Farmhouse Dining Room ~ Buffet Makeover (Before & After)

Painting formica. It's possible! 

Our dining room is one of my favorite rooms in our house. We've shared a lot of good memories gathered around the farmhouse table. The room has many windows, so it gets a lot of natural light. 

This past week, I painted the buffet countertop, which was a dark green laminate. The effect was dramatic! Instead of your eye stopping on the green countertop, the painted white buffet now blends into the room well. It looks more like the painted piece of furniture you'd expect to see in a farmhouse.

Here's the before...

And the after... 

Here are the steps to take in painting formica countertop:

1. Clean the surface well.

2. Sand the surface to help paint adhere (I used a medium grit sanding block).

3. Clean the surface again.

4. Paint several coats if you are covering up a dark laminate with white. I used Home Depot's Behr Ultra (paint with primer). The color I chose was Benjamin Moore Simply White (OC-117)

5. Seal the paint with a few coats of Peel Stop Clear Binding Sealer by Zinsser (found on Amazon).

Notes: I first tried to use polyurethane as a sealant but it yellowed the white paint. Peel Stop did not yellow the paint and provides a fairly matte finish for a sealant... which I liked, since I was trying to achieve the look of an older piece of furniture. Since I just completed this project, I can't speak to the durability of the sealant yet. 

One more before...

And after...

Ahhh, the power of budget-friendly paint! :)

If you'd like to see what our dining room looked like when we were first shown the house, you can see it here.

Hope you have a wonderful day!

xo

Sharing with:

Cozy Little House

Cedar Hill Farmhouse

Savvy Southern Style

Share Your Style

French Country Cottage

A Desk / Work Area Makeover... Before & Afters

A week ago, this desk had a dark green formica countertop. I had wanted to change it since moving in over a year ago. But, some projects just take awhile to get to.  

Painting the desk was a small change but it made a big difference! 

It freshened up the room and made it feel more open. 

To see why this made such a difference, you need to see how the desk started...

Here's another before picture (dark and cluttered!)...

And after...

It was one of the first times I've used an oil-based paint. It was a type of paint specifically made for formica countertops (by Rustoleum, found at Home Depot). 

It took four coats. Hopefully, it will wear well! 

I found oil-based paint harder to work with than water-based because it had more of heavy, "sticky" consistency and the odor was really strong. You definitely want to wear a mask! I used a foam roller so lint wouldn't be left behind. I think that was helpful.

After the paint had dried, the fun part began. I brought in a plant...

And filled some of the jars with faux berries to go along with the Farm Shop sign...

Some fresh spring flowers...

I "shopped" our house for a lamp that fit the space better...

I now feel like I can breathe when I look at this corner of the room! :) It's nice, because this is where I do almost all of my work on the computer. 

Our middle son (9), who would like to see a lot more color in our house said, "I actually like the white. It looks clean." Ahhhhh, he said it! (And he does have color in his room, in case you were wondering!)

What have you painted that has made a big difference in the way an area in your home feels? A piece of furniture, fireplace, wall, room? Is there anything you're wanting to paint when you can find the time? 

xo

Sharing with:
French Country Cottage
Cozy Little House
Cedar Hill Farmhouse