Martha Stewart....in Black.: Faux Granite Counter Top

Okay, the cabinets are done...next up, the counter. I did a lot of research before we moved in because I knew I wanted to try and refurbish as many existing items as possible...not only to save money, but also because I love being clever and creative. How many people do you know that handed over a fistful of cash for beautiful, granite counter tops? That's right...everyone. How many people do you know that paid 60 bucks for materials and MADE their own counters that look like this...in an hour. Not many...

Painting Formica is no new idea and I certainly don't claim it as one of my own brilliant brainstorms. You can find tons of tutorials on YouTube or Pinterest and there are even several companies that make "faux granite" painting kits. Rustoleum, Crystal Top Overlay and Giani Granite are the main ones I found. I researched them all...comparing price, reviews, photos, videos and quality...and I ended up selecting the Giani Granite kit. It had the best ratings and at 60 bucks it was a fraction of the price of the other options. I even priced out the materials individually, but I still couldn't do it cheaper. Giani has several color options, but I chose Sicilian Sand.

The kit includes a black primer, 3 different colors of "mineral" paints (I assume they add minerals to give it a more realistic stone appearance?), a clear top coat, a mini roller and a big sea sponge...among a couple other items. They even include a lengthy how-to video that I watched twice (because I wasn't listening the first time through) and then I proceeded to just do whatever I wanted. I'm not the best at following instructions simply because I'm terrible at paying attention... The video strongly suggest doing "practice sponging" on the black paper they provide to get your technique down, but being the impatient monster that I am, I skipped the practice step, rolled up my sleeves and dove right in...

Here are the counters before...gross.

First step: Prep. I hate prep. I'm so impatient and easily bored and I just wanna hurry up and get to the finish line, but I know it's important so I force myself to do it...blah, blah. I taped the areas around the counter that I didn't want to get messed up with FrogTape (I could and should write a whole post on FrogTape...it is ahhhhhmazing.) The instructions say to use SOS or Brillo pads, but I had no idea where mine were packed, so I just scrubbed it really well with hot, soapy water and a dish sponge. Chemical cleaners aren't recommended because of the residue they can leave behind. I didn't have any nicks or gouges in my counter, but if you do, you can fill them with wood patch before you start painting...

Also, I was planning on replacing the sink and adding a tile blacksplash, so I ripped both of those out before I started so I didn't have to paint around them. If you don't have the luxury of gutting your bathroom before painting your counters, just mask your sink off really well with FrogTape...not that blue painter's tape crap, only use FrogTape. Trust me.

Second step: Primer. After the counter was bone dry, I rolled on one coat of black primer and waited 8 hours like I was supposed to. The written instructions have like, 5 paragraphs on how to primer, but again...I hate reading instructions and this part isn't brain surgery. So, I skimmed them, caught the highlights and went to town. It said that one coat of primer is enough, but the following day the primer got really dusty and ashy and mucked up from the drywall destruction going on in the shower (that's yet another post)...so I put down a second coat of primer and covered it in plastic after it was dry to protect it from the construction chaos...

Primered counter...and cutest puppy helper of all time.

Third step: The fun part! Again, after skimming the instructions, I cut the provided sea sponge into multiple sizes, poured my "mineral paints" onto Styrofoam plates and started dabbing. The colors are numbered in the order you are supposed to use them in, so it's hard to screw it up...even for people like me.

I dabbed all three paint layers on one small section of the counter at a time instead of sponging the entire counter with paint #1 and then paint #2, etc. This part is important!!! If you've nodded off from reading this boring, informative post...wake up and pay attention to this part! You want the first layer to still be wet when you start dabbing on the second layer because they'll sorta blend and merge...making it look more realistic. I've seen photos of people who did it the other way and it reminded me of leopard print. It wasn't pretty. I also never rinsed out any of the sponges...I just kept dipping and double-dipping them in the paints and letting them do whatever they wanted. To make it look as realistic as possible, I barely paid any attention to what I was doing. Granite isn't uniform...it's random. So, just let go and let it happen!

While dabbing, I kept rotating my wrist and using different sides of the sponge to prevent getting the same imprint over and over. I even used my left hand part of the time so I couldn't control the pattern even if I wanted to. I noticed that the wetter my sponge, the LESS I liked the outcome...it looked too fake. So, I used the paints very sparingly and dabbed off the excess... I kept going back and forth in between the colors and when the counter was totally covered, I thought it looked too..."one note." I had covered too much of the black primer up and it felt flat. So, I busted open the primer again, and using my smallest sponge, I super lightly dabbed a little black back in here and there. Presto! Instant depth again.

As soon as you're done sponging, you'll know it. Just keep dabbing until you stand back and love it... The whole process took me less than an hour and I'm a super duper perfectionist. It was actually a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. After letting the paint dry for 4 hours, I lightly sanded it with super fine 600 grit sand paper to sand down any paint peaks made by the sponges...

I wish I would have remembered to take some "during" photos while painting, but I was so consumed with the creative process that I totally forgot. I'm lame. I also plan to paint my kitchen counters, so I'll update this post with more photos then...

After painting....

Last step: Clear top coat. This step is the most important and while doing my research, I read several reviews written by customers who hadn't really paid attention and sadly screwed up their top coat and the overall look of their counters. So, I actually forced myself to thoroughly read the instructions for this step.

Immediatly after rolling on a THIN layer of the top coat over a small area...place the roller at the back of the counter and super lightly roll back over it, pulling the roller towards you. It's important to use ONE long, end-to-end, straight roll stroke. Move onto the next section and do the same thing... If you were to just roll back and forth the finish wouldn't look uniform and you'd be able to see the roller marks. No bueno.

After waiting the required 4 hours, I put on a second coat. It says that three coats is the max, but being the stubborn, non-listener that I am, I put on 4 coats because it didn't feel protected enough to me. I mean, this is a bathroom we're talking about... I can't speak for the longevity of this stuff yet, but it's been 3 weeks and so far I'm impressed... I wipe down any water drops right away though, just as a precaution.

I don't think the photos do the counter justice...they look WAY better in person. I'm super happy with how they turned out and everyone who sees them says, "Those are painted?!?!"

After photos...LOVE.