Painting Countertops

For the Undomestic Lady: It's ok to throw plastic over the dirty dishes in your sink and ignore them when you've got a project to do!

So now my cupboards are done and I love how they look. One problem: I now hate how my countertops look against my beautiful "new" cupboards! Ok, so I hated how my countertops looked even before the cupboard makeover. Who's idea was it to install PINK countertops, anyway??? Oh, the 1950's....

Yes, I am ignoring the dishes in the sink because I just want to get this project started! After spending countless hours online researching how I can replace my countertops on a low budget, I decide that I am going to try to paint them. However, I don't want just solid color countertops; I want them to looked textured, like granite does!

I went to Lowe's and found Valspar Stone spraypaint. After much debate, I decide I want dark countertops and go with the charcoal gray with black specks (I really loved the sand color with red specks, too!)

I also bought an industrial degreaser, polyurethane that goes over paint, and my typical paint supplies (plastic, blue tape, etc.)

Step 1: I scrubbed my counter so that all debris was removed.

 Step 2: I poured Klean Strip Sander Deglosser on the counter and let it set for about 10 min. This removes some of the gloss that is on your counters which will make it difficult for paint to stick to. Once the deglosser was dry I used sandpaper and lightly sanded the counters. I wiped off the debris from the sandpaper and poured the deglosser on again for 10 minutes. It may not be absolutely necessary to do this twice, but I wanted the counters to be as deglossed as possible.

Step 3: Cover everything in plastic that you don't want covered in paint! Because I am going to be using a spray primer and paint I covered EVERYTHING around this area.

Step 4: OPTIONAL: Because my counters had square edges and I wanted them to have rounded edges (so that they would look more modern), I used a clear cauke and smoothed it over the edges of the counter. I used a putty knife to make it smooth with the counter but yet rounded at the edges.

Step 5: I slowly and evenly sprayed the primer over the entire surface. Because I am covering pink countertops and wanted to be sure none of the pink would show through, I did 3 layers of primer (wait for it to dry between each coat of primer!)

Step 6: When the primer was completely dry, I spray painted it with the Valspar Stone spraypaint. I was really nervous about this step! However, as soon as I did the first layer I could tell that I was going to love it. The paint has little black specks in it that made my countertops look like stone!!!
I did three more layers (letting it dry between layers). IMPORTANT: When spraying the stone paint it is important that you are constantly moving the can and not spraying it in any area for too long. It can "bunch up" and look spongy if you don't keep it moving. I made this mistake and had to go back with a paper towel and fix it before it dried.

Step 7: After letting the counter dry overnight, I used a polyurethane-type of gloss that could be poured over paint to seal the counter and make it resistant to water. I would recommend going to your local hardware store and browsing the polyurethanes they have available. Make sure you read the label and it can be poured over paint. The one that I used had two portions that had to be mixed perfectly in order for it to cure properly. We mixed and poured it, but I think our portions were off because our counters have a slight stick to them.

Step 8: Use a knife and cut around the edges of your plastic and blue tape before removing. If you don't do this you may end up pulling up some of the paint/gloss when you rip off your tape.

Step 9: I bought a new rug (above!) to go with your my "new," NON-PINK counters!

Undomestically Yours, Leah