A woman has gone viral on Instagram after she transformed her dated wardrobe doors using just three items.
Jill Oliver, 50, a student support worker from Durham, northeast England, has been upcycling her existing furniture for years as a way to spruce up her living space.
For her latest DIY project, she decided to have a go at refurbishing her overused, 30-year-old sliding wardrobe doors.
Social media users are in love with the easy hack – which costs just £85 in total – with Jill racking up 1.2 million views and 11,700 likes after uploading a video of the process to Instagram.
“My wardrobe doors were looking tired and I wanted to update them,” Jill told Jam Press.
“Panelling is very popular at the moment and I also knew from my past DIY projects, that this would be easy to do.
“I didn’t want to spend a fortune on something that worked fine – it just needed a little face lift.”
Jill bought wood trim from B&Q for £30 and a Zinsser 1-2-3 primer, also from B&Q, which cost £20.
The 50-year-old then purchased 2.5L of Valspar v700 paint, in the shade ‘eggshell’ for the wood and metal, which cost £35.
She said: “I had this colour matched to a Farrow and Ball colour called ‘strong white’.
“Firstly, I gave the doors a quick clean with sugar soap and a light sand with 120 grit sandpaper.
“I drew on the doors where I wanted the trim to go and used a 10cm template for the border.
“I used a mitre saw to cut all the angles at 45 degrees and used Screwfix ‘no nonsense’ grab adhesive to glue the trim onto the wardrobes.
“[After this] I primed, let that dry and then caulked by using the Screwfix ‘anti-crack’ white filler to fill in the gaps between the wood and the door.
“I left this to dry for 24 hours, as if you paint over the filler too quickly, it cracks after a while.
“I made sure to remove the excess filler with a damp cloth and finally, I painted around the edges and over the trim with a brush.
“I painted the rest with a small sponge roller for larger areas and this took two coats.”
The DIY project took just two days and Jill’s wardrobe doors now look brand new.
Once finished, she decided to share before and after photos on social media and users love the easy hack.
Jill said: “I uploaded this to Facebook and Instagram, as I wanted people to see that they don’t have to spend a fortune or get a professional in to update something as simple as this.
“This method can be used on any kind of drawers, wardrobes or walls.”
In the clip, Jill begins by drawing the outline of her panelling with a pencil and ruler, before cutting up the pieces of wood for the trim.
After this, she then glues on the wooden pieces and uses her outline as a guide.
Jill then primes the wood and surrounding area and caulks the gaps using filler, which she smoothes down with a piece of cloth.
Finally, she paints them in her chosen shade to create an elegant and classy look.
“Brilliant, looks amazing,” one viewer commented.
Another person added: “And she does it again – amazing!” followed by two clapping hand emojis.
“Thank you! You’ve inspired me,” someone else said.
One person commented: “What a beautiful touch! It looks so classy!”
“This looks great Jilly x,” another viewed added. [sic]
“This looks amazing! What a great job you’ve done!,” added someone else.
“Nicely done,” wrote another user, adding fire emojis, while someone else commented, “Love this.”
Jill has previously upcycled her bedside cabinets, a kitchen table and a coffee table, as well as her hallway by adding panelling.
She believes that people want to refurbish items they currently have in their home but often don’t have the confidence to do it.
Her top tip? Just try it, we all have to start somewhere.
She added: ““I am over the moon with the response online and have had so many private messages from people saying it had motivated or inspired them to give this a go.
“I will be honest, when I started I was worried I would mess it up.
“I started with a couple of old bits of furniture, watched people online and tried it.
“I guess I learned my skills from watching people on social media and the more I upcycled, the more I learned from my mistakes.
“I think you just have to bite the bullet and go for it.”
BUDGET BREAKDOWN
Wood trim – B&Q, £30
Primer – B&Q, £20
Paint – B&Q, £35
