Formica Countertop Makeover

Before with ugly green formica countertops. I will include our step by step instructions since many are curious. :) If you attempt it, research it online, there's a few different methods, it helps to look at the different techniques and then decide which is best for you...

1. Cleared surfaces and cleaned counter very well. I used the blue brillo pads. I went a little crazy and scrubbed all of our cabinets too, just doing all that already made it feel new! ;)

2. Rolled on gray primer.
Cost: $20, I got a gallon. Could have done it with a quart for about $10

3. Once primer dries, roll on black paint. I already had a quart but cost would have been about $10 if not

4. Once black paint dries, use a sea sponge ($5) to sponge on silver metallic paint. I bought a quart of this, cost was about $10. I could have done it with the really small container, which is probably $5. This is how we started sponging but after a while did it more subtle. You also sponge with some black to get the look you want so don't stress if it takes a while to get it right.

This picture below is the amount of silver we ended up liking,

just play with it til you end up with an amount you like.

5. When the silver/black sponging is still tacky, sprinkle glitter. Cost $5

6. Epoxy finish coat. Cost, $30, about $18 with 40% off coupon. This stuff is super sticky and takes a bit to get the hang of. Have two people, read instructions well (better instructions are online than in the box). It self levels but you'll need to use something stiff to spread it around, we tried business cards, stiff paper but liked a wooden painting stick the best. You have about 10 minutes to work with it, only mix enough for a maneagable area at a time. I used a sponge brush for the edges, you need to "lift" up the epoxy a few times because it will pool at the bottom. This is when you use the blow torch for the air bubbles, the carbon dioxide diffuses them. We had more trouble with air bubbles on our bar that we later realized was because we didn't stir the epoxy long enough. We also used a really small blow torch we had. We will probably sand down the bubbles on our bar and re-do the epoxy coat.

 7. Once dry, take off painters tape (don't be surprised if it takes off some wall paint, be prepared for touch ups). It takes about 8-10 hours to dry but it's supposed to take about 48 hours to set completely. Ours was ready to be used after about 30 hours. If you have kids, I'd recommend doing the epoxy after they go to bed at night and then by the morning it will be dry at least, then try to keep them out of the house in the morning just in case! :) You don't want them touched at all and even be careful about dust. Oh and we expected the epoxy fumes to be bad but they weren't at all so that was good with kids.

We didn't do our edges because we were really nervous about vertical surfaces and already had to do the backsplash. It ended up not being too bad though (thinner coat though) so I wish we would have done them.

DONE! Total cost, $80-90.

You can kind of see some of our air bubbles we had problems with on the bar here.
It's definitely not perfect but I think it's a huge improvement and I would definitely do it again! The stuff is very hard but of course is susceptable to scratches and heat, etc. As with most countertops, use hot pads and cutting boards. If it does scratch bad, you can do another layer to fix it so don't freak out. Furniture Polish helps with smudges and protects it. I need to get a "green" kitchen cleaner for them, I'm hesitant to use anything acidic .
I got my method here: http://generalsplendour.bl​ogspot.com/2011/02/ambush-​makeover-my-formica-counte​rtops.html .

Supplies:
1 qt gray primer
1 qt black paint
Sea sponge
Rollers (I like the skinny ones, easier to work with and don't leave things behind so much like the large ones)
Brush to paint corners
Blue Painters tape to tape off edges (we didn't do this until before the epoxy, would have been easier to do in the beginning but we didn't necessarily need it, we paint a lot and never need to tape off)
Silver metallic paint
Black Glitter (we couldn't find the Martha Stewart Onyx kind but got her very fine glitter and it worked well.)
Envirotex Lite Pour-On (Hobby Lobby, get 40% coupons online. . We needed 2 boxes)
Blow Torch (for air bubbles)*borrow one if you can!