Grandparents Build Stunning Hobbit Shed Using £2.99 Charity Shop Bargains
- May and Rod Proctor, 71, built their grandson, 5, his own hobbit shed
- Supplies came from charity shops, eBay and skips they explored on their travels
- May came up with the designs and Rod made them come to life by building everything
- The couple saved money by using scrap wood, £2.99 bargains and donations from friends
Keeping an eye on the kids can be difficult at the best of times, especially when they’ve started running around and exploring for themselves. However, one budget-savvy pair of great-grandparents have managed to come up with an ingenious way to keep their grandson entertained - while also sprucing up their already impressively decorated garden.
May and Rod Proctor, 71 and 73 from Leeds, told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: ‘We have 14 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren. Pete, our 5 year old grandson, comes here a lot as his mum and dad are always at work. We love having him every weekend and I came up with the idea to make a play shed for him.
`We looked on Pinterest but it was far too expensive so we decided to go DIY. I knew we had wood and cable reels already, and we found some plastic glass in a skip on Main Street. A local shop was doing a refit so we asked and they gave it to us. Plus our daughter gave us spindles and railings so we had lots to get started with.
‘Our other supplies largely came from eBay or the local charity shop. We picked up two large tins of paint from the charity shop for £12 and the fabric we used for the curtains and cushion cover came from eBay for £10. In the charity shop we also picked up a lamp to go in the shed for £2.99 and the artificial grass was £25 from eBay. The other materials, such as the wood for the decking and the shed itself, either came from skips or were given to us by various people. In fact, the decking is actually made out of scaffolding boards!
‘When we were planning where to put the shed, we decided to make use of a patch of spare ground we had under the window. I also knew I wanted it to be high up so we could see him out of the window. Plus we wanted a bit of decking to place a small table and chairs.
‘So I sat down and designed it - I created round windows, an arched door, the layout of the decking and so on. We work in a team for our DIY projects - I design and my husband makes. The first step for Rod was to make the decking and steps. He built the decking on a post so the whole area would be high up. We could then plan to put steps in and see our grandson from the kitchen window when the project was finished.
‘A few days later we could get started on the hobbit house. While Rod built the frame, I got started on making the supplies for the interior decorations. I made curtains and large cushion covers using the bargain fabric, and put the little TV from our kitchen in there. Rod built some shelves in there for our grandson to do his colouring and store his belongings.
‘The next step was to paint everything. This was a long job as there was plenty to do! The walls of the shed and the railings - which our daughter gave us - were painted blue, and the doors, windows and roof became red. The gravel path was already there and then two steps lead up to the shed. Rod laid some artificial grass on there and also made some toadstools out of cement, sand and logs for the bases.
‘I bought all of the plants and pansies to line the gravel path from Home Bargains and put them in old teapots we found in the charity shop. The flowers, plants and teapots did not cost more than £30 overall. The project in total took us about two weeks to complete.
‘Now we are done our grandson loves colouring in his own hobbit shed and watching TV, he has brought in some of his own supplies and we love watching him from the kitchen window. All of my garden is done in a similar design and so is our house, no-one can believe how our home looks!
‘My hobbit shed is just one of many things we have made. We made our own toadstools, tables, chairs and fairy houses. Where I live everyone knows Fairy Lane. We made two big fairy houses for children during the first lockdown and put them outside our garden in the little side road.
‘Nobody can believe what we do and it’s all scrap wood and things people give us! Soon we are starting on Fairy Lane Christmas and I will be making it magical with hanging fairies, toadstools, trees and hanging ivy flowers. Now the children can use the hobbit shed to look through the windows and see the Christmas tree, toys and decorations.’
Tom Church, Co-Founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, said: ‘May and Rod have a stunning garden and home which is undoubtedly the talk of the town! It’s clear the couple make a great team and are very talented at both designing and building these creations.
‘If you’re planning a project of your own which involves building some decking, here are my top tips:
‘1. Plan how big you want the decking to be before getting started. This way, you don’t run the risk of having wastage.
‘2. Don’t build the decking in shady areas, as the wood will need more maintenance.
‘3. Ensure you get supplies which are designed specifically for decking. In other words, treated timber and the right screws, so the construction lasts.
‘4. Use a guide marker or set square when cutting wood to prevent it from being wonky.
‘5. Sand down the ends of your timber after cutting it to avoid splinters!’
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May and Rod, both of you have done a wonderful job making a hobbit shed for your grandchildren. By recycling whatever you had to hand to keep the costs down, you made the shed look like you spent a lot of money. Well done 