Melbourne woman’s $49 Bunnings coffee table makeover

A woman has managed to give this 20-year-old coffee table a new lease on life, leaving Facebook users stunned by the end result.

This woman’s coffee table transformation is a prime example of why you shouldn’t throw away old, worn out furniture.

Instead of getting rid of the 20-year-old table and sides, Nina Verdier, of Melbourne, managed to give the pieces a whole new look and purpose after using a $49 Bunnings product.

She said while there was a lot of sanding involved, the end result was worth it.

“I tried to do most of it in a day or two since I get really dusty and don’t enjoy that part,” Ms Verdier joked.

“Once I removed most of the dark stains with an orbital sander, I used a detail sander for the corners and edges.

“I also used paint stripper in some areas that I couldn’t get in with the sanders.”

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Instead of tossing out this 20-year-old coffee table, Nina Verdier, of Melbourne, gave it a whole new look.

She said there was a lot of sanding involved before applying up to four coats of the Cabot’s clear water-based varnish gloss from Bunnings.

After she prepped it all, she covered it with Cabot’s $49 clear water-based varnish gloss.

She used three to four coats of varnish on the top, with one to two coats on the legs/base. “It is important to clean the surface with sugar soap to get rid of any dirt and dust and make sure it is smooth before applying the varnish,” she advised.

“The (Bunnings) gloss doesn’t change the natural wood colour as other brands I tried before. I got 1L tin and used less than half of it,” she told news.com.au

The orbital sander she used is also from Bunnings, costing $75.

Nina, 30, and her husband Rhys, 31, started an upcycling business after losing their jobs at the start of the Covid pandemic last year.

“I love to give furniture a new life. Sometimes we think it’s easier to get rid of them and buy new ones, but once we realise how much a piece can change with a bit of TLC, it makes it way more special and you’ll save a lot of money,” Ms Verdier said.

She shared before and after snaps of the table in a Bunnings Facebook group, attracting more than 2500 ‘likes’ and hundreds of comments from users blown away by the end result.

“What an incredible result,” one woman wrote.

“Looks great, so glad you didn’t paint it. The timber looks wonderful,” another added.

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She also transformed two side tables.

This is how it looks now, using the same Bunnings varnish gloss.

Ms Verdier said she wasn’t expecting such a huge reaction, but believes it’s because people owning similar pieces of dark furniture and don’t realise what they can do with it.

“(I guess) they couldn’t believe that was something they could do themselves. I got heaps of messages saying that I inspired them to do the same instead of throwing them away and getting new ones.”

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Nina Verdier shared before and after snaps of the table transformation in a Bunnings group of Facebook, which attracted more than 2500 ‘likes’ and comments.

Since losing her job as a retail store manager during the covid pandemic, Ms Verdier turned to upcycling furniture in her parents-in-laws house to keep busy.

But she ended up falling in love with it, turning her hobby into a full-blown upcycling business Butch & Bulldog.

“I was just doing it for fun, to find something that kept me busy during the hard times. But I started getting messages from family and friends to upcycle their furniture, and then friends of friends,” she told news.com.au.

“My partner and I had no experience at all. I didn’t even know how to use a screwdriver,” she said.