Couple Unearths Original 1950s Teal Shower From 'Landlord Special' Paint Job
I live in a rental apartment in a building that's more than a century old - so it's safe to say I'm all too familiar with the landlord special. And despite all the excess white paint, I still love my cozy little home.
That said, I don't think any of the landlord special paint jobs in my apartment are hiding anything quite as remarkable as what creator Grace (@.grace.90210) and her partner found in their rental. The couple worked painstakingly to restore the original blue tile in their vintage bathroom, and their project turned out incredible.
This Creator Stripped White Paint From Her Shower, Revealing Beautiful Original Tiles
"Uncovering beautiful 1950 shower tile from the landlord special," Grace wrote on her recent video, which has more than 387,000 views.
As she explains in the TikTok, she and her partner had noticed a teal blue color peeking out through chips in the white paint in their bathtub - and one day, they finally decided to restore it.
Here are the products they used:
To get started, they applied Citristrip gel to a patch of wall, and then covered it with plastic wrap. They could see that it was working, so they went ahead and covered the full shower walls with more Citristrip gel and cling film. Then, they removed the gel and plastic wrap, revealing gorgeous teal tiles.
And finally, they cleaned the walls up, resulting in what honestly looks like a brand new shower with stunning saturated blue tiles.
Watch the full video here:
@.grace.90210 we finally got the shower of our dreams #shower#tile#tilecleaning#vintage#apartment
Everybody's Talkin' - Harry Nilsson
This Shower Project Turned Out Incredible
Grace was thrilled with how this DIY project turned out. "We finally got the shower of our dreams," she wrote in the caption.
And in the comment section, many TikTok users expressed indignation that someone painted over the original blue tiles.
"they painted for that gorgeous tile??? what a stunning color!" a commenter wrote. "The absolute nerve to paint over that tile," someone else commented.
Others applauded Grace for her amazing luck. "You won the vintage house lottery," a commenter shared. "How's it feel to be God's favorite?" another commenter joked.
However, a few other commenters suggested that Grace check the tiles for lead, since the landlord may have covered the tiles to hide lead-based tiles. So if you're planning to try a similar project in your bathroom, make sure to look into the safety of your original tiles before uncovering them.
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This story was originally published June 15, 2026 at 9:00 AM.