We haven't said much about our bathroom remodel. It's a room that involves a lot of work. From removing the entire ceiling ruined by the leaky roof to repairing the old shower to replacing the floor.
It is a room that I wanted to be special, so we've picked out some very special things for this remodel project.
After getting rid of the horrible leaky faucet I was in the mood to test out an artsy project that I found on the web. This time turning the old wood look composit counter top into look a like granite. Now, there are kits that you can buy at Home Depot and other stores that are quite pricey. Home Depot sells theirs for $79.99! That just wasn't in the budget, so I set about to do the same look for a lot less.
This is the bathroom as it was when the home was purchased. The counter top and cabinets are all original. The vanity top was cracked and the front edge chipped and pealing.
A shot of the counter top as we start our project. Let the transformation begin!
We had to first deal with the damaged front edge of the top. I also wanted a more custom look for the front edge so it was off to Home Depot. We found this molding by House of Fara. It's 3/8" by 1 1/4" and the perfect fit for the front edge of the vanity. Cost $ 6.69 for an 8 foot strip. We only needed 72" so it was the perfect option.
We used Gorilla Glue Wood and finishing brads to attach it to the front. The Gorilla Glue was super easy to work with and allowed us to attach the piece and re position it as needed while we tacked it for extra hold.
Perfect edge for our counter top!!
Next we had to fill the crack along the top of our molding and one really bad crack in front of the sink. For that job we choose JB Weld Kwik Wood Epoxy Putty(Home Depot for $5.77) I used a sharp putty knife and my finger to run the putty into the crack and along the top edge of our molding. This wood putty is easy to work with, stays workable for up to 25 minutes and drys to be sanded / painted within an hour.
The crack along the top edge is filled with putty and drying.. We'll sand this down smooth and it will be ready to paint in about an hour.
To transform the counter top itself I visited the craft section of the local Wal-Mart. Here I found a great selection of Waverly Super Premium Acrylic Paint. This paint is semi gloss with great coverage and tons of colors including the metallic colors I would need.
Before you choose your paints take a look at real granite or pictures of the color granite you are wanting your counter to look like. Most natural granite has several colors and lots of patterns within a single slab. Choose colors that will compliment the look you're going for. You'll need one solid base color that will be applied as the first coat. This color will be brushed on and allowed to dry for 24 hours.
For our project I choose the color Mineral. A putty colored stone look. This will be the base color so I bought the large 8 ounce jar for $ 5.88. Next I chose 4 additional colors that will be used to create the main pattern of the granite. These 2 ounce jars will be enough since I'm going to be sponging them on with natural sea sponge and using an art brush to do the veins seen in real granite. For our project I chose Hazelnut, Truffle, Cashew and Ink. Real granite also has reflective metallic patterns throughout. I picked out two, copper and sun stone (gold). The 2 oz metallic are $2.47 each and the 2 oz semi gloss jars are $1.47.
Believe me you'll find every color combination available in this paint.. just let your imagination go wild!
We'll be sanding the wood putty later today and applying the base coat of paint so it can dry over night. I'll video some of the actual sponging when the top is ready.
Total cost for this counter top transformation so far is less then $50.00! Stay tuned.
