In an area where the laminate will get a lot of use, it is usually a bad idea to paint. It chips and flakes easily with the abuse. You can get relatively cheap laminate to replace it, or another idea could be to use contact adhesive to put another kind of laminate sheeting over it.

Good luck with what ever you try.

I once painted laminate kitchen cabinets. I used a Benjamin Moore primer for laminate (2 coats), let it dry for several days, then used Behr latex paint, also dried for several days between coats. I think a long cure time is important for painting laminate. It looked good and was very durable. Cheap enough to give it a try before replacing your laminate.

You might think about putting a top coat of a urethane over the paint - it might help it hold up. I agree though its usually a bad idea to paint a laminate that gets a lot of abuse. Remember you should lightly rough up the surface area before you paint to help it stick!