Couple Quoted £500 For Garden Revamp Do It Themselves For £265
- Ayisha, 28, and Simon, 36, spent £265 on a garden makeover after being quoted £500 for just one section
- Bargains include £7.99 dog beds for cushions and free pallets from Facebook Marketplace
- The couple ‘spontaneously decided to just start digging’ and say ‘it all came together beautifully’
Getting a professional to give your garden a makeover can be an expensive and stressful experience, so one couple decided to bypass the hassle and get on with it themselves.
Ayisha Alderson, 28 from East Challow, Wantage who is a stay at home mum to a 2 year old and 10 month old, decided to embark on the project with partner Simon Nicholls, 36, who works for DHL.
She told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: ‘We’d always wanted to build our own garden furniture out of pallets. We’d just moved from a first floor flat so the garden was always going to be our first project. We had a very small patio originally and the outward opening doors took up some of the space, so we knew we were going to extend it but we weren’t sure how to.
‘We looked at extending with slabs, but realised that it wouldn’t be as straightforward or budget friendly as we’d like, so instead we went for gravel. We used two tonnes of gravel for the patio and the BBQ area at the end of our garden. It came from the local pits and cost £100 in total.
‘We were keen to get started before the gravel arrived. My partner had just done half a day at work and we spontaneously decided to just start digging. We dug out the turf to extend the patio and used it to level off the end of the garden as it was on a slope. Then we laid the weed barrier and left it at that.
‘Then the following day, the gravel was delivered. We didn’t have a wheelbarrow so we used our wheelie bin as well as loading up bags for life and carrying them through the house.
‘Once the gravel was done, we were at a loose end. I remember I went upstairs to have a nap because our youngest isn’t a great sleeper at night. Simon was irritable because he wanted to get the garden done. He looked online at Facebook Marketplace and saw that someone was giving pallets away for free, so he jumped in the car and off he went to pick them up.
‘We used around 10 pallets in total. Once we had them, we had a play around with how we wanted it. We decided to only have the backrests on the part facing out to the garden, so we ended up having almost a chaise lounge style. Simon screwed it all together so it’s nice and secure which was a big worry for me as we have two small children.
‘Once that was done it was just a case of boxing it all in, painting it and adding decorations. We used 20 feather boards to box the furniture in and make it look tidier - they were only £2 per board from a local yard.
‘For decorating, we picked up garden paint from B&M for £7.99, and the cushions which are actually dog beds came from Home Bargains, also priced at £7.99 each. We then bought an outdoor rug from Home Bargains which was £10.
‘Since we’ve finished the project, we’ve added an arch onto the back of the sofa with two trellis panels which were £10 each from Home Bargains, and lots of fairy lights that we had from the previous Christmas.
‘The only challenges we had throughout the process was working it around the children and Simon’s work and not having a wheelbarrow.
‘In all honesty, I don't think we’d do anything differently. It all came together beautifully and we’re so proud of ourselves for doing it.
‘The only quote we had was for slabs which was something like £500 and that was without other materials!’
Tom Church, Co-Founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, said: ‘Ayisha and Simon have done a great job transforming their garden and creating a stylish, comfortable space to spend their summer evenings.
‘Facebook Marketplace is a goldmine for getting freebies, especially if you’re looking to do a DIY project. Hopefully this garden makeover inspires others to try out similar projects for themselves!’
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