First of, let me warn you that you are about to see one of the smallest rooms in my house. Our Master Bathroom. I know when you think of the word MASTER, you think big and luxurious. But when you are coming from a 2 bedroom apartment in California, you are so happy to have another toilet and shower, no matter the size. When I decided to take on this project, most people thought I was crazy (including my husband), because it had just been remodeled. House flippers are notorious for finding the cheapest stuff out there, price before style. One thing that seriously bothered me about this bathroom, was that the countertop and the shower tile were in completely 2 different tones, one being brown and the other being gray. I don’t like brown anyway (which is how they did the other bathroom 100%), but the mismatch really bugged me. I had to think of a way to fix it. Pinterest to the rescue!! Let me show you a couple of before pics. What really sold me on this bathroom was the tile in the shower!
Now keep in mind those were the Real Estate photos from a professional photographer, so the bathroom is meant to look really nice. I found some really amazing tutorials on using epoxy on the countertops, like this one from Raising Farmhouse. Her countertops look amazing! So of course I embarked on the journey and after painting and adding the marble effect, did a coat of epoxy. Well, it looked good for a minute, until I found a few places that didn’t take and I went in like a mad perfectionist with a second coat. Epic disaster!! It left uneven places throughout. This is when I decided to sand them down and start over. But first let me give you a few tips if you do decide to use epoxy because it is the strongest things out there. First off, protect, protect, protect! This stuff is pretty messy and doesn’t come off easy at all. So protect any surface that you may not want to come in contact with this messy goo. Second, take your faucet off. I know this feels like an extra step, but I think this is where I got into trouble with trying to make it perfect. Third, let it cure for at least 3 days if not more. Personally, I did not like working with this stuff, so I don’t ever think I will use it again.
So let’s get back to what I did. I decided to sand down the epoxy and start over. However, I was really loving the way the matte finish looked because it looked more like “real” marble. I decided to keep it like that and was planning on adding a coat of matte polyacrylic, but then my hubby spilled a chemical on it and ate right through the finish. Ugh! So starting over for real happened. I painted it again with spray paint and primer, and then added the gray with acrylic paint. Then I put on 4 coats of polyacrylic (sanding between coats). I think the counter tops turned out great!
So although painting the countertops was the most tedious update, I did a couple of other things as well. I painted the vanity cabinet a perfect blue, and added 2 mirrors that I picked up at Target for only $20 each. The walls are painted one of my favorite whites, cloud white from Benjamin Moore, and I also painted the inside of the window with Satin Black spray paint. The light fixture is something that I picked up on Amazon and used the same Satin black to get rid of the cheesy gold accent. The towels and pictures are from Ikea. My window also got a frosted glass effect which is just clear contact paper that I stuck on there using this tutorial. All in all I’m loving my bathroom and I managed to keep my budget under $150*
*Update: So many have asked how durable my countertops have been. Well after a year a year and a half I got a couple of chips (but honestly like 2), and the poly wore off in certain areas. Also, I learned to keep hair dye far away from the sink because it will stain. Be good about wiping off water because it breaks down the poly. (my husband is the issue here. LOL!) I decided to sand down and go over it again. This time I decided for a Carrara marble look.
The only thing I did differently for the Carrara marble look is after spray painting white, I used the same acrylic paint in grey and white and used a pointy paintbrush in order to create the veining. Then I used a damp sponge and just dabbed to blend. I also took some of that excess paint on the sponge and randomly dabbed around the rest of the vanity. This time I did 4 coats of polyacrylic and sanded between coats. I have to say I honestly like it 10 times more than the last countertop.
If you are a kit type of person. Giani carries a great kit that will create this look for you. You can click here for the link.
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