With paint that looks like granite, you can transform a laminate countertop or any room of your home into something special in just a matter of days. Granite countertops, slabs and tiles are a popular way to bring natural beauty, texture and style to your home. They are also expensive, heavy and can take a lot of care to keep them looking great. So if you like the look of granite, but the expense, weight or maintenance is too much, consider using paint that looks like granite. Faux granite paint can be applied on top of your existing kitchen or bathroom countertop. It can also be applied directly to plaster walls, exposed brick, fireplace surrounds and table tops. With a few steps and a few days, your old laminate or Formica countertop will resemble a hard, glossy granite. Your dining room or foyer walls will resemble a rough, Tuscan stone wall and you can even cover over a few old side or coffee tables as well. There are several types of paint that resemble granite on the market today.

Which one you choose will depend on the color of granite you are after, and the application. If you want to cover over an old countertop and refinish it to look like granite, you'll need to get a granite counter kit. The kit consists of a three part paint process that will leave your counter waterproof, glossy and with the visual interest of granite. A base coat in a solid color is applied to the counter first, to cover over the color and texture of the counter below. Next, chips of mica, silica and quartz are sprinkled over the counter. These are the same minerals that are found in granite counters; adding them will give your counter the same depth, interest and color of true granite. Finally, you'll roll on a clear top coat to even out the surface and seal in the bottom two layers. Your counter is now scratch proof, heat proof, non-porous and with the look of granite for only $49.95. There are lots of faux painting techniques out there that can add some interest to your walls.

Faux granite paint takes faux painting to a new level. Three coats of paint plus a top coat are required to complete this job, but the results are worth it. Textured, rough hewn walls with a warm finish and random stippling of color are the result. Sand is mixed into a thick pigment that is rolled onto the walls for the first coat. Best Off The Shelf Cat FoodThis first coat will go on lumpy, uneven and will be extremely tough to spread. Nikon Digital Camera StandThis is normal, and what provides the base for the top, finishing layers.Second Hand Furniture Kansas City Mo The second coat starts to fill in the gaps from the first coat, adding depth to the wall and beginning to give the appearance of a block of rough hewn granite.

Finally, a third coat is brushed on in an overlapping pattern of "X's" which gives a random and multidimensional texture to the walls. To protect the paint, and keep animal hair and dust from sticking to the textured paint, a clear top coat is applied to seal it in. Granite paints are available from these retailers: Consider using paint that looks like granite to give your kitchen, dining room, living room or foyer a makeover with natural appeal. Granite paints will add dimension, beauty and style to any area of your home for less than true granite would cost. Faux paint with granite paints today and transform your home with ease.Whether you're the type who anxiously waits for Sherwin Williams and Pantone to release the latest palettes each year or are merely tired of the '70s hue that dominates your vanity top, painting over a laminate counter is a relatively inexpensive and simple way to change up the color in your bathroom. Just plan carefully, from the paint selection at the start to the three weeks of curing at the end, says Stephen Ingerson, color specialist for Hirschfield's, Inc., a full-service decorating center based in Minneapolis.

"Your color choice is so wide open, but remember it will need to coordinate with the wall color, floor and accessories, without necessarily matching it," says Ingerson. "Take a look at what's going on with the newest laminates to get an idea of color trends you can approximate with paint." Also consider how long the color will need to work with your bathroom decor. "A color like bright blue is fine if you're just looking for a temporary fix and intend to buy new laminate or a solid surface to replace it in a year," says Ingerson, whose company is also the largest manufacturer of trade sales paint in Minnesota. "But usually you need to think about color that will still look good if you don't change anything for a long time. Just think of all those rose and light blue counters that are still around from the '70s." And since the counter is so large and so close to the bathroom mirror, its color should be good with your coloring — nothing that makes you look sickly and nothing so bright you can't look at it for long.

"Most important, it should be something that you want to see when you first get up in the morning," says Ingerson. Once you find a color that meets all those criteria, follow these steps for a high-quality paint job: Clean the countertop with warm soap and water and dry it with a soft cloth. Lightly sand the counter with 150-grit sandpaper and wipe off any dust with a damp cloth. Prime the entire surface with 100 percent acrylic primer. "You want a flash-bond primer, one that will stick to the laminate and that will allow paint to stick to it," says Ingerson, who suggests XIM primer, Benjamin Morris Fresh Start, Bullseye 1-2-3 or any other high-quality primer that says on the label it's intended to cover gloss or high-gloss surfaces. Let the first coat of primer dry and then apply a second. When the second coat of primer is dry, paint over it with a couple of coats of latex satin or semi-gloss enamel, allowing each coat to dry before painting another. After the finish coat is dry, seal it with a couple of coats of clear acrylic.

"Make sure to use satin or semi-gloss, because the higher the shine in the acrylic, the stronger it is and the more protection it offers against scratches and wear," says Ingerson. "Avoid egg shell or flat paint." The acrylic seal will dry quickly, says Ingerson, but it's important to go easy on the counter for a while anyhow. "The seal takes two or three weeks to cure, and during that time you shouldn't scrub it, just wipe it off lightly with a damp cloth," he says. "Of course, you never want to use scouring powder or other abrasives on an acrylic-seal painted counter, even after curing." But you don't have to wait three or even two weeks to make changes if you don't like the color — that's one of the benefits of working with inexpensive paint in lieu of solid surfaces or even laminates. "Get a good look at the finish coat once it's dry, because of course a lot of times paint on a counter won't look the same as it did on the color swatch or in the photo you're working from," says Ingerson.