Mum transforms kitchen for just $15 at Kmart

A Melbourne renter has found an ingenious way of updating her tired, vinyl kitchen bench — without upsetting her landlord.

An Aussie mum has used a $3 stationery item to transform her kitchen.

Kezz Brockley, from Melbourne, told news.com.au she had been looking for a way to do up her rental home without breaking the bank or annoying her landlord.

During a trip to Kmart, she spotted rolls of contact for sale and decided to put them to use on her outdated, green kitchen bench.

“My original kitchen bench is a green marble look and doesn’t match my furniture or decor at all,” Kezz said.

“So I decided to spruce it up.”

Kezz's green marble kitchen bench desperately needed a facelift.

The style and colour of the bench didn’t match any of Kezz’s furniture.

She purchased five rolls of dark woodgrain vinyl for $3 each, and got to work.

“I had seen a lot of people using the contact on their drawers and shelves, so I thought, why not try it on the bench?” she said.

Together with her twins, they cut the vinyl to size and used a contact scraper to ensure all the bubbles were pushed out.

“I loved the woodgrain bench, and all our visitors thought we had a new bench installed,” Kezz said.

Just cut to the size you need and use a contact scraper to remove all the bubbles.

The dark woodgrain adhesive vinyl costs just $3 a roll. Picture: Kmart.

Last month, after a year with her woodgrain bench, Kezz decided she wanted a change so headed back to Kmart.

“The woodgrain table was a bit worn, but it could have easily lasted another six months or more,” she said.

“This time I went with the marble effect, which I also love.”

Kezz's newest kitchen bench with marble-style contact.

The final product makes Kezz's bench look new.

Her three children want to try all of Kmart’s vinyl contacts before they decide “which one will stay”.

“Each time costs me just $15 for five rolls, and it does not mark the bench in any way,” she said.

“Taking it off is easy, and it always wipes clean.”

But the best part of this DIY hack, according to Kezz?

“It’s great for rentals because you can decorate your home the way you like it but take it off when you leave,” she said.

“My real estate agent loved it during our last inspection.”

The marble-style contact was easy to apply and remove.

Kezz posted photos of her DIY project to a Kmart forum, and her genius hack was described as “amazing”.

“What great fun to be changing every so often always a new fresh look!” one woman wrote.

Another mum tagged her friend in and begged, “can we can we can we pleaaaaaaseeee.”

“The white marble looks lovely and fresh,” another mum said.