When we moved into our lovely abode we didn't have extra $$ to spend on making it pretty so we got thrifty and creative. We turned gleaming white walls into a variety of colors from gray and green to yellow and even bright orange. But the true magic happened in the kitchen. White walls transformed into a grey; we painted the stark white laminate cabinets into bold red storage units, the equally stark white laminate counter top into a black faux granite (thanks to metallic paint and bubble wrap) masterpiece. We sealed it with 5 layers of poly-crylic, so it did pretty darn well withstanding water, heat, crusted on food, glass rings, soap scum, and the day to day battering.
A few years in, I decided I couldn't deal with the gray anymore, despite it being a fabulous compliment to the red cabinets, so we changed it to a yellow tone with some texture. While it definitely warmed the
room up, now I was looking at the red cabinets and thinking they didn't match anymore with the new wall color. I spent the next several years looking and envisioning replacing them with dark wood grain cabinets. So since I still was not interested in spending the money to replace the cabinets I thought, huh, I can fake this! So after having our red beauties for almost 6 years I painted them again.. this time to mimic an ebony wood grain. It worked well enough I think. I like it.
So now of course, we have these dark faux wood cabinets, and a dark faux granite counter. Too much darkness. We thought, well, we should probably just go buy a new counter top- we deserve it right? Well it came down to a new counter or our children's preschool education. And I don't think there is really a debate on that one; if there was we should be interrogated as parents.
What happens next? Why not repaint the countertop? Six years ago
I sanded, primed, sanded, primed, painted, sanded, painted, sanded, faux finished (with the bubble wrap), then polyed-sanded-polyed-sanded-poly-sanded and so forth; the whole thing was a week long process (pre kids mind you). Did I want to do that again, no. What I did not know six years ago is there is a product called Rustoleum Countertop Transformations. The extent of my excitement upon learning of this product was frankly ridiculous. Suffice it to say, $100 later, and a sand, prime/ paint (in one step), decorative chip, and seal twice we were done with our new counter in approximately a weekend (with kids even!). It looks pretty good I must say.
Next project, DIY backsplash (hopefully not 6 years from now).
PS. I know the red looked good (or I like to think so) but this new transformation will go further in resale or at least in a rental... so for anyone out there that might think we went backwards on this (mom:))... here's hoping for the best (esp. when we get my backsplash in!)
A few years in, I decided I couldn't deal with the gray anymore, despite it being a fabulous compliment to the red cabinets, so we changed it to a yellow tone with some texture. While it definitely warmed the room up, now I was looking at the red cabinets and thinking they didn't match anymore with the new wall color. I spent the next several years looking and envisioning replacing them with dark wood grain cabinets. So since I still was not interested in spending the money to replace the cabinets I thought, huh, I can fake this! So after having our red beauties for almost 6 years I painted them again.. this time to mimic an ebony wood grain. It worked well enough I think. I like it.
So now of course, we have these dark faux wood cabinets, and a dark faux granite counter. Too much darkness. We thought, well, we should probably just go buy a new counter top- we deserve it right? Well it came down to a new counter or our children's preschool education. And I don't think there is really a debate on that one; if there was we should be interrogated as parents.
What happens next? Why not repaint the countertop? Six years ago
I sanded, primed, sanded, primed, painted, sanded, painted, sanded, faux finished (with the bubble wrap), then polyed-sanded-polyed-sanded-poly-sanded and so forth; the whole thing was a week long process (pre kids mind you). Did I want to do that again, no. What I did not know six years ago is there is a product called Rustoleum Countertop Transformations. The extent of my excitement upon learning of this product was frankly ridiculous. Suffice it to say, $100 later, and a sand, prime/ paint (in one step), decorative chip, and seal twice we were done with our new counter in approximately a weekend (with kids even!). It looks pretty good I must say.
Next project, DIY backsplash (hopefully not 6 years from now).
PS. I know the red looked good (or I like to think so) but this new transformation will go further in resale or at least in a rental... so for anyone out there that might think we went backwards on this (mom:))... here's hoping for the best (esp. when we get my backsplash in!)
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