Has anyone painted their kitchen work surface?

[neverdoingthatagain100]

I've got a wooden work surface in my kitchen. I loved it initially but despite my best efforts 7 years on, it's faded and stained. I have already sanded it and re treated it but it's gone manky again. I can't afford to replace it at the mo, and I wondered if anyone has repainted their work surface, is this a thing? I'd love to just freshen it up with some mat paint but I can't decide if it would be a disaster.

I think that would be a disaster. There is probably a reason painted worktops aren't a thing.

I'd consider tiling it but theirs probably a reason that was a passing fad.

Thanks! Yes I'm not into tiled tops at all , but I was wondering about a chalk paint type finish with a wax or varnish over the top.

It would be ruined very quickly and would not be food safe. Very bad idea imo.

Many people cover them with good quality sticky back plastic, that is definitely a thing. You can get wood or marble designs for this purpose

There was another thread about painting leather sofas the other day.....can’t see either of these things being a good idea🙄

I wonder if you could paint it for the appearance but then get some safety glass cut to size and secured on the top? Might be no cheaper than a new lowcost worktop though.

I don't see it would be anymore unhygienic than a varnished wood work surface? Thanks for the suggestion about the plastic
I can see painted work surfaces are not a thing then 😂😂
What a shame!! I'll forget that then. Maybe have to try sanding again

Well - the clear finish for work surfaces is specifically formulated to be food safe and non toxic whereas I seriously doubt you'd find a paint which is the same in that respect. You shouldn't use regular varnish on work surfaces which is not food safe.

You'd be better off wrapping it in vinyl until you can afford to replace. I don't think painting them would work out successfully.

I think the vinyl wrap is v cheap too.

Oh great thanks I'll look at the vinyl wrap Vidoe later
Thanks for the note about using kitchen grade varnish

Yea vinyl wrap it. Great results and easy to clean. You can change the design easily if you get bored. Check out jes rose designs

What's going wrong with using lots of oil on it. I'd do 2/3 coats. Maybe more round the sink.

Did you sand it with an actual electric sander? A plug in sanding mouse, then a couple of coats of osmo will work. Honestly. I’ve done ours several times over the years. You literally sand the damage away.

I've got a work surface from ikea which is wood topped so not sure how far down I can go, sanding wise , I'm looking forward to looking at the vinyl wrapping though
Thanks for the tips.

We had ours painted at our old house by a professional firm that spray kitchens to freshen them up, so they can do worktops, tiles, cupboard doors. We had the whole lot done, went from beige gloss finish worktops to speckled matt black, varnished wood doors to matt white, beige tiles to white with glitter flecks
Being spray it was a great finish, no patches anywhere, it was a hardwearing paint, cured within 24 hours.
You couldn't use certain cleaners on it though, no bleach/magic sponge etc. There was a patch next to the hob that i kept wiping harder than other areas to remove grease splatter, over time that did fade the paint. It could also chip if you dropped something heavy on it.
It did an amazing job at refreshing and modernising our kitchen at a lower price than replacing things, but it is a short term solution, maybe 4-5 years before it can looks faded/chipped etc depending how well you look after it.

Thanks ,that's really interesting, I'll look into spray painting the work surfaces, the rest of my kitchen looks good. It might keep me going for a couple of years.

If you got a firm to do it they can tape off everything not being sprayed plus have extractors to help with dust and fumes.
You can do it yourself but you'd need to use a primer first, i think you can apply some worktop paint with a roller

Thank you!!!

We used this stuff 8 years ago when we moved in - sanded back and a couple of coats.

fiddes.co.uk/shop/floor-finishes/hard-wax-oil/

It's still pretty pristine - we use a chopping board when cutting stuff and heat pads for something directly out of the oven, but otherwise are not delicate with it at all.

@Kitkat151

There was another thread about painting leather sofas the other day.....can’t see either of these things being a good idea🙄

Annie Sloan paint is very good on fabric & leather actually.

@ if you clean it thoroughly & let it dry, then apply a couple of coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (there are other brands, but I prefer hers) then you let it dry properly and apply several coats of a good quality lacquer it should be fine, but personally I'd count on putting another layer of lacquer on each year.

If you email: [email protected]

they'll tell you which is the best lacquer to use.

No I'm not a stockist, but I love the paint!!!

@neverdoingthatagain100. Annie Sloan info in previous post

Sand it with an electric sander. I have that worktop in my bootroom and it’s ok for a couple of sands. Then use either Morells or Osmo oil on it and it will be perfect and won’t mark again easily. You do need to apply multiple coats.

Thanks for the help!

@JugglingJanuary
Thanks for the suggestion about Annie Sloan, that's the look I was dreaming of, waxed/polished mat grey!