I would like to change the looks of my kitchen. It is dark, with maple colored cabinet and dark brown countertops. I have seen on some of the home shows that the counters were painted, but when I checked at my local home store they did not recommend it as the paint may explode if something hot was placed on them. Does anyone know what is safe to use as I have seen this on several shows and didn't think they would do it if not safe. Your help would be greatly appreciated as I would like to get this done. Thanks

Hi harbob,

I, too, recommend against painting countertops. RE: Painting your cabinets, go for it. Bring a door or a drawer to your Retail Paint Store so you can get a good stripper, primer, and finish paint. Please stay away from the paint in the BIG Box Stores.

My best to ya and hope this helps.

Jay J -Moderator

PS: God Bless America!

I have read and watched several sources who have said you can safely paint kitchen counter-tops and even vinyl floors. The first step seems to be cleaning well, preferably with TSP. Most have recommended using KILZ primer, followed by a quality paint and finally sealed with an oil based polyurethane. I am doing a small section of vinyl flooring to look like blocks of marble tile, using a feather to simulate the white lines in black marble. The vinyl has four inch square blocks with imprinted "grout" lines. I am painting the whole piece with a white primer and paint, then taping off the imprinted "grout" lines with 1/4 inch masking tape, painting over the whole area with black paint, and then using a feather to drag some white feathered lines in each "tile" with my white paint. When that is all finished, I'll remove the taped grout lines and coat it all with a clear polyurethane, two or three coats. Oil based seems to hold up best to normal household cleaning. When doing this procedure to countertops, I don't know if I would set very hot pots on it without the benefit of pads, but that goes for regular laminate tops anyway. They can burn without being painted.

My husband and I are paint contractors. We get your questions of refinishing or resurfacing kitchen countertops often. My sister-in-law had her kitchen appliances and countertops repainted by a professional from the Twin Cities, Minnesota, using an electrostatis process. That was 4 years ago and everything still looks like new. You may want to contact contractors in your area for referrals to this type of painting company.

My husband and I run a specialty painting company. We have painted counters, even our own and have had no trouble with them. We prime, paint, and coat with three coats of oil based poly. I am sure it's not lifetime durable, but it's durable. I set hot things on mine all the time. I cut things on it. I have on purpose tried to abuse mine so that I can make sure it's good enough to sell, and it is.

Yes you can have countertops painted but it is not done with regular paint and DO NOT PRIME THEM WITH KILZ. The reason you do not use regular paint is that needs to rated for food contact and it will not last. There are companies in most cities that do that type of painting and that is the way to go.

Hope this helps out.