Painting Kitchen Counters

After & Before: painting the sides of these countertops black improved the look of this kitchen signifigantly.

The architect of this condominium was a “more is more” kind of guy, and in many ways that’s brought a lot of interest to the space. In other ways however, it feels overly complicated and busy. The kitchen for instance, has wood cabinets, and two colors on the counters: a navy laminate on the top, and a burgundy laminate on the sides. It was not yet time to rip it out and replace it. While they say you can paint countertops, I hesitate to do that on a horizontal high traffic surface. We circled around solutions. Finally, I cut up some black paper and taped it onto the wide counter edges to block the burgundy color. My eyes had been racing around between the wood cabinets, the navy countertops, and the burgundy sides. Removing the burgundy instantly calmed the space visually. I was able to find a paint color that pulled the black parts out of the navy countertop and united countertops and counter sides, and this streamlined the space visually.
Painting the edges was a quick low cost project that had a huge impact. If you decide to go this route, I recommend prepping the surface with a degreaser and a deglosser, and using a high bonding primer. I also recommend putting a couple of clear coats of polyurethane over the paint to slow down the wear and tear of your newly painted surface.