Upgrading My Bathroom Tile for $8.99

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Have you ever walked into a room and thought, "This room needs a change?" When we moved into our house in 2017, EVERYTHING felt that way. We didn't have the money to start any upgrades right away, but of course we knew the bathrooms would be on the top of the list. 

There wasn't anything necessarily wrong. When we moved in, there were these odd little tiles on the wall in Madden's bathroom. At first, we assumed it was some type of decoration. One day, probably a month after we moved in, I got curious and decided to mess with one. I realized it was light weight and had adhesive on the back. To my horror, it was covering a small hole in the wall. There was a trail of these little tiles leading from the tub to the toilet paper holder, probably 5 all together. There were just 1/2'' sized holes in the wall! This made my blood BOIL. The tiles were to cover the holes in hopes they wouldn't be noticed by an inspector (insert major eye roll emoji here). Clearly this bathroom needed a small makeover. We decided to go with paint.

We patched up the holes in the wall, and got a nice neutral grey color. The vanity and mirror are a dark espresso color, and we knew the grey would look nice. My husband painted the entire bathroom in a short amount of time and it looked good as new! At least the holes were gone, right? We even had enough paint left over to paint our master bathroom the same color. We did hit a small hiccup, when the counter of the vanity in the master bathroom shifted (because of COURSE it wasn't secured AT ALL) and it snapped. We went to Lowe's to replace it, and the vanity's in the same size were out of stock. We got a vanity that was slightly bigger, only to learn that the backsplash was grouted to the wall. No big deal, we start taking off the backsplash and learn THE BACKSPLASH WAS COVERING HOLES IN THE WALL. I thought this minor painting makeover would never end. Pandora's box had opened and I wasn't prepared for what was coming out. 

We were able to patch the holes, fix the backsplash (not to the standard I want, but enough to get us by) and the entire project was finished. Flash forward to this year (December 2020), and the same "I need a change" feeling hits me. When I was scrubbing the bathroom floor, I was looking at the grout in the very closely. It seemed weird. The texture was odd, the tiles are uneven, and there seemed to be some errors. I turned my Handy Mandy hat on and determined the grout needed to be painted. The darker color grout was making the room seem more enclosed. There is no natural lighting, so that doesn't help. If I lightened the grout, the room will seem brighter and I would get that new makeover feel I was craving. 

At this point in time, I had already begun painting the grout everywhere else in my house that had tile (living room, dining area and kitchen). Our floor has a semi-open concept, so the floor in those three rooms is all the same and connects. In the process of completing this floor, I figured it wouldn't take much paint to cover the grout in the bathrooms. Our bathrooms are not the largest, and I figured I could do both bathrooms with one pen. 

Here is a picture of Madden's bathroom. You can see the grey paint on the walls, and our lovely bathroom Christmas decor. This is the old grout color. 

Again, nothing screams ugly to me. I was just looking for an extra sparkle. This is the grout up close. 

Let's analyze this together. The color isn't terrible, but the texture is very course. The tiles are uneven, so therefore, the grout is also uneven. You can see the grout is spilling onto the tile. These lines aren't dirty either; I sat with bleach one day to determine is this REALLY the color, or is it just filthy? It was definitely time to cover it up. 

Makeover Time!

In order to do a decent job, I busted out my favorite grout pen. 

These pens are sold on Amazon for $8.99. I used the small (5mm) pen in the color cream. You can get a larger pen, 15 mm, for $11.99 if you have wider grout. Not only are these pens such an affordable price, the performance is off the chart. When I tried these for the first time, my mind was actually blown. I can't tell you how many videos and pictures I have sent my family and friends to show them the difference. Everyone knows I have a thing with dirty grout, and have tried every solution over the years. Grout Pens was my saving grace. My floors are bright and have that sparkly, clean look, even with 3 dogs and a mud-pit backyard. 

