Savvy DIYer Turns Boring Bathroom Into Grey Paradise For £162, Saving £1000s
- Kelly Burton, 36, was fed up with her boring bathroom, but didn’t want to spend thousands getting professionals in
- Instead, she used affordable paint and self-adhesive floor tiles to transform it
- The transformation cost her £162 instead of £3,000
Renovating a bathroom is a messy, time-consuming and expensive job.
But not for Kelly Burton, 36, a customer service associate from Middlesbrough.
Kelly was fed up with her boring bathroom, but didn’t want to spend thousands getting professionals in to revamp it.
Instead, she used affordable paint and self-adhesive floor tiles to totally transform the look of her bathroom for just £162.
Kelly told money-saving Facebook group DIY On A Budget UK: "I’d been living with the same bathroom tiles for almost nine years and really wanted to change them.
"I’d already done the rest of the house and the bathroom just didn’t ‘fit’ or ‘flow’ with the rest of the house.
“The tiles were floor to ceiling and I couldn't afford to just rip them all out and start again.
"I’ve been a member of DIY social media groups for a while now and I’d seen many people's transformations. I’d already had my kitchen sprayed with Frenchic and looked into possibly doing the bathroom.
"I trawled through Facebook pages looking at everyone’s before and after photos and thought 'I want to give this a go myself’.
"But I do struggle with anxiety and almost talked myself out of doing it as I started to focus on the small minority of bad outcomes rather than the hundreds of positive ones. But in the end, I just thought everyone’s experiences are different and it was worth a shot.
"So I went to my local Frenchic supplier and bought myself two tins of Frenchic Alfresco paint in the colour Swanky Pants and a bottle of Frenchic Tuff Top Coat.
"Each tin was 750ml and cost £19.95 each. It may seem pricey for one tin but the paint does go a long way.
"The Tuff Top Coat was £15.95.
"I read that the main key for this to work is to fully focus on the prep work.
"So I cleaned all the tiles fully with sugar soap, rinsed and let it dry overnight.
"The next day I used an electric sander to lightly sand the surface, dusted it off then went in and started painting.
"I painted each tile individually trying my hardest to avoid the grout, as I’d already found out previously the grout pens aren’t very opaque to go over the ‘painted grout’.
"I did two coats of Frenchic paint using a two-inch paintbrush and let it dry overnight between coats.
"I used a time and a half to cover it.
"I ached for two days straight afterwards, but it was worth it.
"I then went over the grout lines twice with a UniBond grout reviver pen. I used two pens, which cost £4.50 each.
"Finally I finished the tiles with two coats of the Tuff Top Coat. I applied with a sponge making sure to catch any drips and left it to dry.
"I’d seen some self-adhesive floor tiles on studio.co.uk, which were a bargain at £7 for 11 tiles.
"I ordered four boxes just in case I went wrong on some of them.
“Then I went ahead and started it.
"The hardest part was going around the sink and toilet.
"I was sat there staring at the sink for a good 45 minutes just looking at how on earth I was going to do it, but I just went in with a Stanley knife hoping for the best and it turned out brilliantly.
"I bought the under the sink cabinet and mirrored cabinet from B&M, and it was £65 for them both.
"I think it would have cost at least £3,000 to get a new bathroom suite, getting it all retiled and so on, which is money which I don’t have, so I’m pleased with the amount of money I’ve spent when it looks like a brand new bathroom.
"The cost of material paint and flooring was £97.84 but if you were to add on the under-sink unit and above sink cabinet the cost would be £162.84.
"I’m absolutely over the moon with how it’s turned out, and I’m proud that I did it all by myself.
"I feel like I’m in someone else’s house.
"All I can say to people who are thinking of doing it is to give yourself plenty of time, make sure you’re in the right mindset to do it, and not focus on any negative reviews and just go for it!”
Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, comments: “Even for those of us who do have the DIY skills to retile a whole bathroom, the prospect of it is daunting, expensive, messy and time-consuming.
“Kelly’s way, using paint and stick-on tiles, isn’t just quicker, but loads cheaper too - it’s saved her thousands!"
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