Painted Tile: Before & After

We have two original fireplaces in this house, and the one in the dining room has bright green tiles for the surround.  I love green usually, but this really isn't the right shade for this room, since it clashes with the colors we have in there already.  So, I'm toying with the idea of painting the tile... Tearing them out and retiling isn't even close to making my list at this point--too many other fun projects to do first!-- but painting I could maybe handle. 

Back when we were in seminary outside of Pittsburgh, our house had dark woodwork and a fireplace with heavy, dark tile, which weighed down the tiny living room.  We decided to give painting the tile a try, cleaned it really well to remove all grease and dirt, scuffed it up with a sander and then primed it very carefully to prepare for the paint.  Over the years I definitely had to touch up the white some, since the paint did scratch easily, but it never peeled, and we much preferred the lighter look over the dark brown tiles.

Have you ever painted tile?  And were you glad you did?  

xo

Liza