DIY fans are reaching for the fridge to try out this ingenious new painting hack

Celery just became our favourite food

An ingenious new painting technique is sweeping the internet using a stick of celery. The celery painting hack has seen DIY fans creating stunning feature walls for less than £1.

Related: Fan gives IKEA chest of drawers a magical Harry Potter makeover – for just £45

The clever hack used pieces of celery dipped in paint to create a leopard print effect on walls, shelves and cupboards. One mum, Gina Searby, inspired by the technique used it to transform her children's bedroom.

bedroom makeover before and after wall painting

(Image credit: Future PLC/ Gina Searby)

Sharing the makeover on DIY On a Budget Official Facebook group, she wrote: 'Managed to make this work, my son and daughter have to share a room now.' Personally, we think she did more than make it work with this adorable shared bedroom.

Celery painting hack

Gina started by whitewashing the walls to create a blank canvas, before injecting some personality into the room. She then marked off two triangles on the wall in the bedroom with masking tape.

bedroom with painting on wall and white window

(Image credit: Future PLC/ Gina Selby)

She painted her son's side in Wilko's Green Mint Crisp paint from Wilko, and her daughter's side in Johnstones Ballet Slipper. Using different colours is a great way to zone a shared children's bedroom.

While waiting for the painted triangles to dry Gina prepared the celery for the leopard print centrepiece. 'Me and my 13-year-old daughter chopped up chunks of celery and left then out the fridge to harden a little,' she tells Ideal Home. 'This was a tip given to me from another member of the DIY page called Suzanne.'

bedroom with white and pink wall and celery painting on wall

(Image credit: Future PLC/ Gina Selby)

Gina and her daughter practised the technique on the underside of some shelves before moving onto the wall. 'We then dipped different ends of the celery into black tester pots to get different sizes,' explains Gina. 'We smudged them in places to get the full circles. It took about half an hour, so not long at all.'

bedroom with white and green wall and celery panting on wall

(Image credit: Future PLC/ Gina Searby)

The entire leopard feature wall was created using tester pots of black paint that Gina had picked up for just 10p in Bargain Madness. Bringing the entire cost of the feature wall to around £1.

Related: 32 Easy DIY projects and fun makes to do during the coronavirus lockdown for every room in the house!

Will you be adding celery to your next weekly shop?

Rebecca Knight
Deputy Editor, Digital

Rebecca Knight has been the Deputy Editor on the Ideal Home Website since 2022. She graduated with a Masters degree in magazine journalism from City, University of London in 2018, before starting her journalism career as a staff writer on women's weekly magazines. She fell into the world of homes and interiors after joining the Ideal Home website team in 2019 as a Digital Writer. In 2020 she moved into position of Homes News Editor working across Homes & Gardens, LivingEtc, Real Homes, Gardeningetc and Ideal Home covering everything from the latest viral cleaning hack to the next big interior trend.