I’m an interiors expert, transform your boring home for under a tenner with my top tops including an easy £4 pen hack
MAKE your house a home – without blowing your deposit or your savings. Interior fanatics Whinnie Williams and Tyler West from BBC Three’s Flat Out Fabulous have lots of quick-fix solutions for transforming your interiors – from modernising your bathroom with a pen, to making white goods look kitsch. Ahead of the second series starting […]
MAKE your house a home – without blowing your deposit or your savings.
Interior fanatics Whinnie Williams and Tyler West from BBC Three’s Flat Out Fabulous have lots of quick-fix solutions for transforming your interiors – from modernising your bathroom with a pen, to making white goods look kitsch.
Ahead of the second series starting on iPlayer this Thursday, the pair tell Siobhan O’Connor how to dress your home for less.
Tidy up kitchen
FISH-HOOK AND CURTAIN-COVER WASHING MACHINE, £4: If you have bulky white goods creating an eyesore in the kitchen, apply hooks either side, grab a bit of fish wire and cover with a cute, patterned net curtain, pick up both from Amazon for £4.
Whinnie says: “This is a great way for making it look kitsch and makes the kitchen look tidier.”
MDF CUPBOARD DOORS, £2 to £10: Cupboard doors and handles can always be easily replaced.
Whinnie says: “In my house, I couldn’t buy the coloured doors I wanted so I just got MDF cut and I could paint them any colour.”
Tyler adds: “eBay has loads of great options. People will rip out ’60s kitchens and shove them on eBay – just don’t search “vintage” as they’ll be marked up. Look for old doors – you could get them for just a few quid.”
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STICKY SHEETS, £5.97: Countertops can be easily covered with self-adhesive paper.
You can get faux marble worktops that will look just like the real deal.
DRESSING UP TABLE: Using fabrics and soft-furnishings can create a makeover vibe.
Whinnie says: “Dress the table to distract the eye. Use leftover fabrics, like a scarf for a table runner and ribbon for decoration – use this to tie cutlery and crockery together too, making it look more fancy. Perfect for Christmas tablescaping.”
Work with fabrics in living room
DYE DUST SHEETS, £3.99: Upcycle old sheets by popping them into the washing machine with dye.
Whinnie says: “This is a quick and easy way to turn them into curtains and costs next to nothing – you probably already have dust sheets up in the loft.”
RUG OVER CARPET, £15: A stained carpet can ruin a room but would be costly to replace. Tyler says: “Learn to mask what you don’t like.
“Rugs are saviours at making grim carpet disappear.
“Use one long one or several little ones.”
COMMAND STRIPS, £3.28: If you can’t put nails in the walls, Tyler recommends command strips to hang pictures.
Make bathroom boujee
FELT-TIP TILES, £4: Use your craft skills on the bathroom walls and get colouring in.
Whinnie says: “A hotel I went to the other day had boring white tiles but bright-blue grout which looked so cool and chic.
“Using grout pens to paint over the lines between tiles instantly spruces up the bathroom – and you can just pen them back white when you move out.”
GET STICKY WITH VINYL, £15: Floor tiles can make or break a bathroom but can be costly to replace.
Whinnie suggests using easy stick-on versions – you can cover the whole floor and walls if you want and peel off when you leave.
MIRROR MAGIC, £3: Whinnie says: “If the floor is gross, put a great big mirror up and write a slogan on it to distract the eye.”
Tyler adds: “Faux-plants also work wonders and are low-maintenance.”
Turn bedroom into buodoir
DRAW THE CURTAINS, £20: Rented homes often come with dated wall-paper that you could never replace – but fear not.
If this is the case in the bedroom, turn it into a sultry boudoir by just hanging up ceiling-to-floor curtains on every wall.
Whinnie says: “Get a plank of wood and drill it to the top of the wall. This only needs screws either side and can be filled in with Polyfilla afterwards.
“Staple the curtain to the wood. If you go for a plush fabric, it gives the room a cosy feel.”
WALLPAPER FURNITURE, £10: Don’t like your wardrobe or drawers? Cover them in wallpaper.
Clash it with whatever is on the wall or use the same print. Alternatively, use a wallpaper sample as a fancy print and frame it.
Make your searches free and easy
TYLER and Whinnie buy loads from Facebook Marketplace and eBay.
Tyler says: “Most of my furniture was either free or I paid a few quid for it. I got a £70 Ikea mirror for a tenner – chairs for free, too.”
Here are Tyler’s and Whinnie’s top tips for finding second-hand furniture.
USE THE WORD OLD: Avoid “mid-century”, “vintage” or “retro”. These options will always be more pricey, as the sellers know their worth.
INCLUDE SPELLING MISTAKES: Searching with spelling mistakes often works wonders.
ASK FOR SCRAPS: Pop to your local hardware store and ask for any wallpaper scraps. These are often going at a discounted rate.
WOOD WAREHOUSES: There are huge wood-reclamation yards where they recycle and upcycle wood. You can fill a bag for a few quid.
JOIN COMMUNITY GROUPS: Neighbours might be chucking out a box of tiles that are perfect for you. Link up with the community so items don’t go to waste.
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