Emily's Healthy Home

I know I’m not the only one that has lived with countertops that aren’t the most attractive color, nor am I the only one who has a very limited budget and new countertops, even laminate, is not an option. 

Thankfully the original color of ours weren’t that bad, a pale peachy pink color, it could have been worse.  They are also in great great shape.  I’ve always known painting your laminate countertops was possible, but have always been way too scared to do something. Then I discovered a kit make by Rustoleum that you could purchase to transform your countertops OR cabinets! They have different kits available for different sizes of kitchens.  If you have a slightly higher budget available I think these kits would be great, and I was very very tempted to save up for them, at least the countertops.  So check out Rustoleum Tranformations and see if it’s something that would make your kitchen look amazing. 

But if that is still out of reach for your budget, take matters into your owns hands and be brave, take a deep breath and get crafty! Let’s do this.

See pale pink isn’t SO bad, but I like decorating and making my home well to my taste, and this is not so much my taste. Some people would be okay with these and that’s fine.  But you can’t argue with me when you see the after results…

In case you still aren’t convinced…another before shot…

AND after…

Yes I know I still need more knobs, they’re coming…Believe me now?

First I researched a bunch because I needed some convincing from other real people that had successfully completed painting their countertops.

Then I found instructions (click for original instructions!) on Pretty Handy Girl’s Blog.

I won’t go into detail on the steps, you can find them at the link above, I followed them exactly, the only thing different I did was used different colors, and polyurethane for the top coat, instead of Water-based Polycyclic Protective Finish in Clear Gloss (I really wish I would have tried that, but the guy at the store convinced me Polyurethane was the best way to go, I do need to apply a few more coats sometime, so I may try and find something better, I’ll update when I do!)

The colors (in order as I applied them to my countertops) I used:

    I bought mine at JoAnn’s.

1. Burnt Sienna (Brand Americana) This helped tie in the color of my cabinets.

2. Khaki Tan (Americana) I dapped this on heavier, like really heavy.  I have lots of counter-space and needed about 3 bottles of this one, also because I used it again in another layer, but smaller blotches)

3. Metallic 14K Gold (Brand- Ceramcoat) Okay, don’t freak out, YES GOLD!, Small blotches randomly placed for a little sheen here and there.

    *After I had these first three colors layered I was in semi-freak out mode because it looked like Christmas Puke, don’t give up, keep going it’ll get better!

4. Dark Chocolate (Americana) Things started to change after I started applying this color, for the good, at this point I did a lot of blotching covering up most of the red and gold tones…I also used a few bottles of this, and again layered it again (as my last layer…)

5. Lamp (Ebony) Black (Americana) Be the most careful with the black, you can always go back and add more…I followed the tip in the blog instructions and used half a piece of paper when putting on the black.

6. Khaki Tan- I went over the countertops again with this after the black, not as heavy as the first time I used it but trying to cover more of any white spots left and more of the Sienna and Gold colors.

7. Dark Chocolate- This was the last color I ended with, and I’m happy I did, I almost stopped at the second layer of the Tan color but Ben said he didn’t think it looked right. 

If you are going for a different color of “granite” find a sample piece online, or you can get little chip samples of laminate colors from Lowes for free, take them to the craft store and match up your colors! It’s really that easy. 

And wear a mask when finishing up the project with the Polyurethane, I think it made me a little Ill, ick.  Keep your windows open for a few days, and fans going.

I used brown paper bags while I painted the colors, it was easy to throw away and get new ones for each color and coat I did.

I used one coat of oil-based primer, Odorless Kilz brand (you can get non-odorless for a few bucks cheaper).

I didn’t cover my cabinets, just taped up around the walls and such, I like to live dangerously, if you aren’t as careful or don’t trust yourself make sure to protect anything of value. 

Be proud of your hardwork and money saved! I’m still waiting for a celebration dinner for some Sushi, I hope Ben reads this post haha. No Seriously Ben, I’m craving sushi.

If you have any questions please contact me, or leave a comment!