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My friend has a cute beach house that she has been updating on a tight budget. So replacing countertops wasn’t something she could do right now. That’s when I knew we could transform them with paint for a lot less than replacing them.
Here is the before picture. She didn’t have any damage as you can see, but they didn’t have much character. A little boring. 
I started by cleaning the countertops with a mix of Denatured alcohol and water. Let dry.
Make sure you tape carefully anything you don’t want paint on. I used blue painter’s tape for the sink and yellow delicate surface tape for the walls. I didn’t want to have to paint them next.
This primer is the true secret for adhesion! Retique It made it so you don’t have to sand even glossy items before painting. The only issue is that it sticks to your bristles of your brush just as good. So washing it out doesn’t work. Use an old brush or cheap chip brush that you can just throw away afterwards.
When applying Retique It primer..you don’t have to be perfect. A thin coat is all you need. Just make sure not to miss any spots.
Paint your base coat. I wanted a light look, but you can use any paint color combinations you want. I used one coat of Retique It Snow. It’s a bright clean white.
Here comes the fun part! I chose 4 other paint colors to stamp with natural sponges. You don’t need much paint. I ripped my natural sponge into smaller pieces and wet them squeezing out the excess water. Then poured a small amount of paint onto a little tray. (Recycled meat tray from the grocery store)
I used Retique It Gothic Gray for my first color. Randomly stamp the painted countertops. Move your sponge around to get different patterns.
Next I used Celadonite. It’s a beautiful Duck egg blue color.
Randomly stamp the countertops with your second color. It’s ok it it overlaps. Don’t forget your edges also.
I then stamped with Retique It Stone Castle. This was going to be my main color..so I really stamped it heavily compared to my accent colors.
For my last color I needed it to be a little more blended compared to just stamped. So using Retique It Innocence, I added water to make it thin.
Once you are happy with your new look, let dry thoroughly. Honestly it took less than 10 minutes. Lightly wipe a high grit sanding block over the countertops to give a smooth feel.
Let’s seal!
Retique It came up with an awesome product called Tripletique. It is like a water based Epoxy. I don’t know the science…I just know that I love this stuff! I applied a thin coat using my wonder brush. It has soft bristles and makes application easy. Or you can use a sponge. (Wear gloves..it’s hard to get off if you have painted nails)
Let it dry before applying another coat.
3 coats are recommended.
I used the Satin Tripletique. There are other sheens available like semi gloss and gloss if you want more shine.
It came out beautifully! My friend loved them as well. I had painted mine over a year ago and they have held up perfectly. She was able to use her countertops almost immediately after we finished. I would recommend not putting anything heavy on them for at least 24 hours. (Like a microwave)
Here is a picture of the sample I had painted before I got started. Once you get going you might change your mind when you stand back and look at the big picture. I’m so glad that we went a lot lighter. One of the fun parts about doing this is that you can just keep building upon the colors until you get the look you want.
I’m in love with it! I can’t wait to do it again with other color combinations.
Just another quick note..you can purchase the Retique It Ultratique paint vs. their regular chalk style paint if you want to buy smaller sized containers. Ultratique has paint and sealer in one, but is available in 8oz sizes. The paint I used is available in 16oz and 32 Oz only. The price of this project can vary depending upon the size of your countertops.
