A plywood countertop has its pluses for being quick, inexpensive and versatile. True you don’t go into a remodel dreaming of a way to incorporate plywood – usually. But plywood, when used properly and with a bit of foresight, can be exactly what you need. You may want to buy time to save for your dream counters (as was my situation), or you may not be sure which counter you want and would like to get a feel for your kitchen before making the plunge with your hard earned cash.
Start with a cutout of the size you want on plywood. Since it is just plywood, let your imagination go wild.
I ended up adding a trash lid to the top of my counter (link to the Best kitchen island), to see if I liked it. Give it a try see if you like the shape before you commit with a more expensive counter.
A thick counter looks better than ¾ inch. Get this look by adding an extra 1 ½ inch wide slat to the underside edge of your plywood counter. I did not have clamps, so after wood glue I weighed each slat down with hand weights. It worked.
Do a dry run, make sure it fits the area. Consider using a router for a smooth edge, or to experiment with an edge finish.
I used a piece of paper to get a uniform curve on each corner
Plywood does leave gaps where it pulls out a bit of wood from the layers. Simply fill these in with wood putty. Wood putty won’t stain the same way as the rest of the wood. After I stained the counter I went back and painted the wood putty so it matched the rest of the counter edge. Or you can buy colored putty and put it in after you have stained your counter. Get two or three colors so you can blend to match your counter. Walnut putty will not exactly match walnut stain — I don’t know why, but it won’t (buy here).
To finish off the counter you have a few options. You can use a heavy duty polyurethane or go really heavy duty and use a bar top epoxy… nothing will penetrate that counter. I went with the polyurethane because I was still planning on switching to my awesome butcher block and didn’t want to spend the money for the bar top. Now I love it so much I’m going to keep it this way so bar top would have been worth it.
Best wishes with your projects and post pictures in the comments, I would love to see your personalized counters.
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