painting ugly ceramic tile

Epoxy Paint, DIY or from a contractor (the ones who restore bathtubs). HD has Almond and White colors in quart sizes. The white can be tinted but they will not always mix this at all hardware stores. Use a roller or sprayer, stuff is too thick to get consistant results while brushing.

For a wall of small area, you might get acceptable appearance and performance from a good spray paint.

The short answer is yes.

The long answer is that I've only seen it done in commercial applications with commercial grade paints specifically made for the purpose. In one case a bathroom full of ugly mauve tile was sprayed with an etching primer one evening and then top coated with a nice gray paint with color flecks the next evening. I presume the top coat was a two part epoxy type paint. At any rate it looked great and was still looking great several years later in a heavy commercial location.

So the stuff is out there, but you may have to go to a "real" paint store to find it.

Pete C.