Oh wow. Let me just start by saying that this was by far one of the easiest, yet time consuming DIY home improvement projects that I have ever done! I am obsessed with Pinterest, and W loves this app called Snap Guide. He claims it is the more "manly" version of Pinterest but really, its just a condensed version of Pinterest and it is just as girly. Anyways, he scrolled upon this idea and thought we should run with it.
We love doing projects together, and as of right now, we don't own our own home, so what projects we do, are for his parent's house. We wanted to do something nice for them and update their kitchen somewhat. This was the cheapest and most awesome way (in my opinion) to give it that facelift. We figured if we did a good enough job, and liked the way it turned out, we can do it in our own house someday. We want a nice house that doesn't need a lot of work, but that just isn't realistic. Well for me anyway. I am the Craft Queen, and I have so many ideas, and things "pinned" to do, that we may as well buy something less expensive because I am just going to up-do it anyways. I have a stash of things already finished that are just awaiting a place in our future home. I figure if I start now, by the time we move, I will have a fully furnished home. We won't have to deal with bare, empty first home feeling like most.
Ok enough blabbing, let's get to the project details! Pictured below is a collage of the kitchen before and the supplies.
Here is what you need:
-Base paint (We chose a black semi-gloss to be the counter base color.)
-Acrylic paint (We got ours at hobby lobby. A big bottle of metallic silver was our choice.)
-Paint Glitter (Valspar has the BEST glitter crystals in silver and gold at Lowe's.)
-Natural Sea Sponge (Lowe's, Hobby Lobby)-Clear Polyurethane
These are what our countertops looked like before. And those muffins on the stove, they were delish, in case you were wondering ;)
First order of business.....TAPE EVERYTHING!!! As you can see below, we taped around everything. Also, buy some drop cloths and tape them to the cabinets so that no paint or poly drips on them or your floor. After taping, we realized that the lip of the counters were supposed to be painted as well, so we had to go back and bring the tape down under the counters which you'll see in the photo with the first black coat.
TAPE! TAPE! TAPE!
Lookin' better already huh? I think so too! I applied 2 heavy coats of the black. Instead of adding a third coat, I just touched up the areas that I thought needed it, and it was fine. Some people suggested using three coats, but to me it wasn't necessary.
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| Someone needed a distraction so mommy could paint. Cool Whip it is! |
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| mmm... this is fun! |
Now that you're black coats have dried, it's time for the fun part...sponging! Just take your sea sponge, wet it, squeeze it out, and tear it into smaller sponges. It gives more jagged edges which make for a better granite look. Don't freak out, just cover your counter completely with the color of your choice. We chose metallic silver. Some people do multiple colors, as some granite has several colors within. My in-laws wanted simplicity, so we just stuck with one color. They wanted mostly black with just a hint of silver. Below is a picture of my first layer of silver.
Looks crazy huh? Don't worry! We'll make it better.
As you are sponging, sprinkle your paint glitter. I HIGHLY recommend the Valspar Paint Glitter Crystals. I put them in a pepper shaker and just sprinkled each aread lightly as I sponged. It is totally up to you how much/little you use. The Valspar isn't chunky like regular glitter, it is very fine, like pixie dust! It's perfect.
Once that layer dries, which literally only takes like 10-15 minutes, add your next color all over, just as heavy as your first color. We only are doing one color as I said before, so I just went over it with the black paint I orginally painted the counters with.
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| This is after the top black layer. |
My in-laws decided they still wanted more black, so W went sponged it again the next morning with the black paint. He added a little more glitter as it got somewhat covered by adding so many layers of black paint.
The best part about this is that no matter what, you can keep adding more of whatever color you want to make it look the way you want.
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| Here is the final layer of black. I felt if we kept going over it, there'd be no silver left. So we went on and polyed it. |
Poly time is where I put my paint brush down. That is just not my thing. W refinishes barrels as a side-job, hobby, whatever you want to call it, so I let him take the reigns on that one. This is what gives the counter their shiny granite look. It also seals the counters so that the paint doesn't chip, and so that you can use them like you would any other counter.
While poly-ing, you may notice small bubbles. POP THEM! To do so, you can exhale, use a fan, blowdryer, blow torch, whatever you feel most comfortable doing. Just make sure you get them flattened or you'll havea bumpy counter when it dries. Also, ventialtion is important. Your entire house will smell like a brand new gymnasium, so I suggest getting a good sized fan, and opening windows to air out the room. This will also speed up drying time.
Here is our finished product! We are so excited. This only cost us around $50 since we already had clear poly on hand. If you don't have that, it'll add about another $30 to your project making the total around $80!
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