Mum Of 3 Saves £2000 On Garden Seating With £4 Pallets
- Stephanie, 31, wanted to improve her plain garden space
- She saw garden seating for £2000 and decided to recreate it on the cheap
- The mum of 3 picked up pallets for just £4 from her local food hub
- Lots of her plants and decor were donated by friends and family
It’s easy to put organizing the garden at the bottom of your to-do list, especially when you have children to think about. However, one mum of 3 managed to juggle childcare with a garden overhaul - with impressive results.
Stephanie Williams, a 31-year-old ex-mental health support worker and full-time mum to three children aged 13, 3 and 2, who shares her gardening journey on Instagram as sow_stephanie, told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: ‘We moved into a council property last September, and the garden was pretty bare. I’ve never really had a nice back garden, so I was determined to sort it out finally.
Inspiration for the garden struck while Stephanie was browsing Facebook. ‘During lockdown, all I used to see was people building amazing things from pallets, so I had the idea parked.
‘I knew I wanted a corner seating area - I’d been to a shop in Liverpool called Taskers and seen the most gorgeous rattan seating area for £2000. I'd gone in there a week before Christmas with my kids so they could see all the Christmas decorations. £2000 - I didn't even have 2000 pence probably, not at that time of year!
‘So, I just went home and dreamed of this seating area for months on end. I did try and save for it a good few times but with a 13-year-old, 2 toddlers and a house to run, it just wasn't doable.
‘In the house I used to live in, I had built a deck out of pallets and decking boards. However, we were desperately overcrowded at the time, so I had to move. I was so gutted pulling all the decking up - all the hard work.
‘I got my new house last September, so all the pallets and wood just sat in my new garden over the winter. I thought about doing another deck again, but my new garden was just too big, and it would have meant me buying more decking with money I just didn't have.
‘When the spring came, and I started to get the garden sorted, I just thought maybe I could recreate the seating I had seen with the wood, so that's what I did.
‘The shape of the garden was just perfect for doing the design, inspired by the expensive couch from Taskers. The decor and the way it feels were inspired by the trees behind my house, I think. The trees give it a really spiritual feel, and I wanted somewhere I could meditate - a calming spiritual retreat - but also somewhere practical for my kids. I was so lucky to get a council house surrounded by all these beautiful trees. I still can't believe we live here, to be honest.
‘I got the pallets from a man at the Liverpool Food Hub for £4 each. The decking was from a place in Wigan called Savoy Timbers, and it cost around £400 altogether with the screws. The outdoor rugs were £12 each.
‘To be honest, I've been collecting my plants and trees for a long time, and a lot of them were given to me by friends, family and neighbours. In fact, the day after I had finished painting my seating area, I got a phone call - a cousin had sold his house and bought a new one with no garden, so I got an apple tree, a pear tree, a peach tree, a garden vacuum and a hosta. They were all in pots and all for free. When people know you're into gardening, they just give you cuttings and dying plants that they want to get rid of and so I've been very lucky with all that stuff.
‘My small grey pots were a birthday gift from my sister from Morrisons for £30 and my suncatcher and pastel coloured wind chime were gifts from my mum. They were from Traveller Finds and they were £5 each. The stuff on there is gorgeous and the different prices are fab too.
‘Some of my other pots were a gift from my kids Nan; they were pots she didn't use anymore. They were blue, so I painted them black with the spare doorstep paint I had. I got that from Wilkos own range. I bought the doorstep paint to do the planters that were already here, and it cost around £13 a tin. It was good stuff, a lot better than the masonry paint. I also bought seeds for my wildflower garden from Poundstretcher for £1.50.
‘The fire pit was a gift to my kids from their grandad, and the wind chime was from Etsy for £16. The black fence paint was by Spear and Jackson for £10. The masonry paint and wood gloss were both Wilkos own; they were both around £24 each.
‘To be honest, I haven't finished the outdoor cushions yet, but I got the foam and material from a haberdashery in Liverpool called Abakhan. It cost £86 altogether and my mum bought me a sewing machine for my birthday. My lovely new neighbour has made the first one for me and shown me how to make the rest, but that will be a job for the winter now when I have time.
‘Some of my best flowers were from Ring O' Bells Plant Nursery in Ormskirk. The plants are so well looked after there and so reasonably priced I spent about £60 and got a good few.’
Once Stephanie had all of her supplies, it was time to begin. ‘First I washed all the paving flags, then I painted all the brick walls and fences. Afterward, I painted all the planters that were already there when I moved in.
‘Then it was just a case of putting the pallets where I wanted them and attaching the decking boards, painting the seating area, and planting and replanting all my new and old plants and flowers. I did this job mostly on Sundays when my kids were at their Nan's.
‘Moving the pallets was the biggest challenge. When you see them on Facebook, you just think "Oh yeah I'll be able to do that." They look like you can just pick them up, but they are really heavy and full of splinters - I had to borrow a van to get them home too.
‘Getting them level was another challenge. I bought these little things from B&Q called packers. You just slot them under the top layer of pallets to make them level. They cost about £10.
‘If I had to do it again, I think I would paint the walls white instead of grey. That's it really. I wouldn't change anything else because I absolutely love it.’
Tom Church, Co-Founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, said: ‘Stephanie’s garden has undergone a serious makeover. The space looks much brighter now, and pallets have come to the rescue once again. Why spend £2000 on garden seating when you can pick up pallets for just £4 each?!’
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