Here is my first masterpiece! :cool:
I never did take a photo of the original unfortunately, I suspect I felt it was not photo worthy. I never liked it. It was a medium brown cocoa colour with a dark pink streak in it. The floor tiles are gray. I just hated them together.
So I just used some paint I had from painting walls and bought some darker colour in the form of a BM tester pot.
It was very easy to do and quick. To me it is a huge improvement on the original but it occured to me how it might look like old countertops some of you have replaced :o It reminds me very much of a faux onyx countertop at my parents house. I wish I had done it a little differently now. We learn by our mistakes I guess. :hairpull:
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Well you have to watch those things. They aren't actually cleaning, they are sanding dirt off. So if you are trying to get grease or whatever up, you are better using something soapy. Also the more you rub with those things the duller your finish can get which might make you think you need to rub more...YOu can rub enough to bring up shiny but it takes a lot of work and you just took part of your surface off to do it. Not a good idea with things like counters or paint. I really have come to regard them as tools for only special things because they aren't the be-all-end-all as advertised and they can cause a lot of damage.
As much as I love magic erasers, I'm so frustrated with how easily the wear out. Seriously, I burn through them in a single use. Perhaps I'm to vigorous in my magic erasing zeal? ;)
that's odd. I've always bought mine at places like Home Depot with no problem but maybe not all stores carry it. For sure any place that has products for fine woodworking would have it. You could always ask if they have pumice powder which is a bit more course but if they have pumice they probably also have rottenstone (often made by the same company anyway).
Meanwhile a lb is probably the smallest container I've seen. it does last a long time and can be used anytime you need a really mild abrasive (think cleaning hard water deposits). It's also used to dull down gold leaf finishes so they aren't so shiny and to make them look more aged.
What you might want to try, is a Magic Eraser. Those things are also abrasive and I used one to take down some paint one time. It may take some of the sheen off but you need to be careful to do it evenly with those things.
I tried a couple of hardware stores but no-one knew what I was asking for, they had never heard of rottestone before. Lee Valley has some but they only have a countainer that is a pound in weight, that seems like a large quanity, how much do you think I'll need for a 36" countertop Dustbunnydiva?
If the top coat finish is too shiny for you go buy some rottenstone (most paint stores or hardware stores have it. Usually in bags or containers like milk cartons). It's a mild abrasive you just mix with water and rub around until the shiny is down to where you want it. It's common practice to do this with people who like the strength of glossy products but want a more matt finish.
I applied several coats of the BM Stays Clear or whatever it is called in a matte finish but it is kind of shiny still. I preferred the look when it was just the paint but that would be a recipe for disaster for sure with the latex paint ;)
I basically followed these directions.
[url]http://www.cityline.ca/homeandgarden/designbasics/index.asp?articleID=3655&topicID=6&categoryID=194&categoryName=DIY%2BProjects[/url]
The hard part was getting the nerve to actually do it.
Nice job.
You will need to seal it due to the fact it is wall paint, otherwise it won't hold up ie. water etc.
Thank you.
Yes it is a well used bathroom. The BM store told me not to use Ajax or other abrasive cleansers on it once it's finished so I plan on using a gel cleanser or a spray type. It's not like a kitchen countertop so it shouldn't need scrubbing. I did it in latex paint. I wish I had planned out more what exactly I was going to do but I kind of winged it.
Good job!!! I'm going to try it. Is it in a washroom that is used regularly?
You did a great job Arizona. :clapping: .....with added accessories it is a nice change...I like it. :)
Yes it's always live and learn but you did a good job of giving yourself a new look and now that you know how to do it, you can change it if you want. There are no rules about when you have to stop. Give yourself some time to live with it a while because you may find you did pretty good the first try.