I have a friend who made her countertops look like granite. If you go someplace like Home Depot or Lowe's, I am sure they can help you. Google it. You'd be surprised what you'll find.

Pink!!! Wow, that so unusual and works with the floor! Would you be willing to paint the cabinets? If you paint them a pale aqua blue and work on the diner colour pastels, you could blend the shock of the pink counters so they are less insulting to you.... at least this will tide you over till your kitchen remodel.

I don't know of any product that is going to withstand the daily abuse of kitchen counters.

Also there is a wall that is all cabinet. Ideally I'd like to just remove it but then I'd be left with no cabinet space. Do you think drilling holes and adding new knobs might make them look nicer

I love the palette ASVInteriors came up with. FUN. I'd say if you are truly going to renovate in a year have some fun with it. Don't spend too much money or time as a year goes by really fast. Save your money for the reno. FYI painting your countertop can be done but will be gone within that year

It looks as if your cupboards open by a return handle. I am not sure it would look great, but if you know you are going to renovate in a year or so, I would dare to do anything I could. I bought an apartment last year that we are about to renovate. In the interim, I hated the handles (so sprayed them gold); and hated the cabinet facing (so bought duck tape in gold and placed it around the cabinet facing edges to create a wow factor shaker style). All in good fun as I knew that it was going....

I Googled "faux granite countertops" and found several sites. It might not be a long term solution, but I was under the impression you were going to replace the countertops in about a year.

Thanks I'm going to try to paint the countertops to get me through this year! Thankfully theres not a ton of pink counter space

Good luck! The friend I mentioned did it several years ago, she has 3 children and as far as I know she is still happy with them.

You can paint countertops as long as they're prepared properly, then sealed. I painted these to look like zinc. I tapped in small nails along the fronts and seams. I used these paints; ended up using very little white, a touch of black and the silver. Minimum of three coats of poly are best. This should last at least a year if done correctly. I'm sure other faux painted can chime in here. Good luck!

http://rustoleumtransformations.com/

Thanks sooo much everyone! I feel much better now knowing there's hope :)

Where is your house adriana? Maybe we're neighbos - LOL! Mine is in SC. We didn't even bother to prep the counters very well, either, since we will be replacing them this fall. Just cleaned them, gave a quick light sand, and threw the paint on (we did buy the fine, foam roller that they recommended for application, but it was also pretty cheap). It has held up even though an 8 month rental, and my husband living there on his own for a while!!!!

For less than $200.00, ANY big box store, like Lowe's, or Home Depot, can replace ALL your kitchen counter tops in Formica, the same stuff, but in whatever color you choose. Measure the length of each section of counter (linear feet), and get an estimate! They will provide you with samples to bring home, too. The change in color will be a major improvement, at minimal cost, and will tide you over until you can afford better, such as quartz, Corian, or granite.

I'm in Chicago! Pink must have been used in older homes. This home hasn't been updated in over 30 years.

Sell them to my mother! She's in Florida and would love them!

$200 for new formica may be true if you have a small kitchen and can use the instock cabinets, but they wanted over $800 for the cheapest laminate on sale for my kitchen! Like I said, $50, and 2 hours was a good deal with the paint -- especially if it is only temporary for 1 year!!

Linda, I am NOT suggesting replacing the cabinets. Just the Formica countertops. I live in Canada, prices here are much higher than in the US. My local Home Depot estimated $140.00 for my rather large kitchen, with lots of countertops, about two years ago, which is the reason I stated the cost at less than $200.00. My kitchen is 16x20 feet. Home is 3000 square feet. I know it would be much less expensive than that in the USA! I buy most of our reno materials in NY State and save a bundle, one hour drive from here, an option many Canadians use, who live close to the border. I shop at Lowe's a lot! There is a large store on the US side, about 5 minutes from the bridge. Hope that is helpful.

Changing the countertops is a cheap, temporary "fix", for a new homeowner, to make the kitchen workable, until they can manage a full upgrade. I. considered this option, too. However, we decided to do the entire upgrade. I bought Cambria quartz countertops, btw. Cost was 15K, for kitchen and 2 bathrooms. No cabinets included in that amount.

@Silverscreen star - where are you located? I'm near the border too in Burlington ON

Ottawa, ON burbs.

Go to Ogdensburg, NY regularly. I have a Post Office Box there. Shop all over the US and have it shipped to my PO Box. Pay the HST at the border, and it's a done deal!

Free Trade is awesome!

There is a new product, I saw it posted on Pintrest called Liquid Steel. It is real steel that you can paint on any surface, counters, appliances, hardware. Maybe check that out. I'm sure if you Google it you can get more info.

Formica is so inexpensive, why bother?

Thanks I will look into it.

@silverscreenstar painting it is a much better option for me since it's something I can do myself versus measuring, ordering the Formica having it delivered/installed. Painting I can do on my own while I'm at home at my leisure just an easier option for me and it's still less $ to paint it. Thanks for your suggestion though

Ok. I think it's easier to buy, and have them install. Done in a day. But, to each their own!