com/content/images/2026/10/tile-roller.jpg)

A small foam roller gives the smoothest finish on tiles.

## Where it works, and where it does not

Painted tiles last well on walls that get splashed but are not soaked: behind a basin, around a bath, on the walls of a cloakroom. They do not last inside a shower, where water hits them every day, or on floors, where feet and chairs wear them away.

| Area                         | Will it last?                     |
| ---------------------------- | --------------------------------- |
| Wall behind a basin          | Yes                               |
| Around a bath, above the rim | Yes, with care                    |
| Inside a shower              | No                                |
| Floor tiles                  | No, unless a special floor system |

## Preparation is everything

1. **Clean.** Wash the tiles with sugar soap to remove all grease and soap residue.
2. **Sand.** Lightly sand the glaze with fine sandpaper so the primer can grip.
3. **Prime.** Use a primer made for tiles or glossy surfaces. Ordinary primer will peel.
4. **Paint.** Two thin coats of tile paint, with a foam roller for the tiles and a small brush for the grout lines.
5. **Wait.** Most tile paints need several days to cure fully before they get wet.

> Painting tiles is ninety percent cleaning and sanding, and ten percent painting.  
>  
> **Ade Okoro**

## Colours

Soft, light colours hide small imperfections best. Very dark colours show every brush mark and every scratch.

- #E7E3DA Shell — the wall tiles
- #A9BFC0 Sea glass — one accent wall
- #FFFFFF Brilliant white — the grout, painted with a fine brush

## Eighteen months later

In the first bathroom, behind a basin, the paint still looks new. In the second, around a bath, it has one small chip where a shampoo bottle fell, easily touched up. Both owners say they would do it again, as a way to buy time before a full renovation.

![The painted tiles around the bath, eighteen months on.](https://haven.ghostcms.templates.codememory.com/content/images/2026/10/tile-detail.jpg)

The painted tiles around the bath, eighteen months on.

## The cost

The whole job cost under £100 for each bathroom: sugar soap, sandpaper, primer, paint and a roller. Compare that with £1,500 or more to retile.

💡

Paint a single tile first, somewhere hidden, and leave it for a week. Then try to scratch it with a fingernail.

#### Can I paint the grout a different colour?

Yes, with a grout pen after the tile paint has cured. It is slow but very effective.

#### How do I clean painted tiles?

Gently, with a soft cloth and mild soap. Avoid abrasive cleaners.