Painting Laminate Countertops

I’m back with more changes to our kitchen. The last time we shared an update it was our painted cabinets. (Read more about that here.) Last weekend we decided to take the plunge and try painting our laminate countertops.

Initially, we thought we wanted to try to do something that looked like granite. There are a lot of DIY versions of painted counters on the internet and if for some reason it didn’t work out, our plan was to just buy new ones.

My hubby, Chris, started by removing the caulk around the edges of the counters and wiping everything down with a TSP Substitute to get off any extra grime or gunk.

Next, he taped around everything that we didn’t want to get paint on. We’ve found that if you take a damp paper towel and go over the tape (Blue Painter’s Tape or Frog Tape) that it kind of seals it so the paint will not leak through.

Then, he applied one coat of Zinsser Cover Stain Primer with a brush.

We let that dry for 2 hours and then, starting on opposite counters, we painted one coat of Rust-Oleum Black Oil Based Paint in Gloss. This stuff is super thick and we only needed one layer to get ample coverage. We let it dry for 24 hours before doing anything else.

The next part of the plan was to apply acrylic paint with a sponge to give the counters a granite type look. After a few attempts at applying the paint, we decided to completely nix that idea because it just wasn’t turning out the way we had hoped. Luckily, the acrylic paint had not dried completely and we were able to get it off fairly easily with a wet sponge. Thank goodness!

Since the counters were looking pretty good in their glossy state, we decided just to go with it and applied a protective top layer. We used three coats of Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch Ultra Cover in Clear Gloss, as recommend by our local hardware store paint guy. I kind of gave this idea the side eye because we had planned on using an oil based polyurethane. However, it seems to be working out OK so far.

The clear gloss paint looked blue-ish going on, but it dried completely clear. I’m thinking I will go back and add a few more layers just to give it some extra durability.

We really love how our kitchen looks now! The dark counters add the perfect contrast to our bright white cabinets. Every thing is so smooth and easy to clean off. There are visible brush strokes, but it honestly doesn’t bother us one bit.

Because we’ve only had our “new” countertops done for a week, there has not been a lot of wear and tear on them. However, they seem to be holding up just fine with normal use and cleaning.

I will definitely share an update if we notice any problems, but so far, so good. Here’s hoping for the best!

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