Countertop On A Budget

One of my final projects for the kitchen in my house was to update the tired, stained, and downright ugly countertops. Of course, being on a tight budget meant that I wouldn’t be able to replace them with the style I was looking for brand new.

After a bit of research, I found the Giani Countertop Paint kit and purchased it for about $75 via Amazon. The instructions were very easy to follow, and I finished the project in a weekend. For someone with a more artistic hand, I believe you would very easily be able to draw in more detail than I was able to with mine.

So here is a quick reminder of what the kitchen looked like in September 2013, when I first moved in.

Step 1.

The first step to the transformation was putting down a base coat to cover the existing countertop. I won’t lie, part of me considered stopping here, just because the solid black looked so SLICK.

Step 2.

Apply your first color with a sponge. The kit comes with a round pourus sponge to add texture and dimension to the counter. You start with one color and sponge away, but be careful to leave enough canvas for additional shades.

 Step 3.

Switch up the color! You can continue with the sponge until you reach your desired combination of colors. In a few areas I actually went back with the base black on the sponge to break up the tones.

Step 4.

Once you have applied the colors to your preference, it’s time to add the top coat/sealant. The kit includes a roller for application, and it was extremely simple to do. That’s it!

Here’s a final before/after shot. I am so in love with how this project turned out. I completed the transformation nearly two years ago, and have had very little, if any damage to the paint or countertop. When following the recommendations, you don’t want to use any harsh cleaners or leave water/liquid on the counter for long periods of time. After cooking, I would wipe everything down with an antibacterial wipe and be done.

Bonus Update!

Now, I have to brag about my drop in utensil holder. One of the best outcomes of the water damage in my kitchen was being able to replace the space between the refrigerator with a custom cabinet ($60 on the return shelf at Lowe’s) and a chunk of countertop that I got for free! I had a friend cut two holes into the countertop for me before I painted. Once the painting project was complete, I set the counter on the long open cabinet and dropped in the two metal canisters I had purchased from Amazon.

They sit perfectly in the hole, and give me extra space around the stove and outlet area. Since the cabinet is long, I use that to store my cookie racks and cutting boards. The canisters have just enough of a lip to be secure, but I can still take them out to wash any grease splatter or crumbs that may have accumulated.

The Transformations of Cabinets

After the flood and ServiceMaster’s week long mitigation (which nearly drove me insane) I decided there would never be a better time to paint my cabinets. I had previously decided that “some day” I would like to paint them black so as to appear more modern and make them uniform. I believe they were all bought at different times, the patterns in the wood were different and once I began taking the doors off I noticed many had holes drilled in them and were not the quality my dear elder family members would have me believe.

I purchased the Rustoleum cabinet transformations kit for seventy some dollars at Lowe’s and it was absolutely worth it. It took me forever, because I did the whole project on my own and had little space to let the doors dry. If you plan to tackle this project yourself, be prepared to spend a great deal of time on it.

So, here is how it all went down:

1. The first step as instructed on the kit is to degloss and degrime the cabinet surface. It was easy, and went fairly quickly. *Tip: When they say “apply liberally” you can never apply liberally enough. I had almost 3/4 a bottle left and I thought I might drown in the stuff.

2. Painting the cabinet surface. It took me about two weeks painting every night after work, and as much as I could on the weekends. The bonding paint that comes in the kit works wonders on the surface. I knew that I didn’t have enough of the boding paint to do all of my cabinets so I sparingly used the bonding paint to do the first coat and then bought a regular latex paint in a similar shade to do the second coat. It covered perfectly, and stuck just as well after the Rustoleum product. So instead of spending another $74 on another kit for just that paint, I paid about $10.

SO.MANY.DOORS

3. The protective top coat was not as tricky as I expected it to be. As recommend on one of the product reviews I read, I added a few drops of water to the solution to make it easier to work with. Brush strokes were tricky in a few areas, and I ended up with a boo boo or two but overall-terrific!

4. The hardware on the doors was an icky gold which I am attempting to rid my house of (still got a few light fixtures to take out.) And after pondering on whether or not I could afford all new hardware I decided it would be easiest to simply remove the knobs from the doors and patch the holes. I bought new antique brass knobs for the drawers and far wall cabinets (they actually match the hinges) just to give a touch of something to the black.

Here are the results!