Woman creates ultra lush living room with TK Maxx & Tesco

• Amy Barker, 25, transformed her living room from dull to eye-catching.
• Amy used bright turquoise paint and budget accessories to create the look.
• Amy provides tips for how to do the same.

If you’re bored of your living room, we’ve got the ultimate homespiration for you.

Amy Barker, 25, a business owner and early years teaching assistant, transformed her drab living room into a stylish turquoise haven using her DIY prowess, YouTube tutorials and accessories from the likes of TK Maxx and Tesco.

Amy, who lives with her boyfriend in Bradford, told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk all about the process.

"I wanted a living room that was in keeping with the style of the Victorian house,” Amy explains. "I also wanted a colour that was bright and cosy.

"The process was hard as I was collecting furniture over a couple of years before we bought the house. They were all in storage and I had no idea if they would pull together well or look like a jumbled mess.

Despite the expensive look of Amy’s living room, she managed to buy plenty of the elements that pull it all together from budget brands such as ASDA and Tesco. She also waited for discount days such as Black Friday to get the best value for what she needed to buy.

"The quality and designs were amazing for the price and they always have quirky stand out pieces! A lot of our accessories are from Homesense, TK Maxx, Asda and Tesco, as they’re great for picking up little accent pieces!

"The desk, Chinese drawers, chair, sofa and rug were from Homesense,” Amy explains. “We collected bits as we saw them and liked them and put them in storage while saving our house deposit.

"We got the paint (Teal Tension from Dulux) from B&Q and that was on a three for two offer at £22 per can. The floor was from Discount Flooring Depot and was £22.99 per square metre (Endura in harvest caramel).

“We waited until they had an offer on, and ended up getting all our underlay for free as part of a promotion! If you’re not in a rush it’s definitely worth looking out for offers and holding off until you have to order something just in case a good offer comes about.

"Thankfully we managed to get a good Black Friday deal on the TV. I often browse websites to see who has the best prices and then check Google to see if anyone has any promotions or voucher codes.

"I just had an idea in my head of the colours, themes and textures I wanted and worked off that. It cost about £5,000 to do the living room including the furniture, log burner, paint and flooring.

"Our palm tree lamp was from Olive and Sage. It’s usually £295 and we got it for £235 - I searched for a ceiling light to match for months and finally found one at Wayfair for £215.

"I’m also a part time student so I often use my student discount which is especially helpful, especially when retailers like Oliver Bonas do 20% off days!”

Amy was helped along the way, with family pitching in to help her and her boyfriend pull the project together. She also watched YouTube videos to figure out what to do.

"This is our very first house and we had no DIY experience before,” she explains. “Thankfully my stepfather-in-law is a contractor so he fit the floor and plastered the walls.

"Me, my mum and my mother-in-law stripped the wallpaper (both layers of it!) which took two full days. It was my first time but I got the hang of it pretty quickly.

"We looked at YouTube videos on how to best paint the walls, mouldings and picture rail, and watched a video on how to mount the TV.

"My fiancé did most of the heavy work removing both layers of the old carpet and peeling up the laminate which was under that too.

"We glossed the skirting boards, moulding and picture rails as a team and we got them done pretty quick between us. We then used frog tape to mask it off to get a nice clean finish.”

Amy is understandably delighted with how the room has turned out, and says the whole renovation has been a process.

"My biggest tip would be to not be afraid of colour,” she adds. “You don’t have to keep it to accessories or just one feature wall; you can be bold.

"At first glance my whole room is teal, but I have lots of accent colours to make the room come alive. I have tropical prints with greens, oranges and pinks, colourful ornaments I’ve collected from travelling and printed cushions with beautiful birds on them.

"Everything doesn’t have to match to all work in harmony.”

Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, says: “This looks like a millionaire's luxury penthouse! With the sea of grey and white living rooms that are so on trend at the moment, it’s refreshing to see something so different! I love the eye-catching nature of this room and how Amy has pulled it all together with thoughtful furniture, accessories and furnishings. I’m heading to TK Maxx and Homesense right now to have a look at all their fabulous homeware on special offer."

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