Oops, I Did it Again...

Ha! You know I've just been waiting to weave a Brittany Spears lyric into one of my posts. Anyhoo, "What did I do again?" you ask? Me and my sassy little self painted another laminate countertop...the one in my son's bathroom to be exact.

Here's how his bathroom looked when we moved into the house.

Obviously, the room had been decorated for the previous owner's 4 year old son....and it wasn't quite my teenage son's taste (I know...shocking isn't it?).

We took down the dinosaur wallpaper border, painted the walls tan (Sherwin Williams Nomadic Desert) and changed the towel rods about a year ago, but I kind of left it at that.

The old grey-blue laminate countertop wasn't horrible, but it wasn't exactly from this century either. And since I couldn't afford a new fancy schmancy granite countertop (or even laminate for that matter), I had to improvise...enter Paint, stage right.



I shared a tutorial with you when I painted my master bathroom countertops a few months ago, but I'll go ahead and do it again since I did do a couple things a little differently this time.

STEP ONE:

Before you do a thing, decide what you really want the final result to look like. Grab a sample of tile that you like from the store and examine the colors closely. Try to identify 3-4 colors in the sample, and then find paint colors to match.

I'd also do a sample board first (with the painting techniques below). The first time I did this I was really nervous, and it helped to feel like I knew what I was doing before I touched my countertops.

STEP TWO:

Clean your countertops really well. Make sure you get any grime out of corners, etc.

STEP THREE:

Lightly sand the countertops and then wipe any dust off.

STEP FOUR:

Apply one coat of oil based primer (I used BIN - you can see it in the photo below). Let it dry at least 12 hours...24 hours if possible. I know it feels dry after a couple hours, but it really needs time to cure.

STEP FIVE:

Apply a base coat of one of your 3 or 4 paint colors. This should be the color that's most prominent in your inspiration sample of tile (or whatever it was that inspired you). I used the wall color as my base coat...I figured it was a pretty save bet that the counter would work well with the walls that way. Also, my base coat didn't seem to have quite enough coverage, so I actually applied a second coat (waiting about 8 hours in between coats).


Let your base coat dry really well (I'd say at least 24 hours) before the next step. You might be blending a little and you need to make sure the base coat is totally cured so it doesn't chip or smudge.

STEP SIX:

This is the tricky part. I'm sure there are many ways to add your "stone look", but I'll just tell you what I did, 'kay?

I took a big fat sponge (see photo below) and lightly dipped in a a color that was darker than my base coat but not super-duper dark. I then blotted it on a paper bag to get some of the excess off....and then just went for it. I basically tried not to over think it and just blotted the paint consistently over the countertop, making sure to let the base coat still show through. I think it looks more natural and stone-like if you don't over think it...let it be a little random, but consistent (you don't want giant patches on one side and only a few on the other side...keep it somewhat uniform).



I read that a good method to try was a "splatter method", so I decided to give it a shot. I dipped a (clean and unused) toothbrush in some dark brown paint, and blotted the excess on a paper bag. I then I held the toothbrush over the counter with the bristles facing down and ran my finger through the bristles so that splatters of paint landed on the countertop (see photo below). It kind of worked...but not as well as I'd hoped. Some of the splatters looked more like shooting stars than splotches of stone, so (I didn't panic) I used my sponge to soften the splatters that looked weird.


After the splatters dried for a minute, I went back and continued to layer the darker (or medium) paint color and then added a little of the base color back in...all with a sponge (the same sponge actually). I just kept playing with it until everything looked uniform and stone-like.

Word of Advice: I was way too timid when I painted the countertop in my master bath. You seriously can't mess this up. Add lots of layers until you like the finished product...it's okay. Real stone isn't meticulously perfect...it's a little chaotic and imperfect. It's okay! As long as you choose good colors you'll be fine.

STEP SEVEN:

You still there? Okay, good...Once you're happy with how your countertop looks, let it dry and then apply about 4 coats of polyurethane - sanding lightly in between coats. I used a gloss finish this time and I like it a lot.

Also, last time I said that every paint person I spoke with at Lowe's, Home Depot (and one guy at) Sherwin Williams told me that I couldn't use polyurethane over latex paint. You all said those people were nutso crazy lunatics and that you've been putting polyurethane over latex from the dawn of time...I chose to believe you (since I'm pretty sure you all know much more than my local Home Depot employee...no offense HD).

