Tips for an Under $25 Grout Refresh

Hi there! A couple of weekends ago, I attempted what seemed would be a “quick DIY” (do those even exist?!?) in our kids’ bathroom. I had purchased some grout refresh six months ago with every intention to complete this project before Christmas. But Christmas came and went… as did Valentine’s Day … and St. Patrick’s Day… Anyway, I finally got started toward the end of March. And I completely made it soooo much more difficult than it needed to be. A LOT of this was do to user error/not reading the directions carefully, but I thought I’d share what I learned anyway.

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I even remembered to take a quick iPhone before snap!!!

The first weekend that I attempted this DIY, I simply took the squeeze nozzle of the grout refresh and followed the grout lines, let it dry for too long, and then tried to wipe the excess with a spray mist and rag. It either didn’t come off or it came off in long strips. I also inadvertently filed my nails trying to scrape the excess off (I do not recommend this!).

I spent the next week trying to scrape my mistake away. Also, as I had plenty of time to stare at the grout, I was feeling as though the charcoal was taking on a brown tint. I decided that on my second try I would use the black grout refresh, which I think was more of the look I was going for to begin with.

On the second weekend, everything went so much more smoothly! And I give a lot of credit to the handy dandy sponge brush listed in the sources below. Instead of just following the old grout lines with the bottle of grout refresh, I followed the old grout lines, but then also ran the sponge brush along the lines with the tip of the brush.

I did one of the shorter walls of the shower tile this way and then started on the other short side. I then took a damp microfiber cloth (it was about 25 minutes of dry time) and wiped away the excess liquid on the first wall that I did. Next, I “grouted” the long wall of the surround. While that dried, I wiped away the excess on the second wall. After a dry time of 25 minutes on the long wall, I wiped that clean too. It worked! Whew!!!

What a fun and easy (once I figured it out- lol!) DIY that really transformed the kids’ bathroom. I have more plans for this space too, but this was just the jumping off point that was needed. I think we will refresh the caulk and paint the bottom tiles black. A quick (hopefully for real this time) switch out of the hardware to a matte black would look so clean and fresh. I’d also love to add a little storage frame under the sink for extra soap, towels, a hair dryer, etc.

Also, now that the kids are getting older and since this bathroom is on the smaller side, a functioning medicine cabinet is in order. As house projects go, when we had electricians in this summer for another project, they offered (on multiple occasions) to switch out the bathroom light in the kids’ bathroom. Haha- it’s unanimous! The light needs to go. The only thing is that a really special light is needed for this space. It is on a weird angle on the ceiling and the plate would have needed to be the exact dimensions of the current light. However, if we replace the medicine cabinet and light at the same time, we can just accept that that wall is going to be torn up and will need plaster repair, widening our array of options.

Of course, I have a design board. There are a lot of items in that are in a decent price range but some that I will have to continue to shop around for… I’ll keep you posted! You can also follow along on my Pinterest Board for our Kids’ Bathroom. I know that this isn’t super kid-ish, but other guests use the bathroom too and right now it also doubles as our “office” bathroom. I also think that adding some fun artwork will help it seem a bit more on the kid side of design. As always, I reserve the right to change the design board completely as the process progresses 😉

Don’t forget to come back later this year when this is all complete and I can show off a truly finished project. I also have another bathroom that my friend, Gretchen, has done an amazing job with (spoiler alert: it is based on Detroit’s Foundation Hotel design) to share later this year too, so don’t forget to subscribe to get all of the email updates!

Sources:

Grout Refresh

Sponge Brush

Basketweave Tile (similar to what I have)

Matte Hardware and Shower Head

Sink (similar to what I have)