DIY Faux Granite Counter tops and Some More Kitchen Pictures

After months and months of not knowing exactly how to redo our kitchen counter tops, I finally bit the bullet and decided to go with a faux granite (painted) counter top because I had seen so many pictures online about it and figured it wouldn't hurt to try it out and see what happened. 
Plus, it didn't cost me anything to do, but time of course, because I used paper towels instead of a sponge and all the paint I already had on hand...so since I didn't have to purchase anything, I decided to give it a try. 
And I must say, I absolutely love, love, love how it turned out. 
I was a little nervous at first when I started because it wasn't looking right, but the thing about doing this kind of DIY is you can't really mess it up. It is all about the layers!!

Remember, we started with a green laminate counter top and since we can't afford to replace the counters at the moment, it was time for a DIY.

This is where it all started (the picture from the listing online):

And now, for the updated pictures...warning- lots of them to come in this post!!

The top picture is after a couple of blots of paint with the paper towels.
I made sure to prime the counters (TWICE) and let them dry for a week or so while I decided what colors to go with.

I used a few mixes of light gray paint, dark gray paint, white, and cream to make this combo.

I knew I wanted something light to go with the cabinets and figured going too dark would be a bit too much...especially since we have wood floors and a few spots of wood trim I never painted. I think it was definitely the right choice.

I took some close-up shots of the counter tops...you can really see how it looks from these pictures and again, I have to say, it looks pretty darn good in person too.

If you try this method, make sure you also paint/blot the sides to make it more realistic. 

Looking at these pictures makes me want to paint the doors trims white but keep the doors wood....and also paint the trim around the dining room windows since I haven't done that yet. :)

There are lost of methods on how to do this so I didn't bother posting every step and detail of the process. You just kind of have to do what you think is best- and choose colors you like. 

To finish everything, I did end up putting 2 coats of a clear coat of protection on the counter tops for extra durability. So far they are holding up great!! I'm not too worried about minor scratches or dings we may have along the way at some point because these aren't our planned forever counter tops, so for right now, they work perfectly.

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Details:
Paint color on walls is SW Mindful Gray
Paint color on cabinets is SW Alabaster
Kitchen island color is a combo mix of gray and navy I made up
Dining room wall color is SW Intellectual Gray
Backsplash is Lowe's wallpaper board and batten (paintable too)
Nickel brushed light fixture from Home Depot
Kitchen nook light fixture from Habitat Restore and painted in bronze
Kitchen nook and chairs are a thrift store find- refurbished


Thanks for stopping by!

Linking with:
Linda at Coastal Charm 
Elizabeth and Co 
Jann Olson blog 
Katherine's Corner 
Lamberts Lately with Leslie 
Happy and Blessed Home 

Upstairs Bathroom Details

The kid's upstairs bathroom is pretty much complete. There are always a few minor details I like to add to a space even if it looks like it is done, but I figured the bathroom was in a good state to photograph so I decided to go ahead and write a blog post about it. 

Here is a quick before shot of the bathroom:

 Thank goodness the homeowners before us took down the wallpaper in here...that would have made me cry if we had to do all of that.

 And here is the updated space as it stands today:

The updating process all began when I decided on a whim to take down the old builder grade mirrors in some of the bathrooms in our home. This process actually turned out to be super easy, probably too easy, so I figured why not start moving some mirrors around in our home and so this is how the circular one ended up in here. It was originally in our bedroom but I thought it would look best in this bathroom. I like how the circular shape breaks up all the squares and rectangles in this bathroom.  

We also love the skylight in here- it gives us so much natural light that we wouldn't otherwise have in this room because there are no other windows.

I bought the pink coral towel at Target. I loved it and so did the girls, so we got it for them. It works well with the gray walls and vanity I painted.

Wall color is a mix of some grays and whites I had on hand.
Shelves are from Home Depot on clearance.
Vanity color is SW Gauntlet Gray- a nice rich color
Gold knobs are from Home Depot as well- originally in our kitchen but moved them over to the bathroom.

In the future, we would love to update the toilet and shower because they are the original ones to the home and are yellow, as you can see in some of the photos. But for now, they stay. 

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Half Bathroom Updates

Our half bathroom has been pretty much completed. At some point, all of the toilets and tubs will be changed out/updated. But for now, we have yellow ones which can look pretty dingy when updating the rest of a home, but at least they are functional!
I made some small changes to this space because it is pretty small and didn't need much work. The original homeowners had floral wallpaper in this room and it was actually something I really liked, but they took down a good majority of the wallpaper in the house before we bought it so we didn't have any say in that.
I had also planned on adding some stripes to the bathroom with some moulding, but decided against it once the walls were painted white. I got my hubby's opinion and he said he liked the brightness of the white too so I just left it like that and decided not to do stripes.

I would also like to change out the light fixture in here, but again, that will be another small project for another time. :)

The walls were a yellow/tan before I painted them with Sherwin Williams Alabaster. I would recommend this color to anyone who is looking for a great white but nothing too stark. It almost has a hint of cream to it which helps keep it from looking to stale on the walls. It really helped freshen up the space, and since we have a little window in here, it helps to keep things bright.
I added a wooden wall shelf that I cut and stained in espresso. It is actually one of my favorite things in this space. I love it so much I am looking for other places to put some. :)
The cabinets were painted in a darker gray called Gauntlet Gray by Sherwin Williams. I chose this color because I wanted something darker and richer than the original color we had painted on there, but it also goes well with the walls in the main part of the house since those colors are on the same paint chip card together.
I changed out the original knobs for some pretty blue and silver ones that were a Christmas gift from my step-mom last year. I think they are so cute!The gold mirror was an antique gift from my mom several years ago. I also added some frames to the one empty wall just to add some more color and interest to the small space. And that is about it!
It is a small room, but serves it's purpose in our home, and now it feels more like us.

Family Room Pictures

It has been a little while since I have showed some more pictures of our family room.
It is probably one of our favorite spots in the house because we spend a lot of time there, it is open to our kitchen and nook area, and we love having people over so it is a great spot to hang out in. One of my favorite features in the room is our brick fireplace. I know it is pretty popular to paint brick right now, but it was one of the things my husband and I decided not to paint...we just couldn't bring ourselves to do it. I think it adds some charm and color to the room and you know, brick is brick, so once it is painted, there is no going back.
We also chose to leave the wood trim around the fireplace natural and didn't paint that either. It was a decision I wasn't sure about, but my hubby said he really wanted to keep that area all wood, and I think that was the right decision for us. It really gives the space some warmth among the white trim and walls.

These frames were a steal from K-Mart at $5 a piece. They were on sale and are pretty large...they can hold an 11X14 picture...can't wait to fill those up.

Another thing we love about this space is our french doors that lead out to the deck. In our last house, we really wanted to add a pair of those doors, but never got the chance to. Once we saw this house and the french doors, we got excited and were happy that we didn't have to add those in somewhere because they were already here for us. They also provide a lot of natural light which is really nice.

The wooden horse rocking chair was a thrift store find...I may have blogged about him before, but my girls love having that around and after I saw something similar on another blog, I knew I wanted to get one for our family room. He looks great in front of the fireplace, don't you think?

Thanks for stopping by!