Archives for February 2014

Disclosure- I received the product mentioned below to facilitate my review but all opinions are 100% my own and I received no other compensation.
This post is from my old blog but it was such a popular post and has saved so many people so much money on redoing their kitchens and bathrooms that I thought I would copy it over here, too.  This really is an amazing product and it has held up really well.  My counters look as good as they did when I first did them and you would never know they aren’t real granite.

Do you want the look of granite counter tops in your kitchen but don’t want to spend so much money to get the look?  Do you like the look of stainless steel but not all of your appliances are stainless steel?  I have the solution for you!
EZ Instant Makeover has a line of faux products that can create the look you want without the price.
We recently moved into a new house but I thought the kitchen was a little dull and boring.  The counter tops, cabinets, handles, and walls were all white.  We painted the walls and changed out the cabinet handles but we just didn’t have the money to put new counter tops.  I tried to use a cheap roll of granite-look contact paper that I bought at a discount store but it was so hard to use, stuck to itself, and became a wrinkly mess.
Here is what my kitchen looked like before I applied the EZ faux granite:
I was so excited to see EZ Instant Makeover‘s faux granite.  This looked like just the solution I was looking for.  I started by cleaning my counter tops.  The roll of faux granite was the perfect width for my counters so I didn’t have to cut to fit.  I like that the backing has grid marks so you can easily cut it to fit whatever area you need to cover if you do need to cut it.  I was able to peel off one end of the backing from the roll of faux granite and begin placing it on my counter top.
  I used the “wet” application method by spraying the counter tops with water before applying the granite film.  It was really easy to apply and the air bubbles came out by simply using a squeegee that I purchased at Home Depot (not included in the kit but a credit card would have worked just as well).  The only “tools” I needed for this installation were a spray bottle to spray water on the counter top, a squeegee to get rid of air bubbles, a knife to trim the edges, and clear silicone caulk to seal the edges around the sink.
The hardest part was installing around the sink.  If you can install the granite with the sink removed, I would recommend that.  Our sink was recently installed and it was pretty well caulked in place so I didn’t want to mess it with.  Instead, I applied a piece of granite film on the counter to the right of the sink first.  I installed a second piece on the left side of the sink and then finished the sink area with 2 thinner strips- one behind and one  in front of the sink.  You can’t really see the seams at all!

I finished the installation and applied a thin strip of clear caulking around the sink to seal the faux granite down.  I used a craft knife to trim the ends.  It turned out that I bought just the refill blades and not the actual knife itself so my cutting wasn’t as exact as I would have wanted it to be, but I think it came out pretty good.
Here is the finished product-

BEFORE:
AFTER:
 EZ Instant Makeover‘s faux granite comes in several colors:
They also make faux stainless steel film to turn plain appliances into stainless steel appliances:
Do your children like Good Luck Charlie?  They also sell rolls of chalkboard film so you can turn your refrigerator into a chalkboard like on Good Luck Charlie.  Or what about making your pantry cabinet door into a chalkboard to write your grocery list on?

Here’s a quick video showing my counters and comparing regular contact paper and EZ Faux Granite!  Please excuse the echo!!!