With my paint pen in hand, I got to work. I started in the top right corner, where the wall meets the tub. I learned very quickly that this grout was absolutely course and porous...worse than the kitchen grout. The tip of the pen was the perfect size for these lines. I kept a microfiber cloth handy to wipe up any errors due to discrepancy in tile height. The color was already creating that brightness I was seeking. However, with how fast the color was absorbing into the porous grout, I knew I was going to have to do a second layer. 

Here is a picture from my initial layer. Notice the original color is still poking through. What great coverage for such a dark original color and awful grout texture! The second picture shows the best comparison. 

At this point, the different was life changing for me. I proceeded to do the whole floor, then I took a break for about 30 minutes. I wanted the paint to settle and dry fully before moving into a second layer. My fear was that it would do the same thing not-fully-dry nail polish does when you paint too many layers and inevitably chip your nail polish and have to deal with the smudge. After the second layer the color really began to pop. The bathroom was a completely different environment at this point! Who would think something like grout could transform an entire room?

Final Result

This is the final result! Words can't describe how amazed I am that I was able completely change the look of my bathroom for such a cheap price. You would never guess our grout has paint on it! Using the grout pen has also covered up those minor mistakes in the uneven tiles and layers of the grout. To put the icing on the cake, I got out my caulk gun and did a new layer around the tub, baseboards and the toilet. This final touch tied everything in together. The snowman shower curtain helped as well!

Master Bathroom 

After doing Madden's bathroom, I couldn't stop myself from doing our bathroom. The bathrooms are nearly the same size, and have the same flooring and grout. 

Here is a before and after:

Before

After

Final Cost: $8.99 

To transform both of my bathrooms, I only used 1 grout pen. There was enough extra paint in the pen that I was able to complete more of my dining room / living room area! 

If you are looking for a simple, budget friendly way to transform your tile, grout pens is your best bet. I have lived in my house for almost 4 years, and we have had many ups and downs with our budget. There have been so many projects I would love to do in the house, but we were always unable to find the money, or we had a greater need. Redoing the floors has always been on our radar, but the cost is so high. By painting the grout we gave ourselves the transformation we wanted without cost and labor. 

To reduce the cost even more, use the code 20GROUTPENS at checkout to receive 20% off your purchase!

How to Upgrade your Grout (on a budget)

How to Upgrade Your Grout

(on a Budget)

Back Story on our Home

In 2017, my husband and I bought a cute little house in Florida. It was a great size for our family of three, and while we knew there were some projects we wanted/needed to do around the house. We were ecstatic. One of the areas that needed to be upgraded was the backyard; the yard had NO GRASS. There were a few sprigs here and there. In my brain at that moment, I thought "How hard can it be to grow grass?" What a fool I was. Here is a picture from 2019, two years after we bought the house, and 2 years of grass-growing progress. 

            

I spent years stressing over this yard. The amount of sand coming into our house was overwhelming and took a major toll on my general happiness and mental health. Who was bringing in all of this sand? Let me introduce you to the culprits.

   

Rosko is the yellow lab mix, Mr. Beagle is the beagle (yes, clever, I know), and Zoey is the German. All rescues! Rosko came from a shelter, Mr. Beagle was abandoned by a military family and was found wandering the woods near our house, and Zoey was abandoned as a 5 week old in a park (humans are such jerks). Cute as they are, these little furballs track more sand into my house than there is sand on the beach. I could vacuum my floors 6 times a day and still have sandy, dirty feet. I have tried everything. I sowed multiple brands and types of grass seed, I bought every vacuum cleaner on the planet, I tried brushing my dogs every day, I got a rug for the inside and outside to trap the sand.......NOTHING WORKED. 

My family thought I was insane. They told it couldn't possibly be as bad as I described. My sister and her family came to stay with us December 2019 while they were in between duty stations in the Navy. She sat me down, beers in hand, and told me she really thought I was being dramatic but she can see now how challenging it has to be to try and deal with all of the sand. 

I will post about how I manage the sand in my house separately, but I have found some tricks that worked. 

