Introduction: Give Your Bathroom a Whole New Look 'on the Cheap'

About: I'm an independent lady who enjoys designing and completing new projects inside and outside my home. Quite satisfying to re use/ recycle and re purpose 'on the cheap' and realize a finished project that starte…

I am the owner of a master bathroom with a bathtub/shower wall finished with tile board...unfortunately for me in addition to being finished with tile board it is a hideous 'in your face' bright shade of royal/navy blue!

I don't like the colour and it also makes the bathtub/shower area very dark so I'm hoping that I can somehow make the tile board lighter so the light bounces off of it and it seems brighter

and don't forget to take note of the gold trim pieces that need to be addressed also...

something has to be done about this but it's going to have to be done 'on the cheap'

Step 1: Brain Storming Options and Supplies

changing out the tile board for mold/mildew resistant backerboard with new tiles is definitely out of the question due to budget constaints
theres got to be a way to just change the colour of the tile board
after all, the tile board is in great condition and it's really only the colour that is hideous (to me anyway...)

first I sourced out some excellent primer that will adhere to pretty much any surface
I decided on Bulls Eye 123 in a grey shade
turns out I actually have some leftover from my 'kitchen island' project so I won't have to put out any money for the primer
also, since it's already tinted a beautiful shade of grey I think a couple or three good coats of primer will suffice

i just have to come up with some kind of water resistant top coat
Ive decided to use polycrylic ( a couple coats) to seal the primer/colour
lucky for me, I also have enough poly acrylic left over from sealing my 'kitchen island' project
I will need some rough sand paper to rough up the tiles which I also have on hand
a small paint brush and a mask and Im all set to begin updating my bathroom

Step 2: Gather My Supplies and Open the Window

bulls eye 123 primer tinted to whatever shade you want
polycrylic finishing coat
foam roller
sand paper
small paint brush for getting in those tight hard to reach places
a face mask
an open window for ventalation
time needed to dry between coats of primer and finishing coat

Step 3: Sand and Prime Tile Board

I decided to remove the gold 'trim pieces' since they didnt seem to serve any real purpose anyway
I might not even re install them afterward...I may just caulk to fill in any gaps...I think the trim pieces also contibute to the dated look this bathroom has right now

so i sanded down the whole tile board to a rough finish to get it ready for the primer to adhere properly
then all i had to do was paint on the primer using a foam roller/brush
i have 2 coats done already in attached pic so obviously its going to need 3 to 4 coats in total of the primer

Step 4: Painting the Tile Board

so three coats later of the grey tinted bulls eye 123 and it giving me a really good idea of the finished project

i used a brush to do the cutting (primer) near the existing caulking in the corners

what an overall improvement already now I just have to apply the polycrylic to seal it

Step 5: My New and Updated Master Bath

I ended up rolling on 3 coats of the polycrylic to seal the tile board

and, heres the new and updated master bath and what a difference...it looks updated, it looks new and it looks bright

I'm extremely pleased with the end result

Im going to let this dry totally at least one week before using the shower/tub (luckily I have a 2nd bath so I'm able to let it dry completely without sacrifice)

another project 'on the cheap'...what do you think?