I've been giving Formica new looks and finishes ever since I bought my first home.
Now it's a common practice in my life until I wind up replacing them with real marble or granite.
Our main bath in the Idaho forest home had nasty PURPLE counter tops! Since we blew our decorating budget on slab granite for the kitchen, doing the same for the bath was now out of the question for the time being.
I've used my granite stencil to do many Formica Counter tops, but this time I wanted something different.
I wanted the look of delicate marble.
To accomplish this, you will start by taping off any areas you don't want re-finished (sink, wall, trim, etc).
Use rough sand paper (100 grit works well) and lightly sand the surface to give it some "tooth".
Prime the counter with 2 coats coats of primer.
Personally, I prefer using the "pro" version.
Zinser puts out a good one and I tell you, that stuff sticks to even slick tile! (Available at your local home store).
Your first, and most important step, is to use these instructions and do a sample board.
Why? Because it lets you practice a little, it lets you figure out if you're blotting too much, too little, if your colors are perfect or not quite right.
It lets you practice veining and blotting and dabbing so that by the time you do your counter, you feel confident and comfortable.
Besides, it's fun! For this marble, I painted the counter a cream color as the background.
Any water based paint works fine for this application.
Next, I used a 3" paint brush to dab on angled streaks of light brown craft paint.
Do very small sections at a time.
Each time you dab an angle, use a sea sponge and immediately blot it to blend it slightly.
Be sure to let the cream base color show through.
Once you have covered the entire counter, do the same with a darker brown paint, allowing the angled finish to actually cover portions of the light brown finish.
Blot as before to blend.
Always work on the same angle.
Either right to left or left to right.
Nearly all marble has some sort of veining.
The easiest way to do this is to mix enough water with the dark brown paint to make it about the consistency of milk (watery and not thick).
Use an artists "liner" brush.
They are sold at your local craft store and are inexpensive.
Dip the brush in the watered down brown paint and draw squiggled, angled lines through the marble finish.
I love to literally twist my brush as I drag it which makes the most wonder "veins".
I also typically do one vein directly over the top of another, letting them cross in places.
Now, to make it all come together, you will do what we call a "color wash" over the surface and blot as you go.
Create a color wash by mixing enough water with the same cream color base paint you used on the counter to create the consistency of 2% milk.
You want it a bit thinner than you mixed for your veining.
You almost want to literally be able to see right though the paint color (but not quite).
You know, like 2% rather than opaque whole milk or cream.
Do one small section then blot, move over and do the same until the entire surface has been color washed.
What this does is to blend everything together and make the blotches of color "recede" in to the background somewhat.
Even the veining fades slightly and becomes more real looking.
The cool thing is that as you blot, you tend to pick up a little of the color from the streaks you did before.
This leaves the neatest patterns within the new marble surface that look incredible.
So don't worry when that happens.
You'll love it when it's done! I have tried many different varnishes for my many counter top projects, each with varying results.
But I finally found a brand that I really like! It's put out by "Deft" and is a wood varnish that doesn't chip, doesn't peel and doesn't yellow! Whew! Finally, something that really works! But friends, you will get higher than a kite on this stuff if you don't ventilate the room WELL! Of course, I did mine in the winter and even though I had an open window and a fan going, I still felt a tich "silly" as a result.
So be careful! It's smelly and if it's smelly, it can be dangerous! Keep all children OUT OF THE AREA! But again, it's really wonderful stuff and I loved it.
I can't tell you just how delighted I am with my new counters! They both came out just spectacular!