My real breakthrough was identifying the major problem that needed to be fixed INSIDE the house.... our grout. The grout is a black hole for the sand coming into the house. It gets sucked in and refuses to leave. The coarse and porous texture from years of abuse would cause dirt, sand and dirty water to absorb into the grout with every attempt to clean it. Our house, we learned the hard way, was a fixer-upper. The previous owners did their own contracting work to upgrade things around the house, including the floors. The tiles are uneven, the grout has deep grooves and holes,  and overall is very coarse and porous. The sand was getting trapped in the grout grooves, and even the vacuum cleaner had trouble getting it all out (my Dyson gets a run for its money). When I learned to pay more attention to the grout when cleaning the floors, even bleach couldn't undo the years of dirty-filled trauma they had been through. This is where Grout Pens comes in handy. 

Grout Pen, on Amazon

I had heard of grout paint before, and at one point in time, when we toyed with putting our house on the market, our real estate agent highly recommended we invest in redoing or painting our grout. I stumbled across this magical pen on Amazon when searching for solutions. The more I looked into this product, the more intrigued I became. I took a risk and bought it, not prepared for how absolutely amazed I would be at the results. 

This pen is a grout paint pen that restores your grout in the process. You will not need to seal your grout before or after use. You simply choose a color, select the smaller or larger sized tip of the pen, and get to work! The pens can be used in the kitchen, bathroom, backsplash....anywhere you need a revamp. The paint is water-based, non toxic, quick drying and covers 60 meters of grout! 60 METERS! There are 11 magical colors to choose from. 

 

Before and After

Take a look at some before pictures. Our grout was supposed to be white, as you can see it is NOT. In the kitchen area, there were a few lines of grout that were nearly black (I have no clue why, but it drove me BONKERS). I followed all of the directions on the box and got to work. I had immediate gratification, and have spoken about nothing else since. The picture below shows you what the grout looks like up close, before painting.  Notice the uneven tiles and hole in the grout in picture 3. 

This is what the same area looks like after 1-2 stripes of this paint pen. LOOK AT THE DIFFERENCE! I still can't get over it. 

Mittens (the kitten) couldn't help herself but get involved as I continued working on the grout. She's not a very good helper when it comes to home projects. She's a great cuddler though!

This is the final picture of the area when I finished. The floor is so bright and clean. One pen, and a major transformation. I am in heaven. 

 

The best part, besides the immediate positive transformation for the floor and my sanity, is how easy the grout is to clean now! This pen not only paints but restores. I researched the product and looked into every question and review on the page. You will not need to seal your grout when you are finished with the product. **I do not know this based on experience. Your situation may be different than what I read in reviews** My grout was very porous and absorbed dirt and sand like an actual black hole. Now, when I vacuum and mop, I can see the dirt getting sucked away and the grout remaining clean without me scrubbing it with bleach and a toothbrush. 

Tips and Tricks with Grout Pens

• Choose a color that is a little darker than what you want. I chose "Cream", and as you can see in the pictures, it looks more white than cream. There are 11 wonderful colors to choose from 
• If your grout is coarse and uneven like mine, the pen tips tends to fray. I will insert pictures below. I reached out to the company inquiring about proper use to prevent fraying, and was able to get some extra pen tips. Their customer service is outstanding. 
• There are two sizes to best meet your grout needs. The small pen is 5mm and the large pen is 15mm. I have used the small pen so far. 
• To complete one room or area, you will need more than 1 pen. My kitchen took me 2 pens. 

Come Get Your Own!

The seller, GG Prime, offered me a promo code to use and to share with subscribers. The promo code is good for unlimited use, but can only be used one time during purchase. (If you plan to buy more than 1 pen, do 2 orders so you can use the code on each pen!)

Promo Code: 20GROUTPEN

Type this in before paying on Amazon, and you will receive 20% off! 

Click this link here, and it will take you to the grout pen, in the color Cream.  

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XS2Q2TD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1