Thrifty Mum Saves £2000 Turning Empty Room Into Gothic Princess Paradise
- Elizabeth, 41, wanted to give her daughter the Gothic bedroom of her dreams
- She found a bargain bed frame for just £100 on Facebook Marketplace, saving over £2000
- With the help of YouTube and some craft supplies, she created a stunning space on the cheap
Moving house can be a stressful time for anyone, but one thrifty mum decided to make the experience exciting for her daughter Lily, 16 by transforming an empty room into a Gothic paradise.
Elizabeth Miller, 41 from Dorset, told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: ‘When we knew we were moving house I asked my son and daughter to design their new rooms using Pinterest so they had something positive to think about and plan for.
‘The pictures Lily found for her new Gothic-inspired room were amazing, but when I started to search for items to buy I quickly realised I was going to have to get creative to make her dream come true.
‘Lily chose an all black and grey room but I was able to talk her into a little purple which she loved in the end.
‘Finding what my daughter wanted on Ebay for just under £2000 made an upcycle a necessity rather than a choice.
‘I started scouring Facebook Marketplace for old furniture I could pull mouldings from and took inspiration from upcycle websites and the Frenchic Fan Forum.
Elizabeth’s first big bargain was the bed frame. ’By sheer luck, a green bed came up on Marketplace one day which matched the style Lily wanted. Plus it was just down the road in the next town over! I managed to buy the bed for only £100 and had it put into storage until we moved house.
‘Once unpacked at the other end I spent just over a week cleaning it with sugar soap. Then I sanded and primed it before applying 3 coats of Frenchic paint in the shade Blackjack.
‘Finally, I gave the bed a spray over with silver glitter sheen spray and several coats of clear varnish.
‘Once the wood work was finished I had to reupholster the bed head in pure velvet using a staple gun. I watched lots of video tutorials on Youtube to get ideas and finished the whole thing with a beaded trim to hide the fact I'm not a master craftsperson! I also added some more roses to soften the overall look.
‘The bed had been a cherished piece of furniture previously and I was nervous about such an extreme change especially as the seller had asked to see the finished piece. Luckily she thought it looked fantastic and was thrilled it had gone to someone who would love it.
Transforming the bed wasn’t all smooth sailing, however. ‘There was a massive amount of cursing involved as I carried bits of the bed out to the garden to be spray painted before trying to get them back into the room without chipping anything on the way back up the stairs.
‘Your back garden isn't an ideal work space with the odd piece of grass sticking to your paintwork, the dog brushing against it and a gust of wind toppling the whole thing and taking your hard work down to the wood!
Thankfully, the job was finished successfully and so Elizabeth moved onto her next project - the wardrobe. ‘Originallya Facebook Marketplace find, it got a new lease of life with some wallpaper panels and upholstery pins to give it some character. I then added the skulls, which were only £8 for the lot. They're for decorating your car!
‘The door handles are meant to be door knockers but Lily's nickname is 'little dragon' so they were perfect for her.
‘Almost everything I bought came from Amazon or Ebay as I had to shield for almost the entire last year. My children have been amazing and shielded with me without question, not once moaning about being indoors. Their amazing behaviour, effort with online learning and the way they have protected me fiercely made their new rooms completely deserved.
‘We managed to transform the whole room in about 10 days, including paint and new carpets. I was determined that when the children arrived at the new house they would have as much of their dreams in place as we could manage.
‘Overall the bed was £100, I only paid £20 for the wardrobe and the craft supplies cost £85 so that’s just over £200 in total. I saw an upholstered Gothic bed online selling for £1900 so it’s possible I’ve saved over £2000 overall!’
Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, said: ‘Elizabeth has made such huge savings by transforming marketplace finds. This style of furniture can often be expensive so hats off to her for managing to replicate it on a budget.
‘YouTube is a fantastic way to pick up new skills without paying out for a professional. From unblocking the toilet to reupholstering furniture, you can learn anything with just a few clicks!’
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