Unfortunately, our house needed a lot of work so we had to spread an already small budget across ~3,500 square feet! While new countertops are a part of the long term plan, that’s going to have to wait sooo… I painted my laminate countertops with….latex, interior paint! I know all my “crunchy” girlies are SQUIIIRMING right now but I promise, no one is eating paint chips 😊.
The original countertop selection (almond color, laminate countertop) is one thing that confused me from the jump with this house. The builder made incredible & timeless decisions on materials & finishes all throughout the house EXCEPT for the countertops. I am PERFECTLY fine with laminate btw but in the color almond?! Come on now! It gave “1980’s doctors office” & it was a “no” for me!
Also! HUGE shout out to Simplicity in the South, an amazing home & DIY blogger (in South Carolina actually)! I read her blog post on how to make your countertops look like Soapstone & it was the only reference I used!! I did everything pretty close to how she did it so I encourage you to check out her blog post!
I’ll recount my own experience in this blog post.
Quick note: as with EVERY project in this kitchen, this project took FOOOREVER. Pack your patience or you might as well sit this one out. EEK!
The process
Explanations of each step are below the pictures
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- Clear Off the Countertops & Degrease
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- Light Sanding & Clean Off the Dust
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- Prep the Area & Prime
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- Black Paint
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- Mix Up Gray Paint, Spray it On, & Do the “Grocery-Bag-Dab”
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- Mix Up Gray Paint, Spray it On, & Do the “Grocery-Bag-Dab”
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- Mix Black Paint (1 part) & Water (2 parts) & Use Mixture to Paint OVER your Gray
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- Mix Black Paint (1 part) & Water (2 parts) & Use Mixture to Paint OVER your Gray
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- Varnish to Protect your Masterpiece; Final Look
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Step One: Clear Off the Countertops & Degrease
- Simple enough! Honestly, the only hard part about this step was moving all of our junk out of the way ;P
Step Two: Light Sanding & Clean Off the Dust
- I used my orbital sander with 120 grit
- The only real purpose of this is to scratch up the surface eeeever so slightly so that the paint can grab onto it.
Step Three: Prep the Area & Prime
- I used painters tape AND plastic drop cloths to protect the area (this can be a messy project).
- Paint the Countertop with Primer! You guys, I seriously used regular, latex, interior primer & I used a 6 inch, foam roller.
- Paint Type: Zinsser, Bulls Eye 1-2-3, Interior or Exterior Multi-purpose Primer
- Color: As is, White
- Quantity: 1 Gallon
- Price: ~$33 per Gallon
- CAUTION: I did NOT use oil-based primer but you may need to! Consider doing a “nail test” on a small area of primer before painting all the countertops.
- Nail Test
- Paint a small area with the latex primer you have & allow to dry
- Use your fingernail or something sharp (like an actual nail or screw) & scratch the paint; if the paint comes away easily, you will need oil-based primer.
- Nail Test
- Let the paint dry
Step Four: Black Paint
- Paint the Countertop Black! I used a 6 inch, foam roller.
- Paint – Countertop Color
- Paint Type: Valspar, SIGNATURE, INTERIOR PAINT + PRIMER, Eggshell
- Color: Valspar, Lincoln Cottage
- Quantity: 1 Gallon
- Price: ~$45 per Gallon
- Paint – Countertop Color
- Let the paint dry
- Once again, I have to thank my girl at Simplicity in the South because she suggested this paint color in her blog post how to make your countertops look like Soapstone & she NAILED it.
Step Five: Mix Up Gray Paint, Spray it On, & Do the “Grocery-Bag-Dab”
- Add black paint & white paint to a spray bottle (like a “Zep Professional Sprayer Bottle”) until you get a gray color you like.
- NOTE: you do NOT need very much; I did all of my counters with probably no more than ¼ cup of each paint color.
- Add water, one tablespoon-ish at a time, to the paint mixture until you get a watery substance.
- WORKING IN SECTIONS (DO NOT SPRAY ALL OF YOUR COUNTERTOPS AT ONCE; the gray paint with dry before you get to “dab” it)
- Spray a small area (no more than 2 ft wide) with the gray mixture & then ball a grocery bag up into your hand & “dab” the gray mixture into the area.
- Make sure every inch of countertop in that area was dabbed.
- Spray a small area (no more than 2 ft wide) with the gray mixture & then ball a grocery bag up into your hand & “dab” the gray mixture into the area.
- Let the paint dry.
Step Six: Mix Black Paint (1 part) & Water (2 parts) & Use Mixture to Paint OVER your Gray
- Add black paint & white paint to a spray bottle (like a “Zep Professional Sprayer Bottle”) until you get a gray color you like.
- NOTE: you do NOT need very much; I did all of my counters with probably no more than ¼ cup of each paint color.
- Add water, one tablespoon-ish at a time, to the paint mixture until you get a watery substance.
- WORKING IN SECTIONS (DO NOT SPRAY ALL OF YOUR COUNTERTOPS AT ONCE; the gray paint with dry before you get to “dab” it)
- Spray a small area (no more than 2 ft wide) with the gray mixture & then ball a grocery bag up into your hand & “dab” the gray mixture into the area.
- Make sure every inch of countertop in that area was dabbed.
- Spray a small area (no more than 2 ft wide) with the gray mixture & then ball a grocery bag up into your hand & “dab” the gray mixture into the area.
- Let the paint dry.
Optional Step: Add Veining
- Natural stone has beautiful, irregular veining.
- I chose NOT to paint any veining because I loved the look at step 6 (& also because I am too Type A to paint freely enough that it would look naturally occurring).
- To do this though, you use a fine tip paint brush (I would recommend a set with various sizes) & the gray mixture you made in Step Five.
- Paint on the veins with the fine tip paint brush
- To make it look even more natural, you could buff/blur the veins/lines with another paint brush.
- On some stones, the veining kind of has a watercolor effect. You might be able to achieve that by wetting one of your fine paint brushes with water & smearing/smudging your veining.
- Definitely look at pictures online for inspiration & maybe PRACTICE before you give it a go on your countertops.
Step Seven: Varnish to Protect your Masterpiece
- At Simplicity in the South’s recommendation, I used Modern Masters, Decorative Painters, Dead Flat Varnish because I did NOT want a shiny countertop. This finishes completely flat.
- I worked in super small sections & applied with a medium sized, foam brush.
- Let dry completely
review 1 year later
I still LOVE them. They are NOT as perfect as they were of course. In some VERY small spots the paint has started to wear but, because of the dimension that these countertops now have, the imperfections are super subtle.
I think they are holding up incredibly well given that I literally scrub these multiple times a day.
It was a very tedious project but it absolutely TRANSFORMED this kitchen & I’d have to say…I’d do it again!
I hope you found this helpful! & good luck to you!!
Love,
Kai
