DIY Couple Transform Conservatory For £300, Saving £580 By Doing It Themselves
- Karen McCarthy, 45, and Richard Evans, 27, transformed their conservatory from a dated room into a gorgeous modern space
- The couple managed to pull off the whole project for £300, a saving of £580
- They used vinyl flooring and B&Q paint, bought accessories from B&M and upcycled an old IKEA unit
With the weather finally improving, many of us may be looking to improve the sunnier spaces in our homes.
Karen McCarthy, 45, a medical secretary and mum of two from Norfolk, and her partner Richard Evans, 27, a carpenter, worked together to totally transform their conservatory from a dated room into a gorgeous modern space.
The couple used vinyl flooring and B&Q paint, bought accessories from B&M and upcycled an old IKEA unit to pull together the look.
They managed to pull off the whole project for £300, a saving of £580 compared to getting it done professionally.
Karen told money-saving Facebook group DIY On A Budget UK: "I came up with the design for our conservatory from seeing ideas on social media DIY pages.
"I had seen someone else had used that colour paint and they said it was called Limerick from B&Q and I loved it!
"I knew I wanted to bring an outside colour from the garden into the conservatory and this colour green was perfect.
"We moved into our new home in November last year. It was built in the 1950s but hasn't been updated for many years so it is a project which I absolutely love to do.
"I work as a medical secretary and my partner Richard is a carpenter and very good at all sorts of DIY projects that we encounter.
"This is our first home together and we are really enjoying making it into a lovely family home for my two daughters, 12 and 14, and Richard's daughter who is six.
"We were inspired to crack on as warmer weather is forecast for Easter and we wanted to make use of this room when we can get in the garden.
"I used the paint from B&Q called Limerick Matte. We used one tub and it only needed two coats. It has brilliant coverage and I would highly recommend it.
"We had a tiled floor in the conservatory before and this needed levelling out. My partner covered the floor in PVA first as this helps the screed to bond, and then used a self-levelling screed from Screwfix to level out the floor.
"This takes four hours to dry out so try to ventilate the room as much as possible or use a dehumidifier if possible.
"The vinyl floor was from B&Q on a roll and was £11 per meter. So it cost around £190 for our size room.
"I upcycled the IKEA grey Kallax units by painting them with Johnstones black metal and wood paint.
"It needed three coats but very thin coats are best.
“I also bought storage boxes and ornaments from B&M.
“We wanted to make it look light and airy and bigger which I think we have achieved and we absolutely love sitting in here now with a coffee and watching our cats in the garden!
"The whole room cost just under £300 in total to do.
"To screed the floor would have been £250 professionally and it cost us £50 to do it ourselves.
"The painting of the room is typically around £400 for a room that size and it cost us £20 for one tin of paint, so we saved £580 in total.
"With all of the price hikes in utilities and fuel at the moment, every saving you can make at the moment really helps!
"I was also really chuffed to have accomplished this by ourselves.”
Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, comments: “When you compare the before and after pictures of Karen’s conservatory, it’s hard to believe this transformation only cost £300!
“It just goes to show that if you have a great eye for design, cheap materials such as paint and vinyl flooring can make such a huge difference.
“Hats off to Karen and Richard for saving so much by doing it on their own!"
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