The £8.99 product that can transform your kitchen in 30 minutes
When it comes to revamping your kitchen, switching up your worktop can often make the biggest impact.
The trouble is, installing a whole new worktop can be costly, which means it often slips to the bottom of the must-do list.
But one spend-savvy woman managed to transform her entire space by giving her worktop an on-trend marble look, using a product that cost just £8.99.
Charlene Da Cova, 34, a mum of four from London, hated the look of her plain worktop but didn’t want to spend a fortune refitting the whole kitchen.
Instead, she managed to give the space a fresh and modern makeover for a total of £18 using self-adhesive marble vinyl and silicone from B&M.
Read more: Savvy woman builds entirely new bathroom for just £200
"When we moved in, we were told our kitchen would be refitted, but we've been put off so many times by our landlord, we thought about leaving it and living with it the way it was," Da Cover tells LatestDeals.co.uk.
"Walking into my kitchen put a real dampener on me wanting to spend time in there cooking because of how it looked, and I love cooking.
“The more time I spent in there the more, the more I hated the sight of it and decided I would do it myself on a budget."
Concerned about the cost of redecorating, Da Cova searched the internet for affordable ideas on how to renovate the kitchen, starting with the "horrendous worktops".
"I looked on social media and came across people using self-adhesive to cover them," she explains.
"I thought ‘wow, that looks amazing!'"
Read more: DIY-savvy woman transforms kitchen from dark and dated to bright and modern for just £100
While out shopping in B&M, Da Cova spotted the self-adhesive for £8.99 and picked up one of the beautiful marble designs.
"I figured it was a lot cheaper than a whole new worktop and if it goes wrong it's not a huge loss," she explains.
Watch: Couple comes up with cheap trick to update countertop
Da Cova set about transforming the worktops as soon as she got home, using her bank card to smooth it out and some silicone to fill the edges.
“It took around half an hour and cost me a total of £18 with the silicone,” she says.
"I was over the moon with the final result,” she adds.
“When I finished I was amazed about how nice it looked."
Read more: Dark to light: This brilliant bathroom makeover cost under £100
Thrilled with her cost-friendly kitchen overhaul, Da Cova now believes self-adhesive vinyl is a fantastic product to use when transforming spaces on a budget.
"I've also since found out you can use this on cupboards, fridges, washing machines and doors," she continues.
“It’s such a great item to redecorate on a budget.”
Commenting on the simple yet impressive kitchen makeover Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, says: “Self-adhesive vinyl is a fantastic tool for transforming kitchens, bathrooms and more.
“It’s affordable, easy to get the hang of, and really quick to use.
Church says Da Cova’s bank card trick is actually a really great way to make sure the finish is smooth.
“It’s certainly a lot better for the bank balance than splurging on a new kitchen, and no-one will know the difference!”
