Mum turns cupboard into dreamy two-storey bedroom for her stepdaughter – for less than £500

Isabella's bedroom before and after
The cupboard used to serve as storage space – now it’s Isabella’s dream bedroom (Picture: Mercury Press)

Sophie Purvis, 31, and her partner Joshua Cooper, 27, weren’t sure what to do with the small storage cupboard in their one-bedroom flat in Peterborough.

Then they had a stroke of genius. The pair decided to transform the one metre wide space into a dream bedroom for Joshua’s nine-year-old daughter Isabella, who comes to stay every other weekend.

With the help from a carpenter to make a bunk bed frame, Sophie managed to turn the closet into a comfy two-storey room for Isabella, complete with a unicorn theme on top and a Friends theme on the bottom section.

And the DIY job cost just £488 in total.

The couple surprised Isabella with her new bedroom on her birthday and filmed her overwhelmed reaction.

A savvy stepmum has transformed a tiny closet, once used for coats and shoes, into a spacious and luxurious bedroom for her stepdaughter – all for less than £500.

Joshua and Sophie worked in between their busy jobs to create the room, repainting the walls, fixing the shelves, and adding in cosy decorations.

They took the door off the cupboard and replaced it with a curtain so it was easier for Isabella to climb the ladder to her bed.

MERCURY PRESS. Peterborough, UK. Pictured: The tiny room before the transformation. A savvy stepmum has transformed a tiny closet, once used for coats and shoes, into a spacious and luxurious bedroom for her step daughter - all for ?488. Sophie Purvis, 31, and her partner Joshua Cooper, 27, were stuck for ideas when figuring out what to use the small storage cupboard for in their one-bedroom flat in Peterborough, Cambs. But as Joshuas nine-year-old daughter Isabella is usually forced to sleep on an airbed in the lounge When she comes to stay every other weekend, they decided to turn the 1m by 2.25m square space into her own girly bedroom. SEE MERCURY COPY
The cupboard before its transformation (Picture: Mercury Press & Media)
MERCURY PRESS. Peterborough, UK. Pictured: The finished room. A savvy stepmum has transformed a tiny closet, once used for coats and shoes, into a spacious and luxurious bedroom for her step daughter - all for ?488. Sophie Purvis, 31, and her partner Joshua Cooper, 27, were stuck for ideas when figuring out what to use the small storage cupboard for in their one-bedroom flat in Peterborough, Cambs. But as Joshuas nine-year-old daughter Isabella is usually forced to sleep on an airbed in the lounge When she comes to stay every other weekend, they decided to turn the 1m by 2.25m square space into her own girly bedroom. SEE MERCURY COPY
Sophie and Joshua added in a lofted bed to create a two-storey bedroom for nine-year-old Isabella (Picture: Mercury Press & Media)

Sophie kept costs low by hunting out bargains, and managed to get a £2 Friends cushion from Wish, three unicorn pots from Asda at £1.75 each, spotty wall stickers from eBay at £2.99 and a £5 second-hand guitar from Facebook Marketplace, inspired by Phoebe Buffay.

She picked up fluffy throws, pillows and bedding from Primark, for a cost of £41, bought three boxes of shelves from B&M for £7.99, scored a £24.999 sideboard with £7.50 storage boxes from Argos, and got wardrobe frames for £6.30 on eBay.

A custom mattress was a little pricier, coming in at £120, while materials and labour for the custom bed came to £250.

The finished room. A savvy stepmum has transformed a tiny closet, once used for coats and shoes, into a spacious and luxurious bedroom for her step daughter - all for £488.
The top part of the room is unicorn themed (Picture: Mercury Press & Media)

After starting in December, the room took three months to complete and cost £488 in total.

Part sales specialist Sophie said: ‘Isabella stays every other week at the weekends, and she slept on an airbed before.

‘But we noticed that she often wanted five minutes to herself to relax on her own for a while so we thought that we needed to create a space of her own in the flat.

MERCURY PRESS. Peterborough, UK. Pictured: The finished room. A savvy stepmum has transformed a tiny closet, once used for coats and shoes, into a spacious and luxurious bedroom for her step daughter - all for ?488. Sophie Purvis, 31, and her partner Joshua Cooper, 27, were stuck for ideas when figuring out what to use the small storage cupboard for in their one-bedroom flat in Peterborough, Cambs. But as Joshuas nine-year-old daughter Isabella is usually forced to sleep on an airbed in the lounge When she comes to stay every other weekend, they decided to turn the 1m by 2.25m square space into her own girly bedroom. SEE MERCURY COPY
Then the bottom section has a Friends theme (Picture: Mercury Press & Media)

‘We have a weird-sized cupboard near the front door of the flat which everyone says is really big, I used to have a little nail bar in there and thought it was a good space.

