Ok, So I have been living in this rental home for close to a year now and the one thing that has driven me absolutely crazy were the dark green 1982 design laminate countertops in the kitchen. Many people love that look. I'm not one of them! Of course i can't find a pic of the countertop before but will have one by the end of the day I promise!
I have practically driven my husband to drink nagging him about trying to finagle ways to get the landlord to change them. Now that we've just renewed the lease, and our wonderful landlord sprung for new appliances, I knew my plan for new countertops probably wouldn't fly... at least not soon enough. Being the voracious researcher and cheapster aka Queen of frugal luxury that I am, I went online in search of a solution. I found this amazing (looking- have not tried it myself yet) product called Giani Granite Paint http://www.liquidstainlesssteel.com/giani/index.html
The website also has a paint product that turns solids like your refrigerator or dishwasher into a stainless look-alike. I would try that too if I was trying to match one stainless appliance to others and couldn't afford to purchase a new one yet. Luckily I just got those!
If you cant spring for granite yet and have laminate counters, (and own your home!) I would try this. It's a muliti step paint process that turns your laminate countertops into granite lookalikes! It looks easy and looks like it would really work. Also has good feedback. If it were my house, I would have but it's not so my husband nixed that idea. He didn't want the responsibility. Then out of my sweet hubby's mouth came the simple words, (that would have saved him weeks of headaches from my nagging) what about using contact paper? I had it in my apartment in NYC.
Well why didn't you mention it before!
We needed at least 26" in order to refrain from having an ugly looking seam and to make it look authentic. That was hard to find. In fact, I only found one role that was the width I personally wanted and I liked the pattern well enough. (see below for resources)
It looks just like my mother in laws real granite countertops in her amazing home in NY. The pattern, not my kitchen! :)
There is a huge variety of patterns though ranging from granite to wood and even leather in various colors, so if you don't mind the seam (which wouldn't be horribly noticeable but hubby & I are perfectionists) or if your countertops are less deep, some of the other patterns could also work for you.
If I'm being honest, it was not the easiest thing to apply but hubby and I took our time, measured meticulously, lined up the seams perfectly and voila... for $79 bucks we have a new kitchen! We still have a good amount left over too if it ever tears or begins to unstick.
Tips:
After we had finished laying it all down I took a plastic spatula and mashed or rubbed in a line pattern the entire space including the backsplash to ensure good adhesion. Not too hard though! You don't want to rip your masterpiece
Try to get the paper lined up as closely as possible of course. However, in a few areas I had a little of the green sticking out despite my perfect measuring. I just patched up underneath a small cut out piece.
Never Cut or place hot items on the countertops. Pain but I never really did this before so i'll just have to be extra careful now. Remind your friends & family to never put a hot pot or cut either.
If taken care of properly, it should last you a few years while you save your pennies for the real thing!
It's up to you whether you want to share our little secret for your kitchen transformation. They will not know the difference!
Resources:
Here's the where I got the paper. At the lower part of the page is where the various patterns are. Be sure you measure meticulously to make sure you order the correct amount and avoid more that one shipping fee! http://www.berlinwallpaper.com/dcfix/
Here's the paper I chose:
http://www.berlinwallpaper.com/dcfix/Brown-Granite.htm
My good fried Teresa had a few other good ideas for some of the products I mentioned:
ReplyDeleteI think the berlinwallpaper idea would also be good for those thinking about a certain color of granite, but are afraid to fork out the money. This would enable them to see what their entire kitchen counters would look like with their choice of granite color? This would be great for me, because I do easily get tired... See More of certain trends.
Also, the stainless-steel-in-can for outdated appliances might be a good idea, too, because I recently read that black appliances are coming back in style, which can already be seen on new appliances with more & more black encroaching the silver.
Your counters look wonderful. That yucky green was in style about 15 years ago and it was ALL OVER the place. You guys did a great job :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I am so sad-we recently just put granite countertops in my New Jersey home and now I am hearing about all these other cool options!!! I think I am still going to try it in our downstairs bathroom since that is the next project I will tackle. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThanks Deena. Try it in your bathroom! I'm still in the same rental home 3 years later (about to begin my 4th year) and the contact paper has held up well!!
ReplyDeleteGood luck!