I saved £1,000 building the living room of my dreams using B&Q bargains – it’s unrecognisable
A MUM-of three has revealed how she saved £1,000 by building the living room of her dreams using bargains from B&Q.
Carly Elwick, 36, was quoted £2,500 by a professional to renovate – but decided to do the work herself to save cash.
With an eight and ten-year-old running around her home, she says her living room had become run down.
And Carly dreamt of having a stunning sitting room with chimney TV walls – without the designer price.
She told LatestDeals.com: “We were given a quote of £2500 to have the work done. I sensed we would be able to do it more cheaply ourselves, even if it might take us longer. So we decided to go DIY instead and the first step was gathering supplies.
‘Even during this stage I was able to make some massive savings. I primarily got the supplies from Howdens and a local handyman store. I got some bits elsewhere too, for example I got the Dimplex fire from Costco. It was so much cheaper than B&Q for the same one – about £300 cheaper actually!
“The tiles came from B&Q and the bricks behind the fire are actually polystyrene panels with a brick-like coating. They were so much cheaper than actual Brick Slips, but you really can’t tell they’re anything different unless you go really close.
“They were so easy to install too. All in all, the cost of the materials was around £900.”
Carly’s thrift graft meant the family got the living room of their dreams – and saved themselves £1,000.
She explained: “Altogether the cost of this project came to £1550 and that’s including all materials, having the electrics and the plastering done by professionals, and having 2 new doors fitted. We saved £1000!’
“Everything was then primed and painted. An oak beam was ordered online and that is mounted by screws so is removable in the future for painting.”