I would be more apt to find a wallpaper or paint/accessory combo that worked with the blue tile, but perhaps brought it into a color scheme you could live with. I am not an advocate of painting tile. JMHO.

I was at my son's house yesterday and apparently someone did the epoxy paint on the bathtub...and it's peeling like mad. Not sure what they used or how they did it, but it's a mess. The house had a reno just before they moved in, so I'm guessing the landlord did it less than a year ago.

The previous owners of our house did some sort of epoxy treatment on our tub. It is peeling off in great sheets. White epoxy. Black tub. This is not a good look.

But I think that pairing brown walls with your blue tile could be very nice, indeed. Sort of like a Tiffany's box.

We bought a house in 1978 where the previous owners had painted the dusty rose pink tile yellow with epoxy paint. Yes, yellow. Yellow counter and wall tile with pink tub and toilet. It was hideous. And. Would. Not. Come. Off.

We finally had to take off all the tile and put something else in it's place.

Brown walls could certainly work. Another choice might be apple green. Or a deep navy on the walls and white and deep golden yellow for towels, etc. Or crisp white walls and then navy and burgundy towels, shower curtain and accessories. Remember, you can use cotton or other washable drapery panels as shower curtains, just by adding a vinyl liner. That may open up all kinds of possibilties for tying in that blue.

I lived in a house where the PO had painted the tile and it was horrible! Peeling all the time. I also suggest paint the walls to work with what you have or you could have a real mess on your hands. I like Les's suggestions above. Especially deep navy paint. I'm sure if you could share a picture these talented ladies will have many great suggestions.

In our previous home, one of the bathroom tiles had been reglazed. I'm not sure if that's the same thing, but it held up pretty well for 7 years. There were a few small areas that had started to chip in the tub. Since most people seem to have chipping in the tub, I would consider keeping thet tub blue and reglazing the wall tile. Put in a nice white shower curtain and you'll hardly notice the tub.

The epoxy paint works IF AND ONLY IF:
1 - the tile is sound and mildew free, and the wall under the tile is in excellent shape

2 - You get the tile spotlessly clean and grease-free

3 - You can manage to follow the directions and timing perfectly and apply it just right

Otherwise, you have a peeling mess and have just wasted $100 bucks and a lot of time.

************

I wkuld find a way to bring the tile into a color scheme you can live with until you can replace it.

Have you noticed the trend of painting with all the pretty new blues. Pretend you want that color and decorate with it. I love the new blues combined with lots of crisp white and black. Or with rich dark browns. Show us a picture, you will get lots of suggestions.

Tuesday

Is this something you'd not mind doing yourself?
Do you mind a little DIY?

Not a popular opinion for obvious reasons but yes, tile can be painted in a pinch.

Ours is in our entryway, from the front door into the rest of the house....the only entrance into the house unless you want to climb a triple-locked 7-foot dog-ear gate. LOL

Low on funds, a few boxes of discontinued tile for 10 bucks (I think, don't quote me) and then finding out more were broken than not.

These tiles were grey swirled. Hubby won't do grey anything.
Decided to use them anyway. Had fun breaking the rest of them. Laid them mosaic-style.
After thinset dried and
before grouting I used a electric palm sander and sanded the tops of the tile.
Used primer and then left-over interior house paint.
Three coats of water-based Poly in Satin finish.
Then for an older/worn look, I lightly sanded some of the edges of a few of the tiles, not all, just random.

This was supposed to be a temporary fix until the funds were better.
It's been down almost 10 years now and except for one tile that has come loose (and I repaired it but used the wrong color grout...ooopsy!) we haven't had any chipping of the paint. No peeling. We damp mop this area several times a week since it's the main entrance used many, many times daily.

As I said, not the best solution but at least for us, it worked to tide us over. Obviously we are still in low tide. :)

gastroc -- Do post lots of photos of the bathroom ... so that we can help you!

I do love the idea of using chocolate brown paint the towels etc. to work with the blue .....

Before I heard of the epoxy kit, I was going to go ahead with painting the walls chocolate brown and paint the window trim and door white. We took a break after we put the kilz on the walls to decide if we want to go ahead with this epoxy business or if we want to just fix things temporarily with wall paint.

Here are some photos...

