My Rust-Oleum Cabinet and Countertop Transformations are complete! You've Come A Long Way, Baby...

With a lot of elbow grease and I mean A LOT, you can change the look of your kitchen for about 500 bucks.

Here's a "Before" photo:

Here's the "After":

Ta-dah!

I used Rust-Oleum Cabinet Transformations in English Cream and Rust-Oleum Countertop Transformations in Charcoal.

The rustic 1776 American flag peninsula was my own creative doing. ♥

With all the hard work I did, we decided to install a new kitchen sink and faucet. She won't be hooked up until later today, but isn't she a beauty?
Got it all for under 200 smackaroos. It really pays to shop around online.

As you can see the counter top does have some slight texture to it. As I mentioned in a previous post, I would have preferred a smoother finish. In fact at my own risk, I would have taken an orbital sander to it. But hey, you live and learn. We are happy with the outcome and no longer have our outdated 1980's laminate counter top! **doing a jig**

So if you have the desire to work hard, you can inexpensively change the look of your kitchen and do a jig too!

PHASE ONE:

Well, I must have snickered one too many times at my hubs being sick this past week. I woke up this mornin' feelin' like crap. But there was no way I was putting off doing my counter top. Come h*ll or high water (or hospital visit)... It was getting done this weekend!!!
All day I've been poppin' Zicam like Tic Tacs.

So last night hubs removed the sink and lifted the cook top insert. He was about to disconnect and remove the whole thing when I asked him if it was possible to prop it up so we could still use it? That he did. What a blessing! I was able to make my coffee this morning. YaY!!

The next step was to use a two part epoxy and fill in any nicks or seams. Unfortunately for me, the back splash and counter top are two separate pieces so I had to fill that all in. What a pain in the dupa.
(dupa = @ss in Polish)

Okay, that's done. Now the next step is to sand down the counter top with their diamond embedded sanding block. This step removes the sheen and roughs up the counter top to make the base coat paint adhere.

For the record, that thing is freakin' awesome!! Man, I wish they would sell it individually. If you accidentally drag it across your skin, you will get a boo-boo like I did on my thumb. (Please excuse my Seinfeld "man hands.")

Dress appropriately. Put on something you would see on "What Not To Wear." Ooooh, I bet Stacy London would like to get her scrawny lil' mitts on me.

All sanded and wiped down with a damp cloth.

Next, wrap everything up tight! Have I mentioned I have a love affair with blue painter's tape? I use it for absolutely everything! So this step was right up my alley.

Now the fun begins... But first, set up an area where you have everything at your fingertips.

The next step is to apply the base coat paint, wetting agent and chips. The problem is I have no photos of this because there is only a 20 minute window to do it all. So there was no time to frog around with a camera. But I will give you the lowdown.

First, their description for applying the paint is "like frosting a cake." This is not true. You all know I'm a baker and it is not like frosting a cake. Nope. Not even close. I can equate it to paint that's been sitting in a can in your basement for awhile. Not as smooth as fresh paint but a little thicker.
Truth be told, I expected it to be much thicker. When I started to apply it, it streaked showing the cream counter top through. I went into full panic mode! I'm thinking (no actually I was yelling) "OMG, this small can won't cover everything!" Hubs grabbed the roller and tried his hand at it. Then it kind of turned into a Laurel and Hardy skit. But after all the running around and bumping into each other, I did have enough to do the counter top with a little (but not much) left over. Best of all, we didn't want to kill each other during the process! Dare I say... we even had fun!!

The color I used is "Charcoal." Chips are light, medium and dark gray and black. The kit states it covers 50 square feet. I covered 39 square feet.
Here is how it looked after all the chips were applied. (Very rough)

We then took a bright Halogen light and carefully inspected the counter top for any areas that didn't have proper coverage. I did find a few spots along the edge. I used a piece of dampened sponge, dipped into the paint then lightly reapplied, tossing chips at the area by hand.

Here's a close up... (It was really hard for me to get a good pic of the color)

After 12 hours but no more than 24 hours, we will start the sanded process. This is where I'll be sweating bullets worrying the paint didn't cover correctly.

Overall, I am pleased with how it looks so far and how easy it was to apply. I'll give it a (dirty) thumbs up for now.

The DVD that comes with the kit explains everything to a tee. I watched it quite a few times just to be sure. Bottom line is this project is time consuming and you can't be in a hurry.

There is a low to medium odor and when applying the chips, I suggest wearing a mask. (Dust flies when applying the chips) Also, the chips go all over the place. So if you're a Type A personality, take a Valium, relax and let the chips fall where they may. **giggle** Nothing a broom and dust pan can't fix.

Tomorrow is Phase II. Sanding, sanding and more sanding. Then applying the top coat. Yippee!

I'll keep you posted...

PHASE TWO:
Well I sanded for seven hours straight yesterday, then applied the top coat to my counter top last night. But I will wait to take photos since I want to lightly sand and add another top coat.
A few months ago I contacted Rustoleum regarding the textured look I saw on everyone's counter top (submitted photos to their site). They graciously sent me additional top coat to use, stating this should make for a smoother finish. Their customer service is top notch!

Here's a few comments I have about the whole process.
Doing the counter top is very labor intensive. You need some arm strength to sand everything down. For a chick, I've got some "guns" and it was a little hard for me. Especially sanding in tight areas and the back splash. I literally laid across my counter top to get good leverage to sand the back splash and it wasn't as smooth as I wanted. If I had an orbital sander I may have tried it (they don't recommend it). But after sanding by hand for seven hours I would have tried just about anything.

I had read some comments on forums where people were complaining about the difficulty in removing the blue tape around the counter top. This is absolutely true. I have a few areas where the tape actually removed my wall paint. Needless to say, I am not a happy camper.
Also, I would recommend removing your sink and cook top insert if you have one. Sure it's a pain in the butt but I would think it to be more of a pain in the butt to try and sand around them. Besides, do what I did. Treat yourself to a new kitchen sink! Hopefully it will arrive today! YaY!!

After applying the top coat, my counter top is darker than I expected. I can't imagine what the "onyx" looks like if "charcoal" is this dark. Don't get me wrong, it looks really nice. It's just darker than I expected. Also the top coat is a gloss. So if you prefer a matte finish this isn't for you. Truthfully, I wish it was offered in a matte finish. I'm not one for shiny. But in a kitchen, it's hip and cool. Unlike me, who is lame and boring.

Bottom line is it's hard work and it's messy. BUT if you're looking for an inexpensive way to update your old and dated counter tops, it is definitely worth it and best of all, you'll be proud of your accomplishment!

:> )