Five years ago I took a long look around my kitchen and decided it was in desperate need of a change. The cabinets and countertops were original and lacked all character from the rest of the home. Our dining area in our kitchen was more updated with a built-in bench — my favorite thing in my kitchen. We also have beautiful open shelving atop an island-like of lower cabinets on a back wall. Other than that, everything else was pretty darn basic.
Wanting to give our kitchen a makeover by myself and rather quickly (because I am impulsive) I went to the best place I could think of for DIY ideas — Pinterest, of course. There I found it: Giani countertop paint. I looked at blog posts and their official website for video tutorials and within a few days of chewing on the idea, I decided to give it a go.
Countertop paint… I was a little hesitant, to say the least.
***My photos were taken five years ago on my phone. I had no idea what I was doing or that I would share these photos online. Ever. My apologies for a total lack of decent visuals, but my written word is good.
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Giani Countertop Paint How-To
The Giani Countertop Paint is designed to give your counters the look of granite. I purchased the White Diamond Kit in hopes that I could manipulate the paint to look like marble like so many bloggers had done, and the Giani website advertized. In doing so, I purchased an additional can of the White Limestone and forewent the use of the Inca Gold included in the kit (bloggers and the Giani website recommended this).
However, Giani years later released a product to give your countertops the look of marble, without the added effort it took before. This paint is appropriately called Giani Marble Countertop Paint Kit. If you are looking for the marble look I would go for this kit here. I wish this had been available five years ago for the simplicity factor.
Nonetheless, I purchased the countertop paint from Amazon, but you could opt to purchase the kit straight from the Giani website, Lowes, or Home Depot.
This isn’t a quick one-day project. You must wait a certain amount of hours before applying the next coat of paint. It could take just a weekend or a few additional days, depending on your availability.
Each layer of paint needs to be completely dry to the touch before adding another. Once the final top coat is dry you can touch and use your countertops again. However, it is suggested that you allow the paint to fully cure for two weeks. This two-week grace period is for heavy items (i.e. microwave, Keurig, air fryer, etc.). Once the two weeks are up it is completely safe to put all heavy items back.
After Two Years:
Two years after my DIY Giani countertop paint project, my countertops were still hoping up perfectly. However, a few minor flaws existed in them, but they were due to careless mistakes on my part. To help you avoid these same mistakes, here are a few tips for you:
- Do not place hot items directly onto the counter, always use a towel or pot holder underneath for protection.
- If you spill something (like tomato sauce especially) wipe all of it up ASAP. This may seem like a no-brainer, but you may not notice a small amount of splatter at the moment. Guilty.
After Three Years:
How long does Giani Countertop Paint last? For us, it was just over three years. They began to discolor and we were tired of seeing the stains (that we mentioned after two years) still existing no matter what we did. It was a good three and a half years, but it was time to say goodbye to our DIY countertops.
Giani Countertop Paint Review: Is It Worth The Hype?
So, was it worth the hype? Would we do it again? Absolutely. Sure, my countertops did not in fact resemble marble as I wanted — but I definitely realized my mistakes after the fact. Like not using a fine paintbrush to paint on the dark lines (just buy the marbling kit!).
It was an easy and affordable fix that worked for our family for years. Plus it was fun for me to do and I would be just as happy to do it again. Of course, I would opt for the actual marble kit this time.
If you’re looking for an easy and affordable DIY countertop option, Giani paint may be the one for you. I wouldn’t recommend it any longer than three years, which will hopefully give you enough time to come up with a much more lasting option like it did for us.
Let us know if you have any questions! Happy DIY-ing!