‘It then became a dumping area for coats, shoes, presents and wrapping paper – everything we didn’t need at that moment in time went in there.

‘I got some inspiration from Instagram from seeing a picture of a cabin bed with a seating area underneath, and I thought we could maximise the use of the cupboard space by creating a similar style room for Isabella.

‘My partner is friends with a carpenter so we showed him the idea for the bed frame and went from there – he took about two days and the bed appeared out of nowhere!

MERCURY PRESS. Peterborough, UK. Pictured: The finished room. A savvy stepmum has transformed a tiny closet, once used for coats and shoes, into a spacious and luxurious bedroom for her step daughter - all for ?488. Sophie Purvis, 31, and her partner Joshua Cooper, 27, were stuck for ideas when figuring out what to use the small storage cupboard for in their one-bedroom flat in Peterborough, Cambs. But as Joshuas nine-year-old daughter Isabella is usually forced to sleep on an airbed in the lounge When she comes to stay every other weekend, they decided to turn the 1m by 2.25m square space into her own girly bedroom. SEE MERCURY COPY
The transformation cost just £488 (Picture: Mercury Press & Media)
MERCURY PRESS. Peterborough, UK. Pictured: The finished room. A savvy stepmum has transformed a tiny closet, once used for coats and shoes, into a spacious and luxurious bedroom for her step daughter - all for ?488. Sophie Purvis, 31, and her partner Joshua Cooper, 27, were stuck for ideas when figuring out what to use the small storage cupboard for in their one-bedroom flat in Peterborough, Cambs. But as Joshuas nine-year-old daughter Isabella is usually forced to sleep on an airbed in the lounge When she comes to stay every other weekend, they decided to turn the 1m by 2.25m square space into her own girly bedroom. SEE MERCURY COPY
Now Isabella has a space to call her own (Picture: Mercury Press & Media)

‘We stayed up long hours painting the ceiling and walls, roping some of our friends in with a paintbrush and asked Isabella what she wanted the theme to be.

‘She couldn’t decide between her two favourite things – the TV programme Friends and unicorns – so we went for Friends at the bottom and unicorns on the top.

‘We did a big reveal on her birthday last month and she couldn’t believe it, she kept telling us it was her dream bedroom and we were so pleased, it was more than we could ever imagine.’

MERCURY PRESS. Peterborough, UK. Pictured: Isabella finishing the decoration. A savvy stepmum has transformed a tiny closet, once used for coats and shoes, into a spacious and luxurious bedroom for her step daughter - all for ?488. Sophie Purvis, 31, and her partner Joshua Cooper, 27, were stuck for ideas when figuring out what to use the small storage cupboard for in their one-bedroom flat in Peterborough, Cambs. But as Joshuas nine-year-old daughter Isabella is usually forced to sleep on an airbed in the lounge When she comes to stay every other weekend, they decided to turn the 1m by 2.25m square space into her own girly bedroom. SEE MERCURY COPY
Isabella loves the end result (Picture: Mercury Press & Media)
MERCURY PRESS. Peterborough, UK. Pictured: Sophie Purvis, 31, and her partner Joshua Cooper, 27. A savvy stepmum has transformed a tiny closet, once used for coats and shoes, into a spacious and luxurious bedroom for her step daughter - all for ?488. Sophie Purvis, 31, and her partner Joshua Cooper, 27, were stuck for ideas when figuring out what to use the small storage cupboard for in their one-bedroom flat in Peterborough, Cambs. But as Joshuas nine-year-old daughter Isabella is usually forced to sleep on an airbed in the lounge When she comes to stay every other weekend, they decided to turn the 1m by 2.25m square space into her own girly bedroom. SEE MERCURY COPY
Sophie Purvis, 31, and her partner Joshua Cooper, 27 (Picture: Mercury Press & Media)

Sophie shared photos of the bedroom’s transformation on Facebook, where it received thousands of likes and comments.

She added: ‘The reaction on Facebook was really nice, everyone was saying how lovely it is and how well we’ve managed to utilise the space.

‘There were some negative comments with people saying it gave them Harry Potter ‘cupboard under the stairs’ vibes but Isabella’s happy and that’s all that matters to us – the bed is so secure and we can even fit up there as adults.

‘At first it didn’t look like we’d be able to do it but it’s such a good space and we can’t believe the outcome.

‘We want to move into a house eventually and have a child ourselves so I think we will end up being a lot more creative again.’

Have you completed a brilliant DIY project you fancy sharing? Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.

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