DIY “Marble” Countertops

 

When I did our kitchen upgrade a few weeks ago, I knew one of the main things I wanted to change was the black counter tops on the island, drop counter and pantry area. The rest of the kitchen has wood countertops, which I love.

In the past I had worked with a granite countertop paint kit by Giani. You can read about one of those makeovers here. I decided to go with a Giani kit again, only a different color.

Eventually we want to replace the three tops with something else, but for now we chose to give them a new look that would hopefully last a few years.

As you probably know, I often don’t follow rules when it comes to paint and this time was no exception. Instead of going for the granite look like the kit is intended for I decided to try for a marble look.

I did run into some issues, but once I found the groove, it was a lot of fun. Here’s how I did it…

Here is the kit I bought at Keim Lumber, a giant lumberyard & hardware not too far from here..

Following are a few “before” pictures. The island has a painted wood top, which had been previously painted black and topped with a few coats of polycrylic. The counter you see in the background is formica and had also been painted previously with an oil based black paint. I had then spritzed some flecks of gray onto it using a bristle brush to make it look like Corian.

 

Below is the drop counter I added a few years ago and you can read about that here.

 

Over time it began to get wider cracks between the boards, making it harder to work on. I decided to cover it with a thin plywood before painting it…

After puttying all the edges and staple holes, it was ready for paint.

I used the black primer included with the kit for the first coat.

Next, I applied a coat of the white limestone, step 2-c, included in the kit. I used a roller to apply.

After that was dry, I used a regular water based latex paint and sponged it on the top randomly.

I think the secret to making this look real is numerous layers, which adds depth.

Next, I used the black primer and a small artists brush and applied veins to the top..

I then took a spray bottle with water and sprayed the veins, so they would run a little and become wider. I thought this would look more natural.

The island top.

After the “veins” were dry, I used a watered down white water based paint ( the same paint I had used to sponge on ) and gave the top a coat.

Now the next step got me so involved that I neglected to take pictures. I basically just went over the “veins” with a sponge, which I dabbed into a mixture of black primer and Pearl Mica. (also included in the kit)

What I did was just blend in the “veins” and I also dabbed more than just the veins. This was because hubby thought more gray should be added. At first I was going to quit after just dabbing the veins a little, since I wanted fairly light tops, but he thought more gray should be added. I like it now too.

 

They aren’t perfect, of course but we like them! I also gave them three coats of the clear coat that is included in the kit.

One nice thing about doing counters like this is you can’t really mess them up. At times I felt I got too much gray on, so I just dabbed white on again too. I also added a few little “veins” Inca Gold, which is included in the kit. If you are interested in trying this and have any questions, I will gladly try to answer them with what worked for me. Feel free to comment below!

For the complete kitchen makeover, click here.