I have an older home and a limited budget. I've been told I can paint my laminate countertops providing I use high-quality paint plus first prime the surface with a primer that has a bonding agent. Afterwards, apply a good acrylic to seal and protect.

I have never seen any countertops that are painted so have no idea how viable this is as a low-cost alternative to replacement.

Any opinions or advice please?

The only way I know of to bond to laminate is sanding to roughen the surface first, wiping down, priming, then gloss top coat. But paint really does have a tough time on a work surface, and will chip or peel easily, and what about around the sink? You can't just paint around the edge.
I had a need for a new sink countertop last house and bought an 8 foot laminate slab for $45 at Home Depot. It was a fake slate, dark grey. Not bad. Most of what they have in stock is super ugly.
I used butcher block everywhere but around the sink. VERY nice. Many coats of poly.
If you do go the paint route, I just wouldn't do it around the sink. Buy a stock laminate one or order one for more cost, but nowhere near the cost of Corian, granite, marble.

In a couple of weeks, or days, you'll hate your countertop more after you try to paint it. Depending upon your confidence and skill level, you might consider making your own, or relaminating. MDF and ceramic tile is easy to work with, for a beginner, and give you a finished product that'll be amazing and fairly inexpensive.

I agree with these guys... regular paint will NOT last long.

However, if you use the right paint, say Rustoleum's countertop paint or an appliance epoxy (and you prep the surface as recommended by the manufactuer) you can actually make a pretty nice counter on the cheap. Check out this link for more info.:

RustOleum.com (http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=208)

There are also some very nice COUNTERTOP EPOXY products that can be intersting to work with, but stand up to long-term use and can look fantastic!

Check out this website as an example of some fancy stuff that can be achieved:

Home - DIY Countertop, bar top, and flooring epoxy. (http://www.countertopepoxy.com/)

My guess is that this stuff isn't cheap, but it will be easier/cheaper than ripping everything out and replacing if you planned to hire out the work and the plumbing work.

You can look on YouTube for videos that show these products and the results. Here is one example:

Ttem6hjmhEA


Good luck!

Mark

Good info Mark. I wish that epoxy didn't require a torching over the surface.

Most epoxy coatings don't need the torching. The torching is a special technique that creates some incredible effects using epoxy, but it is not required to work with epoxy!

Click on the Home-DIY countertop link above to see what the torch does in terms of special effects (not shown well in the video above)!

Thanks!