When it comes to kitchen countertops, are you a laminate girl in a granite world? Well join the rest of us who at one point or another have had to choose between having the hottest new kitchen on HGTV or living in the real world where the baby needs new shoes and the mortgage has to be paid.

I came up with a manageable solution a few years ago when we wanted to update our kitchen countertop, but we had some cash with a new baby in the house and we really didn’t want to rip the countertop and sink right in. outside. I thought if we were eventually going to change the countertop anyway, I had nothing to lose if my experiment DID NOT work … but to my delight it worked wonderfully and so well that I ended up not changing the countertop, but changing the color a few years later. when I changed the color of my kitchen again when I set out to sell the house.

I started with the old Formica countertop, you know, the white one with gold thread through which you sat and ate countless Fudgesicles as a kid? I bought enough textured spray paint to cover the surface I needed to cover; this is called fleckstone, granite, and other names like that, and it’s approved for outdoor use as well. Then I bought the cheapest spray paint I could find in a matching color (I paid $ 1 per can). After cleaning and drying the countertop, I applied the cheap spray paint as a primer. It would probably be a good idea to lightly sand first. I didn’t, but I probably should have. You can decide whether to skip this step or not. Also, be sure to cover your cabinets, floors, sink fixtures, and appliances with plastic to protect them from overspray. Make sure the room is well ventilated and turn off all pilot lights and open flames and follow the manufacturer’s instructions on the paint.

After the primer coat dried, I applied the textured paint. Make sure to shake well and shake frequently while applying. You can’t screw this up. If you lose a place, go back! You can give it an additional layer or layers as needed.

Once the textured paint has dried well, finish with 2-3 coats of clear spray polyurethane. This will protect the surface from normal wear and tear and water. Polyurethane will take a little longer to dry between coats than paint. You still have to be some careful scraping things along the surface than with laminate or granite countertops, but I had pretty good luck overall with the countertops. And you can always touch them up easily!

The first time I used a gray and black stain with white cabinets with red doors on a black and white checkered tile floor for a 50’s eat-in kitchen. Then I redid the countertops in a sand color and painted the cabinets in color. off-white and redid the floors with a rich walnut laminate. Impressive results both times.

Note: All tips should be weighed against your own abilities and circumstances and applied accordingly. It is up to the reader to determine if the tips are safe and appropriate for their own situation. The advice is based solely on the author’s experience and the author assumes no responsibility for individuals who imitate the actions described by the author.