Bunnings shopper transforms her old scratched fridge into a chic black appliance

A thrifty woman has transformed her old, scratched fridge into a new-looking appliance after using budget items from Bunnings.

The interior enthusiast, from Queensland, said she spent a total of $100.30 on black ‘chalkboard’ paint and a ‘metal shield’ primer from the hardware store to revamp the white fridge without having to replace the entire appliance.

Once the paint was dried, she painted the door handles black and used hot glue to wrap jute rope from Kmart around them.

She shared her spectacular ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures in a Facebook group, as many were amazed by how much of a difference the paint made to the fridge.

Before and after: A thrifty woman has transformed her old, scratched fridge into a new-looking appliance after using budget items from Bunnings

‘We did all of this with it still plugged in and running,’ the woman explained.

‘We just pulled [fridge] forward from the wall and put some cardboard under for spills, took three days from start to finish.’

To paint the fridge, the woman said she and her husband started wiping down the surface with turps, before rinsing with water and then sanding it down.

Next, she taped over the seals before applying two coats of Dulux Metal Shield Primer, followed by three coats of White Knight Chalkboard Paint. 

To apply the primer and paint, she used Micro-Fibre rollers from Bunnings.

‘Wipe down with water in between each coat of product,’ she explained.

Once the paint was dried, she painted the door handles black and used hot glue to wrap jute rope from Kmart around them

The woman said they decided to use chalkboard paint so could write things on the surface such as reminders or shopping lists.

‘You can write on it and rub it off,’ she said.

She said the makeover was ‘so much cheaper’ and ‘definitely worth’ the three day paint job. 

‘It’s made the house feel so much nicer,’ she said, adding: ‘I scratched it with my fake nails after 16 hours and left no marks so I think it will hold up pretty good.’

Many people were amazed as they described the transformation as ‘awesome’ and ‘the best one I’ve seen’, while others said her fridge ‘looks so much better.’

The interior enthusiast, from Queensland, said she spent a total of $100.30 on black ‘chalkboard’ paint and a ‘metal shield’ primer from the hardware store to revamp the white fridge without having to replace the entire appliance

To apply the primer and paint, she used Micro-Fibre rollers (pictured) from Bunnings

‘Now that’s a transformation,’ one said, while another added: ‘Great job – looks a million bucks!’

And another woman said: ‘Just love this. Such an amazing transformation. Looks like a new fridge.’ 

Others said they were keen to transform their own old fridges at home instead of spending hundreds of dollars upgrading to a completely new appliance.

‘Thanks for sharing; I have a fridge that had this issue and I want to do this exact same thing,’ one said, while another said: ‘It looks amazing! I’ve been thinking about painting my fridge, it’s coming up to 14 years old and starting to look a bit tired.’

And another said: ‘Oh wow… we have the exact same fridge but it’s now in our rumpus/man cave but black would look awesome.’

Meanwhile, one woman who recently gave her fridge a makeover as well revealed: ‘I did the same thing and didn’t even need primer so bigger saving – and it turned out amazing.’