DIY Wednesday: Faux Granite Countertops

I'm very excited today because my Little Kitchen That Could Project is getting closer to ending! I finished up the cabinets last week, and finished the faux granite painting this week. Today I'm finishing the beadboard wallpaper over the backsplash and sides of the cabinets, and then all I have left is to deal with the wallpaper border!

So anyway, onto some Faux Granite Painting.

This was the countertop before; a yucky "white" laminate that turned to buttercream after I painted the cabinets white.

Yuck. Now, hover over the picture to see them magically turn to granite!

I used the Giani Granite Paint Kit in Chocolate Brown.  I have seen where you can use regular latex paint, even craft paint to do this, but I wanted something foolproof and they guaranteed that for me with the kit.

This is what the kit was comprised of:

They make it easy by labeling the cans in steps.  They give you clear written instructions, and two video tutorials.  I even received design advice from one of their designers because I didn't know if I should go with the lighter or darker colors.  The fact that they gave me the roller, the sponge, the practice sheet, and the primer and sealant sort of sealed the deal for me.  The kit was only $70 and I will tell you WORTH EVERY PENNY!

Before I could start painting, I had to remove the old caulk because it was not paintable. I thought it would be difficult, but it really wasn't.

This is what I used for the caulk removal:

With a little elbow grease and the tools, it came up pretty easily. Once it was removed, I re-caulked with a paintable caulk and let it dry. 

To get the smooth caulked finish, I simply used a we finger and gently pulled over the area I just did.  Easy!

I taped up everything using the 3M tape for delicate surfaces to keep the paint from leaking under the tape.  I used newspaper attached to the tape to shield the cabinets.

After that was finished it was time for STEP I: PRIMER.  I'd be lying if I said my heart wasn't pounding and I wasn't nervous when I did that first swipe of black.  It was the point of no return!    This is what the counters looked like after the Step 1 Priming.  My hubby walked in and had a bit of a holy $*#! moment.  His comment was, "wow, they're black."  I think he was worried at this point.

I let the primer dry for 8 hours as instructed before I started sponging the Step 2 Mineral Paint.  Here it is going on:

You are only to work in 3' sections going through all mineral paints so that they can blend together a bit.  Here is Step 2 Mineral Paint going on over and around the first.  You cannot quite see a difference, but once they start blending, and you add in the highlights, it starts to come together.

And finally Step 3 Mineral, the highlight color.  I used this sparingly, just to make things pop a bit.  You see me using the teeny tiny sponge piece here to get against the backsplash. 

 Here it is up close:

And then when I finished the section:

For the entire process, I actually never used the large piece of sponge.  I kept with the medium and smaller sponge as I didn't want giant sponge marks, and I wanted the black to show through.  As I sponged I used very light pressure, and made sure to not let it get too dry.  I also rotated my hand around so that I didn't have obvious repeating marks all over the place giving away the "faux."

I let everything dry for 4 hours before I applied the first clear coat.  I then let that dry for 8 hours and applied the second clear coat.

And here are the finished faux granite countertops!  I LOVE THEM.  They are seen below in incandescent, and natural lighting to show them off

That my Mango's butt in the above picture...she was inspecting Mama's work.

Don't forget to enter my Giveaway for 100 Customizable Postcards from UPrinting!  Giveaway ends Saturday night at 10:10pmCST!

Now, I'm off to finish up my beadboard wallpaper.  Stay tuned!

PARTY!