Melbourne woman’s $600 Bunnings kitchen transformation

A Bunnings shopper said she was blown away by how little she spent transforming her “old and dark” kitchen.

A Bunnings shopper was blown away by how little she spent transforming her kitchen.

Mariana Tedim, from Melbourne, said if there was one thing she couldn’t stand about her home, it was the colour of the kitchen.

“It just looked really old and made the kitchen look smaller with such dark cabinets,” she told news.com.au.

“But I knew it had so much potential with some changes.”

The 24-year-old interior designer, known for her affordable and stylish DIY content, didn’t bother getting a professional quote as she knew it would cost upwards of $2000.

“It would have definitely been out of my budget and also I love my DIYs so this kitchen was the perfect opportunity.”

Mariana Tedim, from Melbourne, was desperate to give her old kitchen a makeover. Picture: Instagram/lifestyleby_mari

Mariana said she had been “obsessed” with green/sage colours of late and wanted to create an “organic, calming feel”.

“I started by putting a moodboard and flatlays together to see how all the colours worked together,” she said.

“I also wanted to add more textures and patterns into the kitchen to create more interest. Once I combined all this together it gave me that final product.”

She then headed to her local Bunnings store where she spent just under $600 on materials including paint, VJ panels, accessories and handles.

With the help of her dad, she also fitted a new oven from Bunnings, along with a sink and tap.

The 24-year-old said the dark cabinets made it look small – and was after something more fresh and vibrant. Picture: Instagram/lifestyleby_mari

She ended up spending just under $600 on materials from Bunnings to transform her kitchen. Picture: Instagram/lifestyleby_mari

“I started by adding the VJ panel and then I used the Dulux Renovation Range, cleaned everything, sanded it down, covered the old handle holes with putty, cleaned again and then started applying the paint,” Mariana said.

“It’s pretty straightforward but it just takes time between each coat.

“I did one coat of primer, two coats of paint and one coat of top coat. I then put on all the handles and tap.”

For the final step she applied kit kat tiles over the current tiles. She bought the “extremely popular” porcelain mosaic tiles from Western Distributors in Melbourne.

She opted for an on-trend sage colour adding that she ‘really wanted to created that organic, calming feel’. Picture: Instagram/lifestyleby_mari

She changed the colour of the cabinets, added new handles, tiles, incorporated VJ panelling, plus she put in a new oven, sink and tap. Picture: Instagram/lifestyleby_mari

“I gave the natural tiles a really good clean, then applied a specific glue before sticking on the mosaic tiles.”

All up it took her four days to complete.

“I really wanted to keep it under $1000 but I was in shock when I added everything up and it came down to around $600,” Mariana said.

She shared her transformation to Instagram where it attracted hundreds of comments.

“Freaking AMAZING that you managed this for under $600! So impressive,” one person wrote.

“Insane! Awesome job,” another wrote, while a third described it as “phenomenal”.

“Amazing gf! What a transformation,” a fourth commented.

Mariana said she was surprised by the positive reaction, admitting she was “really scared” people were not going to like the colour of the cabinets.

“I knew I loved it and that’s why I did because I wanted to try something different, but I was not expecting such a huge response,” she said.

“I was super happy with the reaction and how positive the comments were.”

Mariana said she believes the low cost of the makeover was part of the reason it was such a huge hit.