A mum who loves DIY projects has shared how she transformed her kitchen from ‘council house bleak’ to ‘farmhouse chic’ for just £218.
Fiona Gall, 34, wanted to redecorate the boring kitchen of her adapted council home, but didn’t fancy handing over a load of money to make the changes.
The council house, in West Lothian, Scotland, was originally adapted to allow for a wheelchair two years ago when Fiona and her husband Mark, who had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, moved in.
Fiona set about covering the kitchen’s drab brown cupboards with fresh paint, then wrapped the kitchen surfaces, dining table, and shelves in sticky back plastic.
She picked up budget-friendly bits and bobs from charity shops and Facebook marketplace, then got creative to add her own countryside-inspired stamp on each and every part of the design.
After originally being quoted £3,000 for a full kitchen renovation, doing it herself meant Fiona only spent £218 on the transformation.
Fiona said: ‘I love polka dots so I tried to go with that theme and I wrapped all the counters, table surface and a chest of drawers with wood-effect Fablon.
‘I make a lot of things myself, and every single room in my house has something DIY in it because I’m very crafty and like to upcycle furniture.
‘I’m not afraid to look around charity shops either and I always shop about and try to find cheaper things, or even see if I can make them myself.
‘A brand new kitchen wasn’t really an option for us as we had the rest of the house to decorate too, but still wanted to have family days out, and I was professionally quoted £3,000 for someone to fit the Fablon on our kitchen units and surfaces.
‘I weighed it all up and decided to wrap the kitchen myself instead – I had to do a test patch inside the cupboard because I was scared that it would go badly.
‘Wrapping the table and chest of drawers was fine but the worktops were more challenging because the corners were hard to cut around.’
She found a chest of drawers on Facebook for £40 and added fresh paint and union jack handles, then covered the shelves with Fablon.
The kitchen and table were wrapped with wood-effect Fablon too, with four rolls at £7 each costing £28.
Two pots of duck egg blue paint were £28 and pots of white paint for the drawers and window box were £30, all from Wilko. The brick wallpapercame to £20.
Fiona also bought £6 foliage for her hand-made window box, and the window mirrors above cost £18 for three.
Other decorations, including a Union Jack teapot, lights and wicker hearts, came to £27 and other DIY bits including sponge rollers and silicon guns were £9.
Fiona added: ‘I absolutely love my kitchen now and I wanted it to be finished by Christmas as a present to myself!
‘I’m really proud of how it turned out and I held a Christmas fun day for my family in the kitchen last week where we did lots of crafts with our children.
‘The main reason I do this is because family is what is most important to me, and I love the satisfaction of doing something myself, but also by saving money I have more for family days out and making memories.’
Fiona has almost finished re-decorating the rest of her home and is now working on a DIY playhouse for her son.
Have you completed an amazing DIY project? Get in touch to share your skills by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2019/12/03/mum-transforms-kitchen-council-house-bleak-farmhouse-chic-218-11260874/
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