In week four of the One Room Challenge, after spray painting my countertops, I decided to change things up even more! While on the search for marble countertops and knowing how expensive that would be, I stumbled across a product that would help me achieve my goal for a lot less money. Giani Marble Countertop Paint Kit. What an amazing product! My countertops went from this…
To this…
Isn’t that incredible!? And the best part–it was very simple to do! And everything you need is included in the kit…
HOW TO PAINT MARBLE COUNTERTOPS
STEP ONE: TAPE OFF
THOROUGHLY clean the countertops, making sure all dust and debris is wiped off. Then tape off any area you don’t want paint or epoxy to touch….
STEP TWO: PRIMER
Now you’re ready for the White Base Primer. Working in small sections, simply edge in any creases or corners first with the foam brush provided. Then roll the remaining area with the provided roller; keeping your strokes going in the same direction. Remember to work in small sections. Repeat this step a second time, allowing each step to dry 4 hours in between.
STEP THREE: PRACTICING
It’s helpful to make a rough sketch of your countertops and where you would like your veining to go. Determining the direction of your veining (as you want all of it to flow in the same direction) is important too. As you can see, this doesn’t need to be anything fancy. 🙂
STEP FOUR: VEINING
While your primer is drying, practice drawing out your veining on a piece of cardboard. It’s helpful to google marble veining, to get some ideas of how you want your veining to look. Another helpful idea is to pick up a piece of marble tile at your local home improvement store and use that as your guide.
Practicing on cardboard first, dip a little bit of gray veining paint onto your artist brush and starting towards the top of the countertop, hold your brush loosely in your hand pulling the brush towards you. You don’t want to draw a straight line, but rather allow the brush to loosely turn in your hand and kinda go where it wants to go….
Then using the provided spray bottle, mist the vein with water until it starts to bleed. Next, lightly dab the vein with your softening brush. Then lightly move the brush back and forth to create a feathering effect…
You can also blot the vein with a paper towel. This will help soften the vein and remove moisture.
If you don’t like the way it looks, don’t panic! Simply spray it with more water and wipe it off with a paper towel. And just like that you have a blank canvas again.
There are 4 different styles of veining:
Y-Vein: Formed by drawing a single vein and then from there drawing another vein off of it…
Extended Vein: A long vein that you draw and work on in sections.
Crescent Vein:
Start with a slightly curved vein. And then on the inside of your vein, paint a mirrored curve and connect….
Ripple Vein:
Create a rippled look, by painting a parallel vein right next to an existing vein; replicating its curve. You can either connect the veins at some point, or run parallel all the way down.
For edges and backsplash area, naturally continue your line…
Once you have completed all of your veins, take a step back and determine where you want to add minor veins or ghost veins (very light veins).
OPTIONAL: If you feel you still need to soften or highlight your veining a bit, use the white highlight paint with a sponge to lightly dab on for some texture.
After you are finished and feel like you have just the right amount of veining, allow for 4 hours to dry.
STEP FIVE: EPOXY
Sand down area with a 600-grit sandpaper and then thoroughly wipe away all dust. Seal off all cabinets with the plastic sheets provided to ensure the epoxy doesn’t run down on them. Following the directions for the epoxy, be sure to work in small sections. Use your paintbrush and roller to spread the epoxy in one 6ft section at a time. Allow 4 hours to dry.
HUGE TIP: Don’t mess with the epoxy once you’ve walked away from it and it’s drying. Let it be. I made the mistake of worrying about some bubbles I saw and tried to get rid of them, only to create more bubbles. Had to lightly re-sand the marble countertops and re-apply the epoxy. Not a big deal, but I was definitely wishing I would have left it alone.
Last step: Take a step back and admire your work! Aren’t they beautiful?! No one would ever know they’re not real marble countertops. Unless, of course, you want to tell them–after all, YOU just transformed them into that! It’s worth sharing! 🙂
Giani has a large selection of countertop painting kits. So, if marble countertops are not your thing, be sure to check out this blog post to find one that you like.
Until next week,
Happy Building, Friend!!
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Related Countertop Posts:
Master Bathroom Makeover Countertops-One Room Challenge Week 4
Master Bathroom Makeover Progress-One Room Challenge Week 3
