Kitchen Countertops Part One (more like a preview!)

{Part One of Two Posts}
   

This is by no means a reveal post...you can find the reveal HERE. Just wanted to get a few photos up (mainly because we're antsy and in the middle of a major drying-time, trying to wait for the next step). But, we are in the beginning stages of redoing our kitchen (this will actually be the second redo since we moved here...wowzers, we're nuts). 

BUT IT IS A VERY WORDY POST! HERE'S WHY: I have been researching countertops for months and a friend told me about this new Rustoleum Countertop Transformations. It frustrated me that I couldn't find a whole lot of blogs with too much info (or photos) on them. I did find several that were in fact FANTASTIC. When it's all said & done, I plan to go find those links and stick 'em up here. But, I am hoping the next two blog posts (this one and the actual reveal. . .hoping it will be up by the weekend) will be a bit more extensive into the process this is. So far, we absolutely LOVE it. My husband kind of has an instant eye-roll that kicks in when I start thinking of DIY projects that I run across on blogs. His mantra is that it's never as easy as it looks on the site (and 9 times out of 10 he's right...hello, bathroom project). However, this product is definitely proving to be the exception. It is easy. The one thing they don't tell you is how messy it is. Holy moly, we have decorative chips coming out of our ears (literally). The instructions say you can use a dust pan and sweeper if you don't have a shop vac. We actually already have the shop vac and wouldn't recommend doing this without it. All that to say...hoping this helps others out there make an informed decision on their countertop redo!

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I've been researching counters for awhile now. We had a man come out and give us an estimate for granite and quartz. It would have been over $3,000...which is just more than we want to put into counters in this particular house. Plus that's for the 2cm (the cheapest, skimpiest cut) and our current counters already sit at 4 cm and have a lip over the cabinets. If you've been through a kitchen remodel, you probably know where I'm going with this. We'd have to rework the way the counters would sit on the cabinets, etc. etc. And while we plan to refinish/paint the cabinetry, it may be a few months (like the next time the hubs is off of work...say spring break or even July). If we had gone for the 4 cm in a stone, we were looking at way over $4,000 (like closer to 5). Plus we have an existing tile backsplash that we actually want to keep (it may not be the most current, but, baby it cleans like a dream and is super durable)! The granite man was explaining the process of cutting the tile and grout to fit in the new counters and all I kept hearing was "ca-ching, ca-ching". 

This is one of our before shots taken from the sink side of the kitchen over to the stove area.

And this is the product we bought. We actually purchased it in the "desert sand" color to match our existing backsplash. It is $250 at Lowe's. It includes *almost* everything you need, with the exception of drop cloths, paint tape, paint trays, 2 paint brushes and 2 paint rollers. We had a lot of this on hand already. If I were you, I wouldn't use your good Purdy paint brushes for this one. The adhesive will ruin them. Just get synthetic since chances are you'll be tossing them. 

Make sure to cover your lower cabinets with plastic. My husband can be a bit of a "Hurried Harry" when it comes to prep work, but even he admitted later that this is worth the time you put into it. We also covered the floor with paint cloths...although that was debatable. Those chips go everywhere. We ended up dumping what we could off of the paint cloths onto the floor to use the shop vac on them.


Applying the adhesive. Lay it on THICK! Be especially mindful of the seams. We've had to do some touch ups today on a few seams that we could still see.



The decorative chip dispenser...WAY FUN! Seriously, pile them on. We have a whole TWO bags of chips leftover. (Granted, this kit was for 50 square feet of space and ours isn't quite that much...but still...use all the chips you can).



The chips then have to sit overnight (at least 12 hours). Then it's shop vac time. Start sucking away.



And use the scraper to knock down any chips sticking up.

This is where we are at so far! We are also sanding down with the diamond sanding block that was in the kit. We are currently waiting on the touch ups to dry so we can pour on the glossy top coat. Seriously can't wait for it to be done! We're living on take-out right now (and probably will be while it cures!)

Can't wait to post the finished product! I'll hopefully get it up within a week!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll try to address them within the comments area so others may see them, too! ;)

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