Kitchen Countertop Update & Giani Granite Paint Review

I know you are all waiting with bated breath to know my final decision regarding our countertops so I won’t keep you in suspense any longer!  See here and here for my other posts regarding this dilemma.  I recently finished painting one section of our countertops with Giani Jet Black Granite Countertop Paint Kit. Before I get in to the details, here are a few before and after photos:

  

While I am happy with the black color, I will tell you a few reasons why we have decided NOT to move forward with painting the remainder of the countertops with the Giani Countertop Paint.  Keep in mind that I only used one paint color, not the kits with multiple colors that are for a true granite effect.  Also, the following statement are based purely on my experience and opinions, they are in no way meant to offend anyone who has used and loved this product. 

1.  I am not happy with the coverage of the black base coat. In hindsight, I should have done two coats of the black.  There are a few areas where there are some “holidays” where the paint did not fully cover.  I imagine you wouldn’t have this problem if you were using other colors on top of your base coat to create a true “granite” look. And of course it would have helped if I had shined the bright spotlight on the countertop BEFORE I started to apply the protective top coats! You can kind of see what I mean in here:

2.  We have a dog.  A dog who sheds.  This is not good when painting!  The solid black shows every imperfection and every tiny little pug hair or piece of lint/dust/fuzz that happens to fall onto the wet surface.  It would be impossible for me to get a clean finish.  And that would drive me crazy, knowing there are little hairs & what not stuck in there!  I would see them every time I cleaned.

3.  I’m not totally satisfied with the overall finish.  While the countertops are shiny, I expected a more high gloss finish.

4.  It really does look like we just painted our countertops.  While they look great from a distance, up close you can clearly tell they have been painted.  With the rich dark color of our cabinets and the fancy glass tile backsplash that we want to get, I think this will just cheapen the overall look. 

I will say that the Giani paint went on smoothly.  It was a little thinner than regular latex paint.  Application on this 6 foot area took about 15 minutes for each coat, plus drying time.  

So we are back to square one! Hubby agrees with me on this one and does not want to move forward with painting the rest of the countertops.  Now we just have to decide on what kind of countertops to get.  I have priced new black laminate, but hubby is not sold on that idea.  We plan on visiting a local granite yard later this week, but I am open to any suggestions! 

Of course we are trying to make an improvement on a budget, that is why I tried the paint in the first place.  I am thinking we just may have to start saving our pennies and wait until after the first of the year to tackle this project. 

I’m a little late, but I’ll be posting this at Serenity Now’s Decorating Dilemma’s Party, maybe someone out there can help us!

I’ll also be posting to Gina’s Transformation Thursday.

Interestingly enough, Karli over at Rocky Bella also attempted a similar project, except she used spray paint!!  She is in the same boat as we are, not really ready to spend the big bucks to replace them with granite, but unable to stand their current condition!  Check out her results here.

Stay tuned for details on my own Linky Party that I’m planning next week! I want to go forward with my idea of posting  your “decorating mistakes” so get those old photos ready!