IN CONCLUSION (does this sound like a research paper?):

That's it....as far as the counter's concerned. I still need to frame out the ginormous mirror, replace the faucet, and replace the light fixture, but baby-steps people....like Socrates said, "Rome wasn't built in a day"....actually I doubt it was Socrates that said that, but he could have :-).

Yes You CAN Paint Those Ugly Laminate Countertops

I gave you a little sneak peak of my master bathroom makeover the other day, and I thought I'd go ahead and share with you the process I used to paint my ugly burgundy laminate countertop.

STEP ONE:

Before you touch your countertops get a really clear idea of what you want the end product to look like. I wanted a subtle travertine or tumbled marble look, so I bought a few samples at the store (and kept the receipts so I could return them when I was finished...oh, don't look at me like that) and then I held paint samples up to them setting aside any colors that I found in the stone. If you look closely you should see several colors in there.

I eventually narrowed my colors down to 3 and then bought a quart of each in latex. You could also use craft paint, but I was afraid it wouldn't hold up as well and I'm really picky about what colors I like so I went a different direction. Also, I would HIGHLY recommend that choose colors that have similar values (or lightness and darkness). I personally think if there's too much difference between the values it doesn't look real...but that's just me.

STEP TWO:

Do a couple test boards using the techniques below. Create as many as you feel you need to do until you like the outcome. This was the final test board I did...and actually I may like it a little better than my actual counter...but oh well.... :).

STEP THREE:

Clean your counters REALLY well. Make sure there's not dust, gunk, residue...or what have you...left behind.

STEP FOUR:

Lightly sand the counters. And then wipe them again so no dust is left behind.

STEP FIVE:

Use a really good oil based primer like BIN, and paint a coat of primer. Let it dry at least 4 hours, longer if you can.

STEP SIX:

Paint a base coat over the entire counter. I used the lightest color first, then applied the medium color, and then the darkest...but I'll get to that part. Let the base coat dry at least 24 hours. I let mine dry longer than that and I think it helped it set up a bit before I applied the next color.

STEP SEVEN:

This is the part I was terrified of because I'd never faux painted before...it really wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, though. And really, if you mess up you can always add more paint, or even repaint the base coat if you need to. Repeat to yourself "no stress....no stress..."

Lightly dip a slightly damp (but not wet) paper towel in your 2nd paint color.



Lightly dab it onto the counter, being sure that you're putting it on lightly enough to let the base coat still show. I think it's better to start applying the paint kind of sparingly and then add more later if you feel you need to.





Let it dry at least 24 hours. Oh, and if you're anything like me your hands will look like this after this step.

STEP EIGHT:

If I thought I was scared of the second color, I was shaking in my boots by the time I needed to apply the third color. After all that work I definitely didn't want to mess it up at this point. But again, you can always fix it....no stress.


Since I wanted the color of the counters to be really subtle I mixed some of the darker wall color with some clear glaze. I then used a damp paper towel to randomly apply darker sections to the counter. This is where I REALLY studied the patterns in my sample tiles.


I was worried it was still going to be too dark, so I went back over each section (immediately after I applied the paint) and misted it with water and then blotted and sometimes buffed with a damp paper towel.

STEP NINE:

Apply at least 2-3 coats of a non-yellowing polyacrylic topcoat, letting it dry a day between each coat. I used polyacrylic rather than polyurethane because A) I've heard polyurethane can yellow, and since I was using such light colors I didn't want that to happen, and B) I had several different paint stores tell me that since polyurethane is oil based you can't use it over latex paint. I don't know if that's true or not, but I didn't want to take a chance. I think if you use oil paint rather than latex you can use polyurethane just fine.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WANT A GRANITE LOOK:

I've heard with granite you want to use more of a splatter or sponge method than a dabbing method, so it's more speckled and less blended.

Also, a while I saw this post where a woman had used that speckled stone-look spray paint to just spray her counter and then applied a top coat. She used a charcoal grey version of the paint, and it really does look pretty amazing.

HOW DOES IT HOLD UP?:

Since I painted the countertop fairly recently I can't give you a definitive answer on this, except to say that mine has held up great so far and everything I've read says they hold up reasonably well (as long as you don't poke at it with a knife or anything like that). Also, I'd be careful about having anything like hot pans or curling irons on the counter. But really, for maybe $30-$50 and a whole lot of satisfaction for not having to look at an ugly counter anymore, I think it's worth it.

AND SINCE EVERYONE LOVES A GOOD BEFORE AND AFTER PICTURE:

I hope this is helpful. Feel free to let me know if you have any additional questions.