But that's not what I want to talk about today. Sunday afternoon I went to Home Depot to get a new handle for their toilet, and Lisa went with me. Since we moved into the house, both she and I have disliked--no, that's not a strong enough word--we have HATED the red counter top in our kitchen. But darn if the thing wasn't in such good shape that we couldn't bring ourselves to replace it. It looked almost brand new, like maybe the woman who sold us the house had installed it right before she put the house on the market. Maybe she thought everyone was going with red counters that year. Anyway, we lived with it. But finally Sunday Lisa said, "I'm going with you to Home Depot, and I'm going to order a new kitchen counter top." And we thought that was going to happen.
Until we got there. As we walked toward the toilet repair area we passed the painting supplies, and there, prominently featured, was a product called Rustoleum Countertop Coating. It's an oil-based enamel paint that you can supposedly paint right over a laminate countertop without priming or sealing. It cost $20. Lisa and I looked at each other. Why not? we thought. If we hate it, we're out $20, and we were going to get a new countertop anyway. So we bought it.
I have to say, so far, I'm very impressed by the product. It was one of the EASIEST home improvement jobs I've ever done. It took from start to finish all of about 2 and a half hours. And it looks great, like a new countertop almost. There are some imperfections in it, sure, but I think if I could go back and do it again that I'd do an even better job the second time. I learned some tricks along the way. The only downside is that we had to wait three days after we painted the countertop for the coating to cure, so that means we were without a countertop from Sunday night until last night.
Of course, the real challenge is not what it looks like now, but what it looks like in three months or in a year. I'll keep you posted.
4 comments:
WOW! Now lets see you will be here when?
Spring Break. Clear off your counters!
I keep meaning to tell you that I totally appreciate this post. I have never loved our counters and while they are not red...they are still not something I would pick out. So, I am going to try to convince my husband of your solution. Now, I have a glob of super glue from a craft project gone terribly wrong. Suggestions?
Allyson, if I were in your shoes I'd wait a few months before going to the effort of putting it on. Let us test it out and see how well it wears. I'll say that--after 4 days of use--it's held up pretty well. But I want to see how it will last in the long run.
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