Grout it out

Something that has bugged me about out kitchen since we bought the place (other than the birdhouses that were affixed to the cabinet) was the filthy grout in the kitchen.

What looks like dark gray grout is actually really filthy beige grout. We tried scrubbing, but the grout had never been sealed (this whole tile job is an obvious DIY job done prior to our ownership and is a whole other rant you'll hear from me in the future). The dirt had stained the grout unevenly and no amount of scrubbing would fix it. Enter the miracle product: Polyblend Grout Renew Colorant in Antique White. It is a colorant and sealer in one. The grout renew had good reviews online and for $12, I figured it was worth a try.

The process started with an intensive scrubbing. I bought a special grout cleaner and spent 1.5 hours cleaning the grout as best I could. Here are the before and after:

Before cleaning

After cleaning

Not a big difference. If you look by the water bowl on the left, you can see a line of the color the gout is suppose to be, a light beige. Here are more before and after cleaning (before on the left, after on the right): 

 

 Even after all the scrubbing I did, the difference is minimal. We felt the darker tones drew the eye to the floor and away from all of the highlights of the kitchen, the tall cabinets, the nook, and of course the lovely painted walls. Hence, the decision to go with the much lights Antique White color for the grout renew. The grout renew supposedly has a sealer, so it should not discolor like the unsealed grout. **fingers crossed**

 So I got out my protective gear, including my new safely glasses (thank you Kevin). Check out the name of the color:

 Yes, they are cougar pink! Awesome! I donned my paint clothes, knee pads, gloves, and safety glasses, grabbed my tiny, gout-line-sized paint brush and got to work.

The application went pretty well. I wish I had a slightly stiffer paint brush, but the one I had worked fine. Immediately, you could tell the difference!

Gratuitous adorable cat picture--my supervisor.

The results are phenomenal! (If I do say so myself!). The first coat grout renew looked fine, but the coloring was a little uneven. I don't know if it was the uneven grout job, the porous unsealed grout, or the stains. I tried a second coat and that seemed to even out the color and seal up any of the spots that were still porous. Here are the results:

Woohoo! Totally love! How about a look back to see how far the kitchen has come since we bought the place:

These pictures show a lot of hard work, but seeing them makes it sooooo worth it. There are more projects to come!