Paint Your Counter Tops

Want new counters, but don't have the cash? Here's how you can make over your own kitchen, cost effectively!

1. Clean the counter top with warm soap and water and dry it with a soft cloth.

2. Lightly sand the counter with 150-grit sandpaper and wipe off any dust with a damp cloth.

3. Prime the entire surface with 100 percent acrylic primer. You want a flash-bond primer, one that will stick to the laminate and that will allow paint to stick to it. Try XIM primer, Benjamin Morris Fresh Start, Bullseye 1-2-3, or any other high-quality primer that says on the label it's intended to cover gloss or high-gloss surfaces.

4. Let the first coat of primer dry and then apply a second.

5. When the second coat of primer is dry, paint over it with a couple of coats of latex satin or semi-gloss enamel, allowing each coat to dry before painting another.

6. After the finish coat is dry, seal it with a couple of coats of clear acrylic. Make sure to use satin or semi-gloss, because the higher the shine in the acrylic, the stronger it is and the more protection it offers against scratches and wear. Avoid egg shell or flat paint.

The acrylic seal will dry quickly, but it's important to go easy on the counter for a while anyhow. The seal takes two or three weeks to cure, and during that time you shouldn't scrub it, just wipe it off lightly with a damp cloth. Of course, you never want to use scouring powder or other abrasives on an acrylic-seal painted counter, even after curing.

But you don't have to wait three or even two weeks to make changes if you don't like the color — that's one of the benefits of working with inexpensive paint in lieu of solid surfaces or even laminates. Get a good look at the finish coat once it's dry, because of course a lot of times paint on a counter won't look the same as it did on the color swatch or in the photo you're working from.

If you don't like it, it's back to Square Two. Lightly sand the finish coat and then put on another coat of primer before painting it a different color.

And if you're the type that sees something you like each time the new color palettes are issued, you can repeat the whole process every couple of months — it's quick, it's simple, and it's ever so easy to change with the color trends. You can even do faux finishes like marble, and so on, and if you don't like it... well, you know what to do.