Grout Makeover

Yep, that's right... I said "grout makeover".  I bet you didn't even know that was a thing, but it is.  Over the weekend, the grout in our bathroom got a major facelift.  Let me preface this entire post by admitting, this is certainly not the most glamorous "makeover" I've ever done, but I am super excited over it.

Prepare your eyes people - the "befores" are pretty bad.

Are you prepared??

If you were wondering, not that is not mold or mildew.  It's the cracked, peeling grout and caulking in our bathtub and surrounding areas that has been discolored over time.

But it looks gross, doesn't it??

I was grossed out, even knowing that I'd scrubbed and bleached the hell out of it.

What did we do??

We busted out some fresh caulk, and a little grout paint.

The process of caulking is pretty simple, and there are lots of tutorials online - basically, clean the area to be caulked, and get off all the peeling stuff.  Make sure it's dry, tape the area off, and squeeze the caulk onto the crack, smoothing it with your finger.  After that's done, peel the tape off, and you've got perfect, smooth, caulk lines.

Unfortunately for me, whoever caulked it last time was sloppy, so it's not perfect, but it's certainly better than it was before!!  This is a great tutorial I read that was very clear.

The process of painting the grout is also really simple.

Buy some of this:

And literally just start painting it right on the tile - the grout paint that I bought even had a handy little foam applicator to make it idiot proof...

Also important - be sure the tile and grout are both clean and dry as well - bust out the blow-dryer if you need to.

I was a little wary about getting the paint on the tile, but it turns out it's no big deal!

Just apply a solid amount of paint to the grout and don't worry about the tile.  After 4 hours, go back with a wet sponge and wipe the grout off the tile.

This is what it looks like once the paint has dried for 4 hours...

Already a vast improvement...

And this is what it looks like once you wipe the tile down...

**Excuse the fact that these pictures are still yellow... it was night time and the overhead light was on

Let's look at a few before and afters for comparison, shall we??

Night and day... right?!?!?!

I cannot tell you what a HUGE difference $8 of paint, and $10 of caulk have made in this bathroom...

I also cannot tell you how a nice bar of soap and a pretty orchid do to brighten things up too...

The grout needs a few more paint touch-ups in a few parts, and I'm attacking the grout on the floor next, but these inexpensive changes have really transformed the bathroom already.  It's a much brighter, cleaner, newer feeling space already!

A framed picture on the wall, a new shower curtain (this one perhaps), a fresh white bath mat, and possibly the addition of my pretty yellow roman shade, and this room will feel completely different.  A coat of paint on the walls also wouldn't hurt, but that's pretty much last on my list of apartment updates.

Sometimes its the small updates though that make the biggest impact, right??