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It’s a question that we’re often asked here at Savoy Timber, especially by customers looking to give their kitchens an entirely new look. But we’re sorry to be the bearers of bad news – it’s almost certainly not a good idea. Painting your kitchen worktops isn’t quite like painting your decking, as a lot of the reasons you shouldn’t do so are generally centred on hygiene and safety. Here are some of the most important things to bear in mind!
If you’re thinking about painting a laminate worktop to give your kitchen a new look, it might seem like a quick and affordable solution. However, it’s not a recommended option due to several reasons – and here’s why.
If you attempt to update your kitchen worktops by painting them, you’ll probably find that the paint chips or peels off easily with the daily wear and tear of your kitchen Even simple things like chopping or moving plates and bowls around can leave you with an unsightly and uneven finish that’s often hard to repair or cover up.
In order for paint to adhere to your worktops, it’s likely that you’ll need to sand them down first. However, roughening or sanding the laminate surface can result in damage to the material and compromise its strength. Scratches, gouges, or abrasions caused during the preparation process can also affect the appearance of the worktops, and create vulnerable spots where moisture or bacteria can enter.
Painted worktops can often result in an uneven or inconsistent finish. Unless you’re a professional painter, it can be really hard to avoid visible brush strokes and colour variations that can make the worktops look cheap or unprofessional. Ultimately, this can detract from the overall value of your kitchen and compromise its overall appearance.
Painted surfaces can be difficult to clean, especially if the finish is uneven or textured. Dirt and grime can get trapped in cracks, chips or seams, creating breeding grounds for harmful bacteria – which no one wants in the kitchen (or anywhere).
It’s important to note that even if your kitchen paint doesn’t chip, the strong chemicals found in cleaning products and disinfectants can still harm the paint or cause it to deteriorate over time. As a result, some sanitation methods may not be appropriate for maintaining a truly clean kitchen, which in turn increases the likelihood of foodborne illnesses.
Most importantly, these imperfections can provide the perfect little niches to harbour germs, quickly creating a highly unhygienic work surface. So, not only will you end up with a kitchen worktop that looks excessively cheap and worn, but it might also end up being unsafe. That, and will it chip and flake over time, dramatically increasing the likelihood of getting flakes of paint in your food.
Of course, not every worktop is laminate. You may have a granite or marble kitchen worktop, but those tend to be quite expensive. It wouldn’t make an awful lot of sense to spend all that money on one if you’re only going to paint over it anyway, especially as it can give quite such uncertain results.
A timber worktop can be painted over if you’ve got the right amount of paint, but even that can carry with it a not-inconsiderable amount of risk – as well as being flipping hard work, to boot!
To be honest, if you’ve got a particular colour or style in mind for your laminate kitchen worktop, it’s far easier to replace it with a brand new model rather than trying to literally paint over the one you’ve got. It’s also worth considering that today, there’s no shortage of choice on the market!
That’s especially true of our own stock right here at Savoy Timber. We’ve got laminate kitchen worktops in a huge range of styles and colours, so if you’re looking for something specific we’re sure to have it. If you want to keep things simple and straightforward, our Wilsonart Matt Slate worktop and Blocked Oak Laminate kitchen worktop are both perfect examples of universally popular worktops that fit in a wide variety of environments and interior designs.
Or if your tastes are a little more contemporary, you might like our Blanc Chamonix laminate kitchen worktop, which has an effortlessly clean white shade that can give any kitchen a nicely sophisticated touch. And don’t forget that it doesn’t necessarily have to be one smooth, solid colour – we also stock worktops in a range of intriguing effects, such the subtle veined effect of our Duropal Compact laminate worktop, or the wow factor of our high gloss kitchen worktops.
As for which one works best for your kitchen… well, that’s all up to you! You can browse our range right here on our website, or if you need any help or advice don’t hesitate to give us a call on 0345 0268 799. We’re here to help!
