DIY Daughters Spend £200 And One Night Overhauling Mum’s Bedroom As A Surprise
- Jay-leigh Gautier, 21, and her three younger sisters wanted to surprise their mum
- They changed her dinosaur-decorated bedroom into a chic space
- Jay-leigh spent £200 by shopping at B&M, Homesense and Primark
If you don’t have the time or money to redo your home, be inspired by this super-speedy budget renovation.
Jay-leigh Gautier, 21, a criminology graduate from New Mills, was determined to overhaul her mum’s bedroom - but only had one night and £200 in which to do it.
She enlisted the help of three of her sisters and the group managed to transform her mum’s bedroom from an old children’s bedroom into a sleek, dark, stylish space.
Jay-leigh bought budget supplies from B&M, Homesense and Primark, painted the room with her sisters and managed to create an on-trend gallery wall for just £30.
Jay-leigh told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: “My sisters and I came up with the idea for my mum, as she works so hard in her job for her kids.
“She’s a regional manager with six kids and never really has time for herself to unwind.
“She had recently swapped bedrooms with my brothers, and their bedroom had been decorated so it was all sorted.
"But she was then sleeping with her new furniture in the old decorated boys' room which looked awful!
"She knew it needed decorating but whenever she got time off work she just wanted to relax so it didn’t get done.
"Her birthday was approaching and we thought a really nice present would be to surprise her with a new bedroom.
“We arranged to get her out of the house for the night and we had all our aunties and nan in on the plan and they helped distract her.
“My mum went to stay at my nan's house for the night and didn’t suspect a thing. Me and my three younger sisters started as soon as she left at around 3pm and we finished it at 8am so it took us a whole night!
“Beforehand, we got paint by ordering online. We ordered it a few weeks in advance as when we ordered it took a while to come due to lockdown.
“We spent around £70 on paint for the whole room and we didn’t even use it all. We used Johnstone’s Steel Smoke and we got two tubs for £22 pounds and then a large tub of Moonlit Sky, also by Johnstone's for £21.
“We also bought also a white gloss for the skirting boards and door. We already had leftover white paint for the ceiling so we didn’t spend any for that.
"We looked on the internet at what bits we wanted for decor and wherever possible we ordered, but this saved time in rummaging around shops.
“We just went straight to the shops where we knew there was something we wanted to buy.
"We collected around for bedroom decor from places like Primark, B&M and H&M. A trick we used was to get a few expensive candles from H&M and then a few cheaper ones from B&M and Primark.
“This is a good trick to make the area look more luxurious even without spending too much due to having a few more expensive items. Even then they weren’t expensive they just looked a bit more luxurious.
"I printed off the photos for the bedroom wall on a website where you get free pictures posted and all you pay is postage, so that only cost a few pounds.
“We got the photo frames from Primark for a couple of pounds each, and it ended up looking like a really nice feature wall and it only cost around £30!
"A really good way to also make a space look like you have spent more money than you have is going to Homesense, the TK Maxx version of a home shop.
“At Homesense, we got a really nice wicker basket for £25 that was meant to be around £60, and a few bedroom decor pieces like a beauty box and cotton pad holder.
“Homesense and TK Maxx sell some really nice expensive items for a lot cheaper than the retail price - there are so many hidden gems in there!
"My auntie got her some cushions, curtains and a curtain pole from Dunelm as her birthday present which cost around £70, as me and my sister used all our budget for the room up and we couldn’t afford any, so that was probably the most expensive part of the bedroom!
"The hardest part of us doing it was when we realised we hadn’t properly stripped the wallpaper paste off the wall from the prior wallpaper and then painting over it, as the paint wouldn’t dry and it went really blotchy.
"So we literally had to scrape and wipe all the paint off the wall, re-clean it about three times and then re-paint it, which set us back a few hours, so next time I would definitely invest in cleaning wallpaper paste off the wall properly before painting over it as it was such a pain.
"My sister showed her dad an idea of what she wanted to make for a bedside table lamp, so he went and got the materials and helped her create the hanging lamps and they were gorgeous!
"They weren’t ready when we revealed the bedroom to my mum initially, but my sister surprised her with them a few weeks later and she loved them.
“The transformation cost £200 in total.”
Jay-leigh’s mum was over the moon with her surprise bedroom, and her daughters were very proud of their hard work.
"It definitely made my mum so happy,” Jay-leigh adds.
“She loves her new bedroom and is really happy to just relax and watch TV in there, so that meant me and my sisters did a really good job.
“We were so happy with it because we were doubting whether we would be able to get it done!
"I am 21, one of my sisters is 18, and my twin sisters are 15.
“They now have experience in decorating their mum's bedroom without her knowing, which not many 15-year-olds can say, so they should be really proud of themselves.
"All the younger ones carried on as I ended up napping and falling asleep for a few hours on the plastic sheets on the floor because I was so knackered!
"My biggest tip is definitely set a plan and time frame for what you want done in a certain amount of time, as we had to get it done as quick as possible without rushing, so look for quick dry paint and paint that doesn’t need many coats.
"Get as many people helping as needed and make sure you have enough supplies such as paintbrushes and rollers because me and my sisters were having to juggle a few between us which wasn’t ideal.
“My 18-year-old sister was getting ready to go to uni, and my little sisters were preparing for school to re-open for their final year at high school.
"They were stressed about school and college due to not being there for months so I think this gave them something really positive to do for my mum as she’s worked throughout lockdown.
"I was nervous at first about doing it on a budget as I didn’t know whether I would have enough money to buy everything needed, but prioritising the necessary things first helps, as well as looking around for the cheapest but good quality items.
“If I saw something for one price in one shop I’d make sure to see if I could get it anywhere else cheaper first, and usually you can always find cheaper items that are similar from different shops.
“Don’t be afraid to buy budget decor from places like B&M because once the room is re-painted it makes the decor look a lot more expensive than what it is!”
Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, comments: “What an amazing surprise Jay-leigh’s mum must have had when she came into her bedroom and saw this chic grown-up space instead of dinosaur decor!
“Jay-leigh and her sisters have pulled off an amazing transformation for £200.
“Jay-leigh has lots of amazing tips for redoing your home on a budget: seek out bargain decor from the likes of B&M and Primark, add expensive-looking features such as a gallery wall and recruit friends and family to help pull together to get a project done!”
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