Early post today...

[fiberaddict]

because I have STONE countertops to seal! :giggle: I won't claim granite, because I'm not sure that there's any granite on the planet that looks like what is currently in my kitchen, but it *does* look like some sort of stone, so......:huzzah: And I used a LOT less paint than I bought (figures. Ah, well - the rest will go into the art box to be used for projects. It's all good!) Total amount of craft paint used: $25.90, but there's quite a bit of that left. I only used 2 small bottles completely ( the glaze is gone, as is one of the bottles of the mid-range brown.) The rest - I have at least a half-bottle of each left; some have more.

I have photos, but I'm hesitant to post them right now - see, the countertops are a nice brown-ish "stone". Looks great. The wall behind the countertop, now.....who knew that the glue used to hold laminate to drywall ages to look like....moldy brown rock? :rofl: Seriously - SG came home last night, gazed at my handiwork, and asked me why in the world I painted the backsplash. Then he realized that I hadn't, it was the leftover glue. :snicker: (Seriously, I will post photos, either later today or tomorrow. You'll just have to forgive the backsplash area.)

The kids are staying an extra week at Granny's. This is good...but I already miss 'em. Still, it gives me time to finish what I can in the kitchen, and to get my gradebook updated (haven't done ANYTHING this semester. :hangs head:), and to get over this cold-from-hell I have come down with. :sigh: I went from fine to scratchy throat to so mucous-y I can't breathe in 24 hours. :ugh: And now SG has it......

It's almost time to do the 2nd coat of Polycrylic. I LOVE how it's making the paint look, well, real. The can recommends 3 coats (2 hours between coats), but I am going to keep adding to it all day today. If I've calculated correctly, I'll put the 6th and final coat on at 5 PM today. Tomorrow evening I can clear off my table.......IF SG gets the wood cut for the "stone" backsplash (3" tall, to tie the stone into the tile work.). :fingers crossed:

Comments

from Ali

[(Anonymous)]

Question - how durable is the countertop when you are done? We have wood patterened formica and there is no way we are ever going to replace it - we also have medium brown cabinets all around and white floor and white walls. and white curtains. boring - but remember the ex-wife decorated this house before I came along and I just never redecorated - I am not much of a decorator at all.

Re: from Ali

[fiberaddict]

According to everything I've read, it's very durable. 1 lady is going on 3 years with her painted countertops, and says they look like new.

There are some other finishes you can use that are definitely more durable; 1 is Enviro Tex, 1 is...something Bar Top. We looked at those...but the cost was a little higher than we wanted to spend right now (it basically came down to "either use the Polycrylic and tile the backsplash, or buy the Bar Top stuff and tile next month"...our budget isn't super-tight, but the bar top stuff was like 3x the cost of the polycrylic.)

Also......we weren't sure how easy to remove the other stuff was. What if we want to change the countertops a few years from now, and are still broke? With the poly, you just sand it off, easy-peasy, and start fresh. Not sure about the others....

Grab a paintbrush and go, girl! :giggle: It's not hard, and it's fun!

[hugh_mannity]

That looks terrific.

Nice work.