Grout, Grout, Let It All Out

(Do you have that song in your head now? You're welcome.)

Project Bathroom(s) is officially underway! I decided to start with the smallest bullet point, which was making the grout in the upstairs bathroom look less like wet sand. Let this first picture soak into your brain for a second, and enjoy how bright and clean the new grout color looks. Oooh, aaaah.

Now look at how it was before:

Don't mind my feet.

See? Wet sand. That's the only way I can describe that color. And it's not because it's dirty, it's because whoever laid the tile chose this particular shade of grout. Since I'm envisioning something light and bright for both rooms (more deets on the whole plan right here), it had to go.

At first I was considering a bleach pen, but then I stumbled upon something called Polyblend Grout Renew from Home Depot and decided to give that a shot. It had a higher customer rating than any of the pens, so that was a good sign. I'd also heard that people usually end up buying two pens to finish a job anyway, and with this you practically get a bucket. Extra product for the win!

The label says to apply it with an old toothbrush, but we didn't have any of those hangin' around so I just used one of my craft paintbrushes. The texture was kind of like thick paint, so I made sure to find a brush that had stiff bristles. It was pretty easy to control, but if you do get some of it on a tile you can just wipe it off. I probably didn't need to, but I ended up doing two coats in most places, just to make sure all of the brown was gone. [Edited to add: This isn't a cleaning product, I just brushed it on to cover the existing grout. It was more like a paint.]

I started over by the toilet (that was a fun exercise in contortionism) and worked my way back out the door. Here's an in-progress shot to show you just how dramatic the difference really is:

MAGIC!

The only bummer part was how long it took me. I had to keep getting up and stretching because of my scoliosis-riddled spine, so it probably took me about four hours to do the whole room. At least we have giant 12x12 tiles, otherwise I'd probably still be working on it.

So much better, right?

And look, now I get to cross something off the list! Whee!

-- Get new vanity tops (both)
-- Get new faucets (both)
-- Paint vanity hardware (both)
-- Paint the vanity and trim (basement)
-- Frame out the mirror (basement)
-- Install a new toilet (upstairs)
-- Lighten the grout lines (upstairs)
-- Find a new mirror (upstairs)
-- Add artwork (both)
-- Add practical and adorable accessories (both)

I guess I could technically cross off half of the "find a new mirror" line since I did technically locate one, but it's not up yet. And then I remembered that the old one is attached with anchors, so it will be all kinds of wall surgery to get it down. I'll have to dig deep to find the motivation for that one. Sigh.

Have you ever fancied up your grout? Or otherwise attempted to fix your bathroom floor without actually removing it?