Okay, with that title you are probably thinking that we are crazy. Who would ever paint their countertops with actual PAINT? We actually got some inspiration from home bloggers, ChrisLovesJulia, who are INCREDIBLY talented. Link to their tutorial. We followed the tutorial and are still happy with the results, even two years later. The finished product gave us a soap stone vibe and it added the contrast that our kitchen needed after painting our entire house white. 😅If you’re on a budget like us and need a quick style change to your boring kitchen then we have the perfect solution for you. Check out the before and after pics below.

Link to our Project Checklist

The project from start to finish took about 3 days to complete, it wasn’t too difficult. It’s just like painting, except you have you to seal the counter to make it more durable to withstand daily use.

Basic tools 🔨 if you’re on a budget like us the first time ($) [Link to our Project Checklist]:

  • Sand Paper – To rough up the laminate surface
  • Tape – Protect the walls and the cabinets
  • Tack Cloth – Pick up fine particles after sanding
  • Paint Roller and Paint Brush
  • Paint Tray and Disposable Inserts
  • Chalk Board Paint
  • Wax or poly-acrylic – to seal the counters

If your budget is a bit more flexible and you’re looking to invest long term into your home with other renovations, we would consider buying these items to make your projects easier ($$):

  • Palm Sander (Mouse Sander) – This makes sanding a breeze and is a lot less physically demanding than manually sanding. We bought a cordless mouse sander eventually, but for this project used a hand-me-down palm sander which worked just a well.
  • 2 inch Angle Brush – This high quality brush is comfortable and easy hold for long periods of time.
  • Paint Brush Scrubber – To clean the brush and get majority of the paint out.

The first step we did was to sand down the laminate. We thought the paint would stick better to the roughed up surface versus the slick texture it naturally has. We used 150 grit sand paper on a palm (or mouse) sander. I would recommended using a dust mask when doing any sanding of any kind to protect your lungs. We then used a tack cloth to pick up all of the fine particles off the laminate.

We then taped off the walls around the counters and around the sink and we started painting! We used black chalk board paint, we saw from other tutorials that this gave the look we were wanting. To paint, a small 4 inch (estimating) roller and a brush was used. We were a little nervous at first with the color. The color seemed really purple, but as it cured it darkened up a lot and finished with a matted color.

After the counters were painted, we let the paint cure overnight. The last step would be to seal the paint for durability. We used a wax, linked here, but that was super smelly and it was an okay seal. With our experience to date, we would recommend a couple layers of the polycrylic. The wax did great for us and our counters are still lasting through the daily wear and tear. However after 2 years some nicks and scratches are visible. The one downfall with wax is the physical effort needed to buff out the surfaces and that terrible chemical smell that felt like it takes away a few years off of your life. We used polycrylic just recently when sealing our dressers that we painted and it was odorless compared to the wax and just required a brush and patience, waiting between coats.

We were so happy with the results, thank you to ChrisLovesJulia for putting that tutorial together. Below are pictures of our kitchen now, obviously more posts to come in the future on our kitchen remodels.

Project Completed February 4, 2018