If the kitchen is the center of the home, the counter tops are the center of the kitchen. That’s the place all the meal-making magic happens (and the place takeout containers are unpacked).
We aren’t all blessed with brand-new, just-what-we-want counter tops though—and they also aren’t low-cost to interchange. For many who’re caught with earlier, drained counter tops, you’re in luck: there are creative and cost-effective strategies to revive your lackluster counter tops, whether or not or not you’re a DIY-er or not.
Be taught on for five expert-approved strategies to exchange your kitchen counter tops.
Meet the Skilled
- Heather Goerzen is the Lead Inside Designer at inside design mannequin Havenly.
- Heather Fujikawa owns inside design studio Residence Sprucing.
Paint Your Counter tops
Is your TikTok feed tempting you with DIYs for painted counter tops? Heather Goerzen, the lead inside designer at Havenly, ensures that painting your kitchen counter tops can produce a formidable finish outcome—when completed appropriately. (No skipping steps allowed!)
Adjust to Goerzen’s primary how-to proper right here:
- Prep the ground: Clear the counter tops completely to remove any grease, grime, or residue. Sand the ground calmly to create a tricky texture that helps the paint adhere increased.
- Prime: Apply a high-quality bonding primer designed for use on counter tops. This may assure increased adhesion of the paint and enhance its sturdiness.
- Apply paint: Choose a paint significantly formulated for counter tops, paying homage to epoxy or enamel paint. Apply the paint evenly with a roller or brush, following the producer’s instructions regarding drying situations and number of coats.
- Seal: As quickly because the paint is completely dry, seal the counter tops with a clear, food-safe sealant to protect the paint and provide a simple finish.
- Add decorative touches: Extra enhance the seems of your painted counter tops by together with thrives like stenciling, faux finishes, or decorative tiles.
Polish Your Counter tops
Perhaps your counter tops merely need an ideal clear. Who’s conscious of what kind of grime and filth have been construct up over time, in all probability a few years?
Sooner than altering them, try sprucing them—that’s thought-about one in all inside designer Heather Fujikawa’s favorite strategies to make counter tops actually really feel new.
It is best to use a enterprise sprucing compound, or make your private with baking soda and water. Rubdown your counter tops with the polish on a cloth, then wipe away the excess with a transparent materials.
“It’s fantastic what polish can do to refresh your counter tops,” Fujikawa says. “It takes off the scrapes and stains and provides your counter a complete new facelift.”
Change the Elements Throughout the Counter tops
One technique to exchange your earlier counter tops is to, successfully, not contact them the least bit. As an alternative, be sure that the design elements throughout the counter tops complement them.
For instance, rethink your backsplash—is there one different shade or pattern that will convey out the easiest of the counter tops? Updating your cabinet {{hardware}} can go a long way, and so does together with some fashionable countertop decor.
“Your eye takes in the complete seen,” says Goerzen—not merely your not-so-sightly counter tops.
Add a Concrete Overlay
To current your kitchen a additional industrial, brutalist-modern look, cowl dated counter tops with a layer of concrete.
“This look is evident, minimalist, and may remaining for years to return again with barely repairs,” Goerzen says.
Goerzen recommends following these steps:
- Prep the ground: Clear the counter tops completely and restore any cracks or chips. Apply a bonding agent to the ground to ensure increased adhesion of the concrete overlay.
- Mix and apply: Mix the concrete overlay according to the producer’s instructions, together with pigment if desired for shade. Unfold the overlay evenly onto the counter tops using a trowel, working in small sections to ensure uniform safety.
- Texturing and Finish: As quickly because the overlay is utilized, use devices like trowels, stamps, or brushes to create texture and patterns on the ground if desired. Allow the overlay to dry partially, then use a moist sponge to simple out any robust areas and refine the texture.
- Seal: After the concrete overlay has completely cured, apply a lot of coats of concrete sealant to protect the ground from stains and moisture. Choose a sealant significantly formulated for use on concrete counter tops for most interesting outcomes.
Concrete Care Tip
Generally reseal the concrete counter tops every one to 2 years to handle their look and sturdiness. Steer clear of placing scorching pots or abrasive provides on the ground to cease damage.
Embellish the Counter tops
For many who’re not the DIY type, put your styling talents to work as an alternative, together with intentional tools to your counter tops.
Fujikawa recommends laying slicing boards alongside the backsplash or behind the vent hood, which brings your eye up (and away!) from the counter tops. She moreover loves arranging beautiful cooking utensils in a kitchen crock. Not solely is having a wooden spoon inside arm’s attain of your fluctuate useful, but it surely certainly’ll help camouflage the look of earlier counter tops.
You presumably can moreover layer a reasonably patterned tea towel over a slicing board, topping that with a giant vase or fruit bowl.
“These are some pleasant strategies to trick the eye to maneuver the attention from the counter tops to the enticing tools in your kitchen,” says Fujikawa, “and are rather a lot cheaper than altering your counter tops!”