Painting Our 90's Tile Backsplash | Tutorial

Our new home’s kitchen was having a slight identity crisis. Once wood cabinets, painted white, and in the process of being turned blue, is mixed with a speckled black granite counter, and what feels like leftover tile on the backsplash.

The black 4×4 square backsplash was killing us. We priced out a new backsplash and the tile I want (The Tile Shop) was about $1,200 installed. Naturally.

So knowing it couldn’t get worse, and it would eventually get fixed… I decided to paint the backsplash to test going green. I am so pleasantly surprised.

I’m sharing everything here!

This is the before of our kitchen. I painted the lower cabinets a month ago and decided that before I paint the uppers or pay to change the backsplash, I would play around.

You’re probably used to me sharing a lot of white on white, but I am recently obsessed with color. I’m tiptoeing in. I went with Down Pipe by Farrow & Ball on the lowers, and chose Basil green for the new tile.

– How to Paint Your Cabinets! –

– How to Strip Paint Off Your Cabinets! –

I just love the idea of having a bolder statement.

Products Used:

Tools Needed:

Foam Roller (I love the Wooster Pro.. I used one for primer and one for sealing. If you aren’t good at washing them, grab a multi-pack.)
Yellow Painters Tape
Heavy Paper
TSP Cleaner
Zinsser or STIX Primer
Grout line Milk Paint (Pint)
Tile Milk Paint (Quart)
Paint Brush for tiles
Patience
Topcoat
Silicone Caulk (if needed)
Tiny Paint Brushes for touch-ups

PREP!

I used yellow painters tape for delicate surfaces and heavy paper to protect the counters. The yellow tape is worth every penny. I reused pieces over and over to lower waste. I also hate plastic drops. The heavy paper can just hang out over the days that you are working on this.

CLEAN!

First things, first… Use TSP to clean the tile down. You need all of the oils, dust, and grease off the tiles in order for the paint to stick. Clean that baby up, and then wipe it down with a lint-free towel. Micro-fiber will work!

PRIME!

I already owned the Zinsser primer so I went with it. Another option is STIX which is made exactly for this purpose. If I didn’t have primer on hand, I would’ve ordered STIX, but Zinsser Bullseye worked great.

ON TO PAINTING!

After a ton of research, I went with General Finishes Milk Paint. It was used over and over again in others videos, and was available for Amazon delivery. Win, Win!

I’m incredibly impressed by the product. It goes on very smoothly and has a appealing matte finish.

GROUT FIRST.

After Priming, I painted the grout loosely with a foam roller. Going back, to can just foam roll the whole area. I had to do a few coats of the tile color and I hated the primer showing through. With what we are going for, I would’ve rather the beige show. I will be going back in with a tiny brush to touch up any green that got into the grout.

TIME FOR TILE!

Ok, so put your patience hat on. That’s step one. This is going to take a while. I really wanted to keep grout lines. Other tile tutorials bothered me because they were all painted on color. I didn’t want to add anything busy, and I wanted it to look real. So you’re going to go a few tiles at a time with your yellow tape. The patience comes in because you will need to let the paint dry at least 2 hours before using tape on that tile.

Taping tiles early will peel paint off.

I have about 33 square feet of 4×4 inch tiles. I could spread out to about 12 tiles at a time.

A lot of people DM’ed me asking how I do DIYs like this with toddlers during quarantine, honestly, this one is an elephant type project. It’s VERY one bit at a time. Do a few minutes of taping, come back and paint, come back later and do the next set.

Nothing is more infuriating than paint and primer peeling off with tape. Just know it’ll take time, and you will be so happy with the end result.

TOUCH UPS!

I did not re-tape for this. I decided to leave the tape on the counter and around the cabinets, and just slowly go with a tiny brush and touch up grout lines. This went WAY faster than I thought, User a smaller brush than you think so you don’t mess up the tile paint.

SEALING!

The easiest part of the WHOLE thing. Wait about 24-48 hours and then just foam roll than satin-finished water-based poly on. I did 2 coats since no one is walking on it. Wait 2+ hours between coats.

Painting Notes Below!

A Few Notes!

• I loved using this paint brush. The close grip never made my hand ache, which it regularly does while painting. It has a wide and thin coarse brush which left a great texture. Milk paint levels itself pretty incredibly, but the coarse bristles made it build some interest.

• You can reuse the yellow tape. I went through an entire roll and I would’ve used 2 or 3 if I hadn’t reused.

• When paint peels off, and it will, I just carried along. The milk paint probably doesn’t need primer, but I love doing all the prep steps.

• Use a teeny tiny brush for touch ups. Trust.

• Keep those tiny brushes around for touch ups down the line.

I’m not sure I would do this on a tile floor. I’m tempted. So stick around. I’m sure it’ll happen. But it feels like it would wear quickly.

If you do your backsplashes – send me pictures on Facebook or Instagram!!

Painting Our 90’s Tile Backsplash

– How to Paint Your Cabinets! –