I built an extra bedroom in my house for just £100 to give my boys privacy – I even managed to bag free stuff from B&Q
A thrifty mum has shown off her amazing DIY skills after creating an extra bedroom for just £100, saving herself hundreds of pounds.
Carly Keenan, 41, was in desperate need of more space after her two sons Ronnie, 17, and George, 12, began outgrowing their shared bedroom.
However, with a small budget, the mum-of-three from Brighton had to get her thinking cap on and come up with a cheap and easy way to split the bedroom apart – and she did exactly that.
Costing no more than £100, Carly was able to split her sons’ bedroom in half by using MDF boards and wooden panels, giving them both their own room.
Carly revealed the transformation on her TikTok account with the video gaining more than 1.7 million views and 64,700 likes.
“I have saved myself hundreds of pounds by doing the room up myself,” she told NeedToKnow.Online.
“I’m a bit of a DIY girl really, I have always done or had a go at doing everything by myself.
“Since having my own flat when I was 19, I taught myself to wallpaper and lay flooring, which definitely saved me a lot of money over the years.
“At the time my Ronnie had just turned 15 and my George was 10 and they had to share a room as there were not enough rooms in the house.
“They had always shared the same TV but it was getting to the point where they were constantly arguing over what to watch or whose turn it was on the computer and Ronnie being at the age he was, he just wanted his own space.
“So I decided to split their room in half.
“I did it myself apart from the boys holding stuff for me here and there when I needed two pairs of hands.”
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In total, the DIY project took Carly just five days to complete, including planning.
She says her children are amazed by the final result.
The mum wanted to share the transformation with the hopes of inspiring people who may be struggling with money and showing them what is possible with a little DIY.
She added: “It’s important because not everyone has the money to spend on making their life a little easier or making your kids happy.
“What’s the point in wasting money when you can do it yourself, recycle and reuse what you can and you also get more satisfaction out of knowing you’ve done it yourself?
“It’s difficult for everyone at the moment and if someone wanted to do anything like this but didn’t have the money, there are lots of free sites you could keep your eye out for materials.
“There’s a box outside B&Q that has lots of bits of free wood, people put stuff in there they don’t need and it is free for people to take.
“This could help to keep the cost as low as possible.”
Viewers on TikTok were left amazed by Carly’s DIY skills and were quick to comment on the transformation.
One person said: “That’s a good idea my two could do with that.”
“It looks so smart, I bet they both love it.” added someone else
“Wow this is amazing, well done, done a fab job there xx,” another person wrote.
Someone else said: “Well done. That’s just perfect.”
“That looks AMAZING!” someone else wrote.
One person said: “That is so clever.”
“Perfect and you didn’t need planning permission because it doesn’t go the ceiling. Great job,” another user said.
BREAKDOWN:
- Two MDF boards: £68
- Wooden batons: £30
- Screws: already had them
- Brackets: already had them
- No more nails glue: already had it
- Two pots of black paint: £2
Total: £100