Mum’s $10 Bunnings house transformation shocks

A mother-of-three has left thousands of online users in shock after she revealed how she gave her house a completely new look using a $10 Bunnings item.

A mother-of-three has proved a little can go a long away after she transformed the exterior of her entire house for just $10.

In the five years Jodie Hogan, 49, has been living in her Melbourne home, there’s one thing she despises – its orange bricks.

Her husband at the time wasn’t a fan of changing its look but the moment the duo separated, Jodie was researching ways of how she could “give it new life”.

“I have always liked the lime wash look so I started to watch YouTube clips on how to do it,” Jodie told news.com.au.

Jodie Hogan, 49, from Melbourne transformed the exterior of her home using a $10 product from Bunnings. Picture: Facebook/BunningsMums

After learning the method, Jodie then headed to her local Bunnings store where she bought a bag of Builders Hydrated Lime costing her just $10.50.

She also purchased a $10 brush from the hardware store, using a container and fork to mix the contents.

“I just added one litre of water to three cups of lime and then painted it on,” she explained.

“At first, I noticed it was clear and so kept painting more on and once it dried, I realised it was too thick, so I just wiped some off with a sponge as I went on.”

It still had a thicker look which Jodie ended up leaving as she said it was at the back of the house and not fully visible.

She bought a bag of Builders Hydrated Lime. Picture: Facebook/BunningsMums

She mixed three cups to a litre of water for each mix. She made six mixes for the entire house. Picture: Facebook/BunningsMums

“I then started to make the mix more watery and just sponged it off as I went which gave me the exact washed look I was after.” ”

I did the side of the house and was quite happy with it and continued with the rest of the house.”

The mother-of-three spent about 20 hours over 10 days to complete the entire house, saying she was shocked with how well in turned out.

“When my partner was living here he was going to get someone to render it which would have cost thousands, but I had always wanted to change the look myself as we never had the money,” she said.

The finishing look. Picture: Facebook/BunningsMums

The only preparation she did was using a brush to dust off any excess dirt and debris off the wall.

She ended up making six mixes from the Bunnings $10.50 for the entire house.

“It is clear at first then dries white,” she said.

As for when it rains, Jodie said it runs into an “opaque colour” with the orange bricks coming through again, “but then it dries very quickly and goes back to white”.

She shared her “incredible” makeover to a popular Bunnings Facebook page with her post going viral.

“I’m finished my budget makeover and it still cost under $10 and took 10 days to paint the whole house and fence,” she captioned the before and after images.

“So much better than the orange 1970s bricks! I used less than half a bag of Builders Hydrated Lime from Bunnings which cost $10.50, adding three cups to a litre of water for each mix. It was so easy!”

Jodie described the process as easy, saying it took about 20 hours to complete the entire house. Picture: Facebook/BunningsMums

Her two posts attracted almost 4000 ‘likes’ and hundreds of comments from fellow DIY enthusiasts on how “amazing” it looks.

“Incredible!! This is one of the most impressive DIY transformations I’ve seen,” one person wrote.

“Wow absolutely love it! Fabulous work!!!” said another, while a third added: “How good is that. Looks excellent. Well done”.

Others thanked her for the “cheap” way they too can cover their orange bricks.

“Thank you for sharing this amazing tip. I will be doing this for sure,” one woman wrote.

“Thanks to this post I am going to try this on my house today,” another excited user commented.

Jodie said she wasn’t expecting such a huge reaction but believed it came down to how “easy” and “budget friendly” it was, adding it’s the two main things people look for in DIY projects.

“It’s just such an inexpensive paint finish that changed the whole look of the property, literally,” she said.