This is how it looked when we first moved in:

This is the bathroom after it's been scrubbed and with a new shower curtain:

Coat of kilz on the walls:

Blue vs. Blue, floor and walls:

The horrible window:

And the icky door:

Suggestions? The door we would want to paint the white color and on the inset panels we'd paint chocolate brown like the walls. The window would get painted white until we can eventually replace the window with the kind that has the miniblinds between the two panes of glass.

amity, your floors look great. I would have thought they started out that way.

gastroc, my inlaws had the same blue wall tile in their bathroom. Your floor tile looks like a different color blue, or is that just the difference in light and angle? I like the brown with it. How do you protect the wood window frame in a shower?

Excellent plans!

Yes -- a fresh coast of white paint on the door and the window plus the chocolate brown on the walls would work wonders!

I wonder if a basic fast-stick tile would work for the floor? Maybe changing the floor would be easier/faster/cheaper for now? Maybe in slate-like tiles?

Jan at Rosemary Cottage

The floor is a completely different shade of blue which blows my mind lol. That's the problem with the window. The previous owners had it painted with a high gloss sealer, but it's not holding up well. Our plan is to repaint it and within a year get a new window.

Amity, your floors do look great I forgot to mention that in my post. Come to my house and do all my floors? Thanks. =)

I will cry if you epoxy over your blue tile, which looks to appear in excellent condition. You might want to look at RetroRenovation or Savethepinkbathrooms for some vintage inspiration.

I think the brown and white paint will look awesome and fresh.

HOWEVER, if you want to do reglaze your tiles, and I saw the HGTV show yesterday, there are companies that will reglaze the tile, tub, etc. I don't think I would DIY this. Our tub was reglazed (white again) almost 5 years ago, and it looks great still.

I just checked google images for vintage blue bathrooms
Here is a cute one, scroll down.

Here is a link that might be useful: Black accent

I would paint the whole door white. I wouldn't paint the panels in the chocolate.

I love your tiles and it doesn't bother me that they are different shades of blue. I would not paint them. Why not find a fabric with multi shades of blue and use it for a shower curtain so the tile colors look planed and not like a mistake? Here's a fabric I found that might work. Crisp white paint on the door and window would liven things up as well. Then pick up the wall color from the fabric as a finishing touch.

Here is a link that might be useful: fabric

How about painting the window trim (and door) a crisp white and adding a Plantation Shutter to the window?

I like the black with the blue much more. I think the brown and blue combo has been done a lot lately and even more so a handful of years ago (a 90s look).

I am not liking the floor so much. It is the wrong shade of blue.

I actually think a cheerful bright yellow would work. It is a classic retro combo and would be more of working with the blue instead of against it.
If you did do black accents, then you'd need a more pale retro yellow to avoid the bumblebee effect.

The worst mistake would be to add any blue whatsoever. Those tiles are hard to coordinate with other blues. My parents have them and have made many mistakes trying.

Just cover the floor with a largish rug in the wall color until you find the time to retile. I do like the blue wall tile, but understand why you may not. It's a lot of intense color for such a small room. If you do choose to go with a black or chocolate accent with the blue and white, well I think I'd do the reverse of what you have planned. I'd do white walls and black/chocolate trim/door. Then fluffy white towels bath towels and washcloths with black or chocolate hand towels.

One of the reasons I was hesitant to do the brown/blue combo, as Dianolo said, is because it's been so overdone. I hate those brown towels with the blue cirlces. It screams Wal*Mart to me. Not that I don't like Wal*Mart...but I don't think anyone wants their design scheme in their house to reflect a super store lol. Our wall tile has flecks of brown in them so the I think brown walls would look alright, it is probably what we will end up doing.

Thanks for the rug idea Live Wire Oak, I actually never thought of it but I'm a fan. It would be nice too because there are no ducts running to the bathroom for heat, it gets heated with the hallway register. A rug would be much more pleasant in the brisk mornings.

Thank you everyone for all your suggestions.

Not sure about paint colors but you really need a big fluffy white rug. Had a grey tile bathroom with pink tile trim and a yellow tile bathroom with blue tile trim. Find the biggest fluffiest white rug that will fit. Buy 2 so you always have a clean one to put down. It will do wonders! Your blue wall tile is actually a nice color!