I got the idea from Rick's cousin's wife, while on a visit to Baltimore. She completed the project on her counters. I couldn't believe it was paint. I loved our counters at our old house. It was formica, but the kind that looked like granite. At this point in our life, the formica that looks like granite is better than what we had. I bought a a Giani Countertop kit in Baltimore and within a few weeks, the kids were on fall break and went to mamaw and papaws. So began one of two projects.
Before
So first, you have to tape everything off.
Then you have to paint a base coat that is black. I did this coat before bed, then in the morning started stamping on the colors with a sponge. You have to let the first coat dry for 8 hours before stamping on the colors.
This step took longer than I expected. None of the project was really hard, just time consuming. If you were considering this project, know that your kitchen will be out of commission for a few days.
You have 3 colors that come with your kit. There are different kits. One if sandstone for a lighter color, one if chocolate, I got the bombay black since that's what the old house had and I loved it. You stamp each section of the counters with all 3 colors and this is fun part. If there is a color that you like more, you stamp more of that on. You are using a sponge that comes with the kit to apply. I highly recommend the gloves that they suggest. I got so excited and went right to stamping. When I was done my hands were black. The paint came off after washing profusely, but my nails were painted black. I felt a little goth. I had to scrape the paint off my nails. I also had to use nail polish remover.
When you get all the colors on, I think that had to sit overnight too before putting on the topcoat. So in the morning I put on the first top coat. This is what seals the paint and also gives you that shine that granite has. You put 2 top coats on and you have to wait 4 hours between each coat. Then you have to let it dry for 72 hours before putting small appliances back on. Luckily we were heading to Cleveland for a few days so the morning after we got back I was able to put everything back where it went.
I went ahead and put those little felt thingies on the bottom of the coffee maker, canisters, etc so that they wouldn't scratch the surface. I am a little more cautious with my counters now, but so far so good. I don't clean them with clorox all the time like I use to. I'm afraid the chemicals would be too harsh, although Melissa says that she uses cloroz spray on her counters and they look fine. She also did hers a year ago so I figured that is a pretty good time to see how durable they are.
I'm extremely pleased with how this project turned out. I am now in love with my kitchen, where I used to not be. I have noticed that I keep it clean more often because I love the way the counters look now. Funny how doing one thing can totally change the look of something.
So again, the before....
And the after...
