I was quoted £10k for a new kitchen in my ‘abandoned’ home but did it for next to nothing – I even added a posh island
A SAVVY mum has revealed that she has given her home the ultimate makeover on a budget.
So if your home could do with some TLC but you aren’t sure where to start, you’ve come to the right place.
Thanks to upcycling, bargain buys and DIY tips and tricks, Carrie Boyd, 35, who lives in South Manchester with her husband, 39 and their two children, 11 and seven, has been able to give her home a fresh new feel.
She explained that her home hadn’t been updated for over 20 years and was in need of modernising.
As a result, Carrie and her husband got to work, in an attempt to turn their plain home into the ultimate maximalist space, all whilst on a budget.
Carrie, who posts on social media under the username @theboydshahhome, opened up to Fabulous about her home’s makeover, as she shared: “Everything had been left since the noughties.
“Everything we have done has been on a budget.
“From colour matching expensive paint brands to cheaper ones, printing digital files ourselves instead of buying the framed artwork online, scouring marketplace for pre-loved and free furniture, buying ex-display and refurbished appliances.
“This is our first home we bought two years ago, and I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved so far.”
Whilst Carrie and her husband’s bedroom and the home’s main bathroom are yet to be transformed, every other room in the house has been given a mega makeover.
KITCHEN WIN
Carrie explained that when she and her family moved into their home, their outdated kitchen was in desperate need of modernising.
Not only this, but it was also a very small space too.
Carrie shared: “When we moved in, the kitchen was tiny and outdated and hadn’t been updated since the early 2000s. We did a single storey kitchen extension.
We ended up paying less than £4,000 for our kitchen by buying it straight from a local trade shop
Carrie Boyd
“After the building work was done we did the inside on a complete budget.
“We were quoted over £10,000 by high street kitchen shops for a similar design to what we have.
“We ended up paying less than £4,000 for our kitchen by buying it straight from a local trade shop and having it sprayed the colour we wanted.
“We did have our friend in to help who’s a kitchen fitter.
“For our appliances we shopped around and visited many clearance warehouses all over the northwest and we got a brand new Samsung fridge still on the website for £1,500 for £600 and a refurbished Rangemaster cooker and hood for £1,000 less than the RRP.”
Not only did Carrie save cash by colour matching her paint, but she also made her own shelves and found freebies online too.
She added: “I colour matched any expensive paint brands in store to cheaper brands to save £20-30 here and there.
“I made the shelves myself from leftover scaffold boards and I bought digital files on Etsy and printed all of my artwork myself.
“I scoured Facebook Marketplace for freebies and preloved items and got my dining chairs for free.
“Our table is from a vintage warehouse in Failsworth and is around 100 years old.
“All of the oddities displayed on the shelves are from charity shops. So many of our things are preloved and quirky and tell a story.”
HALL PASS
Not only is Carrie’s kitchen a stunning space, but her hallway is too.
The DIY fan explained: “We blocked off this access to the kitchen and built a downstairs loo.
“The shoe cabinet is the STÄLL from IKEA and is painted in Lick x Heinz paint.
“The floor is vinyl but always gets mistaken for tiles!”
LIVING TO SEE IT
Carrie shared that to turn her living room into a super cosy space, she made her own mirror and used bargain buys from Amazon, Dunelm and Facebook Marketplace.
She continued: “As we closed off the access to the kitchen from the hallway in order to create room for a downstairs loo, we opened up the living room into the kitchen by knocking down the wall to give a large open plan downstairs.
“Our sofa was bought from Time for Bed in Sale Manchester and we got in on sale.
“The mirror is actually three mirrors from Asda. We paid £12 each for them. We bought a thin sheet of MDF and screwed it into the wall and then glued the mirrors to the MDF so that they sat flush to the wall.
“The Ikea unit was second hand off Facebook Marketplace for £40 and I got wooden style boxes on Amazon in the Black Friday sale for £24 for all of them.
“Our living room features little bits of our home countries like original, vintage maps from the 1920s and some prints.
“I’ve also got a crate from the 1930s from St George’s market in Belfast.
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“I love plants and when I see a bargain plant I pick it up and bring it home. Most of the plants we have I’ve been growing for a few years now and I either got them for cheap when they were babies or I have grown from slips given to me.
“I painted the orange wall in butterscotch by Dunelm and found the curtains on sale at Dunelm too.
“I painted our ceiling in Egyptian cotton by Dulux.”
LOO KNEW?!
Whilst the family’s main bathroom has not yet been renovated, Carrie explained that they created their own loo downstairs.
She revealed: “This room didn’t exist when we bought the house, it only had an upstairs bathroom and we have always been used to having two toilets so we knew we had to find somewhere to add a second loo.
“Our house actually had two back doors so we felt this space was just made to pinch and build a small bathroom.
“We built stud walls and created a small room and to save space we fitted an all in one toilet and sink (this also meant we got a full size sink and not a tiny one).
“We also fitted a folding door so that a normal size door didn’t eat into the space.
“As this room sits at the end of the hallway I wanted to keep the decor flowing from the hall into the loo so I used the green we have on the woodwork in our hallway and painted stripes on the wall and ceiling and on the bottom half we have black to match the hallway.
“We have Lino on the floor which always gets mistaken for tiles.
Everything we have done has been on a budget
Carrie Boyd
“I did every single finishing touch in this room and learnt how to fit door frames and tile by myself!
“I added a splash of pink by painting the storage nook under the stairs pink and added a pink tile splashback and finished the room off with some gold accessories.
“I got a sample pot from Valspar to paint the stripes which only cost £4. The paint was mixed to colour match the paint I previously used in my hallway which was gothic revival 14 by Crown. The black paint was Liberty from the Goodhome range at B&Q.
“I bought the Mona Lisa digital file from Etsy and printed it off myself. I bought the gold frame from a charity shop for a couple of pounds.”
BEDDER BELIEVE
And not only has the downstairs been given a mega makeover, but Carrie’s kids’ rooms have also been transformed.
The savvy mum shared that her daughter’s box bedroom was given a makeover thanks to her painting skills, as well as cheap buys she bought online.
Carrie confirmed: “This is the only room in the house that we had to fully replaster as when we stripped the wallpaper we found bare plaster board underneath.
This is our first home we bought two years ago and I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved so far
Carrie Boyd
“I painted this room in Cermonial Ochre by Valspar and added some scallops onto a high paint border to add some texture.
“I have been collecting and also making bits and pieces for her room over the last few years all from independent businesses either on Facebook or Etsy.”
HAVING A BALL
Carrie’s son’s bedroom has also been personalised too, as Carrie concluded: “His room had fitted wardrobes in it when we moved in so we kept these as they were in really good condition and covered them in vinyl wrap from eBay to modernise them.
“He absolutely loves Manchester United and football so we style his room around that. His walls are decorated with some unique wall art, vintage football shirts and even some signed photographs with the United players.
“I painted his ceiling bright red to add a pop of colour to the room and added some extra coloured stripes to the wall.
“I bought tester pots from Wilko and I painted the 70s style stripes on the wall. The ceiling colour is Tinseltown from Wilko online.
“The hanging light was less than a tenner from eBay and all of the bedding was from IKEA.”