FAUX GRANITE DIY

Y'all.. I am so in love with this. And the fact that it saved me thousands. My countertops were so hideous before.. I cannot believe it took me so long to do this! 

Yep.. That's my kid mid run in the corner. 

Okay enough of these ugly beige things. Onto the new fab beauties. I would love to have real granite but would I also like the price tag? That's a big ol negative..... Ha! It's too bad our house didn't come with them, if yours did, count yourself very LUCKY! And please know how extremely jealous I am.. That is all. Moving on.. 

THIS is what you'll see while you're in the process.. Terrifying right?! Uhm yeah.. I almost ran. I thought I had totally messed up my kitchen. But with a little prayer & technique (Uhm just kidding, there's no technique, just GO with the flow) I was able to follow through with it. I used a paper plate for my paint, simply because I'm not paying extra $$ for some fancy something to squirt my paint onto.. I'm cheap, very. Or frugal? Whatever. 

"Is this girl REALLY posting pictures with dirty dishes in her sink?!?!" Why he's darling.. I am. Someone made the remark that it looks like a coon with muddy paws had been let loose in here, id have to agree. Josh seen this & I was sure that I wasn't going to make it through the project, just kidding. He just couldn't see what I seen! I knew these would turn out amazing.. Or so I had prayed. Those beige countertops had potential after all. I'm a total slacker, here is where I should tell you that there SHOULD be tape protecting the backsplash. 

I used 2 different browns & patted my sponge onto them like this. It mixes up the colors so it isn't so blah! 

The paints I used are just cheapies from Walmart.. I don't have a fancy craft store in my small town. Black, antiqueish white, dark brown, lighter brown, and gold.. Simple enough, right? I would totally tell you the exact names of these paints but I'm too lazy to get off my booty to go get them.. Just zoom in on the picture. 

You're technically supposed to use a natural sea sponge.. Well, I found a super small pack of "natural" sea sponges at Walmart but some (insert bad word here) took 2 of the 5 out of the package. Are we SERIOUS?!?! The only package they have in stock.. So I went to the bath section, I found a sea sponge! Not exactly what I had in mind but hey, whatever works! I cut corners wherever possible (saves $$). It was around $3 bucks, it's cheaper than the natural sponge anyway.. Maybe it was meant to be. 

FINALLY it started to come together.. Lawd I was getting scared. I promise, it's worth it. Just keep working. 

Yes that's a towel between my cabinets, because who has time to tape up news paper?!? Remember when I said I cut corners? Ha.. I wasn't kidding. 

Oh hey.. There's that package of sponges. After I began to read on the package I realize there's supposed to be 5 sponges, I then realize there's a hole in the mesh.. Awesome. Place that back on a random shelf (don't act like you've never done this). There's the Polycrylic I used, it seals in all the paint. I did 4-5 coats. Don't mind that roller, I didn't end up using it. I used a foam brush (super cheap!). 

This project was super cheap.. My kinda peoject. Rough estimate of the cost: 

•Paints: Black $2.97 

            White .57 cents 

            Dark brown .57 cents 

            Real brown .57 cents 

            Gold either .97 or $1.97 

•Sea Sponge $3ish (remember this is a bath sponge)

•Polycrylic $16 

•Foam brush to apply Polycrylic $1

 

Roughly under $30 total. Not bad! Way less than I had expected. 

 Oh yeah, there's new backsplash I'm working on too.. It's beadboard wallpaper, pretty cool. 

Excuse the horrible lighting of my photos, I'm not getting my fancy camera out just to take pictures mid project.. Uhm no, not happening. Phone will have to do. 

A little sneak peak of my DIY beadboard backsplash.. But I'll save that for another post.