Before and After

While I was away on my girls' weekend a few weeks ago, my husband and his dad had a little project planned. When I say "little" project, what I really mean is "multi-stepped, not as easy as it sounds, but totally worth the work" project.

Cary and I have never been in love with our kitchen. We have talked about painting our cabinets, replacing the countertops, taking out the bulk-head, adding recessed lights, repainting the walls, or buying new cabinet doors. Although each of those changes would have made a huge difference in the kitchen, they all seemed pretty pricey and like an awful lot of work.

So while I was gone, Cary came up with a great plan...to refinsh the countertops. I know, that's not something you usually hear about. Who paints countertops? Well apparently we do! Cary had done some research on a new product called Countertop Transformations. Since I was gone during the whole process, I really can't tell you exactly what the steps were. But I think it involved sanding down the original laminate, painting it with a durable and think black paint included in the kit, sprinkling specs of granite on top, and then brushing on a sealer. We didn't love the shine of the sealer that came with the kit, so Cary and his dad ended up sanding the countertops down several times and applying a more matte sealer. And the final product is great! I couldn't be happier!!! The color changes the kitchen so much and makes it feel more modern. AND...as a little bonus...they added lights under the cabinets which I LOVE! It makes the room so much brighter and more "homey." I'm a girl that's all about lighting, and so I'm loving the new lighting in the kitchen.

Here is our kitchen before...
And after... (Sorry for the glare...gotta love that afternoon sun though!)

Thanks for all of your hard work, Cary and Joe! I finally love my kitchen! :)