HOW TO Update a Counter Top Without Replacing It! (Craft Project 4)
How many of us have those old countertops....whether inherited with the house or bought many moons ago....and you now want to do something else with them without all of the expense....and labor of tearing out the old one?
I inherited mine with the house....and although it wasn't large, it was the old white "speckled" formica kind. Once I became a single mom...the thought and price of replacing it...was just out of the question. My crafty solution was to paint it. I did a faux green marble paint finish on it and it turned out great!
The only problem with this solution is that you do have to be careful with the finished results (I don't care how many coats of polyurethane you put on it). If anything heavy is dropped on it, or you forget...and do any cutting (even with just a table knife), you will mar the finish and possibly chip the paint (I also had a large cockatoo that liked to use her beak on it!). But, all in all, mine was still looking much better than the original counter for the four years that I continued living in the house. I don't believe the people who bought the house even knew that it was painted (they never asked)!
Now I've found a new craft technique that works even better without having to worry about the paint chipping (don't know why I didn't think of it myself)!
The process is to buy a ream of regular computer paper (or use what you already have). Decide what color you want your counter to incorporate (green, black, tan....whatever) and buy a quart of paint in that color. You will also need a large bottle or two of Elmer's glue. Mix your paint 1 part water to 1 part paint (or even more water it you want less color) in a bucket. You also need a bucket to mix your Elmer's glue...same recipe...one part Elmer's to one part water. Take your paper and wad it up...un-wad it and immerse it in the paint/water mixture. Now paint some of your glue mixture onto your counter and place your now "colored wet" paper onto the painted-glue part of the counter. Continue piecing the paper, ripping to create jagged edges as you like, overlapping, etc., until your whole counter is covered. Once you have your paper all in place....carefully brush a layer of your glue mixture over the entire area.
Once this has dried, you want to apply 3-5 coats of polyurethane to protect the surface....letting these dry 2-4 hours between each coat and light sanding before applying another coat (all except the last coat). Viola.....you now have a new counter....at very little costs!
One more step you might want to take, to protect the finish even more, is to do one or two coats of paste car wax! Really protects it from any liquid that might set on it for any length of time!!
Now I have to give credit where credit is due....this lady does it all, (picture of end result)!
Just think of all the surfaces this could be used on to get a great effect and save something from the landfill! I think we've all had a piece of furniture at one time or another, that had a bad water stain where the grain was raised and you didn't want to just paint over it....or it had many nicks and dinks in the top....this gives you the perfect crafty repair inexpensively.
So, go ahead....impress your friends and family!
I inherited mine with the house....and although it wasn't large, it was the old white "speckled" formica kind. Once I became a single mom...the thought and price of replacing it...was just out of the question. My crafty solution was to paint it. I did a faux green marble paint finish on it and it turned out great!
The only problem with this solution is that you do have to be careful with the finished results (I don't care how many coats of polyurethane you put on it). If anything heavy is dropped on it, or you forget...and do any cutting (even with just a table knife), you will mar the finish and possibly chip the paint (I also had a large cockatoo that liked to use her beak on it!). But, all in all, mine was still looking much better than the original counter for the four years that I continued living in the house. I don't believe the people who bought the house even knew that it was painted (they never asked)!
Now I've found a new craft technique that works even better without having to worry about the paint chipping (don't know why I didn't think of it myself)!
The process is to buy a ream of regular computer paper (or use what you already have). Decide what color you want your counter to incorporate (green, black, tan....whatever) and buy a quart of paint in that color. You will also need a large bottle or two of Elmer's glue. Mix your paint 1 part water to 1 part paint (or even more water it you want less color) in a bucket. You also need a bucket to mix your Elmer's glue...same recipe...one part Elmer's to one part water. Take your paper and wad it up...un-wad it and immerse it in the paint/water mixture. Now paint some of your glue mixture onto your counter and place your now "colored wet" paper onto the painted-glue part of the counter. Continue piecing the paper, ripping to create jagged edges as you like, overlapping, etc., until your whole counter is covered. Once you have your paper all in place....carefully brush a layer of your glue mixture over the entire area.
Once this has dried, you want to apply 3-5 coats of polyurethane to protect the surface....letting these dry 2-4 hours between each coat and light sanding before applying another coat (all except the last coat). Viola.....you now have a new counter....at very little costs!
One more step you might want to take, to protect the finish even more, is to do one or two coats of paste car wax! Really protects it from any liquid that might set on it for any length of time!!
Now I have to give credit where credit is due....this lady does it all, (picture of end result)!
Just think of all the surfaces this could be used on to get a great effect and save something from the landfill! I think we've all had a piece of furniture at one time or another, that had a bad water stain where the grain was raised and you didn't want to just paint over it....or it had many nicks and dinks in the top....this gives you the perfect crafty repair inexpensively.
So, go ahead....impress your friends and family!
posted by J. Martin @ Saturday, January 14, 2006
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