Clever Countertop

I linked up...





I needed a countertop over my washer and dryer. The existing countertop in the laundry room is Caesar Stone Quartz, but at $1,500 there was no way that I could afford to install a slab of quartz as large as I needed. After a few quotes, I realized that it was going to cost me $250-$300 for laminate in the size I needed. Uhm, noooooo.

I picked up a slab interior passage door at Home Depot. It was 32" deep which was perfect, but I needed to cut down the length to make it fit. A circular saw made quick work of it (make sure you stick painters or masking tape to the door where you plan to make the cut so the door doesn’t splinter). And remember, measure twice, cut once!

The door came already primed so I did a base coat of leftover white paint from my pine dresser project.

Next I grabbed a bottle of grey craft paint and diluted it with a few drops of water and white paint in an effort to get the colour as close as possible to the existing countertop. To make the small specs, I dipped an old bristly paint brush in and, with a flick of the wrist (literally) applied it to the door. After all was dry, I gave it a light sanding and gave it 4 coats of Varethane, sanding a bit between coats.

I measured and marked the wall at 39 1/2" (make sure you have a bit of clearance above the washer and dryer for air flow) and mounted pieces of 2x2 lumber to the wall studs with deck screws – hey, use what you’ve got! I painted the lumber with leftover wall colour (these won't be seen, so they can be rough - like mine - ha ha).

I used construction adhesive on the tops of the wall braces and set the door on top. I grabbed some weights from the basement and set them on top while the adhesive set. Then I taped off the wall and countertop and finished the edges that met the wall with white caulking to give it a more finished look and fill in any gaps.

 I think it looks great! And it's a pretty close match to the existing countertop...yay!

Here is a cost breakdown for this project:
$32 for the door
$0 for lumber...I scrounged for scraps at a nearby construction site
$0 for screws
$1 for craft paint
$0 for construction adhesive
$0 for caulking
Total cost = $33