Amid the cost of living crisis, where energy, food and fuel costs are soaring, spending money on renovating is now at the bottom many people's priorities. But for those who are moving into a new home, or just fancy sprucing up their existing rooms, there are ways that you can transform a space whilst saving money in the process.
One mum has now revealed how she renovated her entire kitchen with a budget of less than £100. Dorota Kuzmicka, 34, used some savvy money-saving tricks and DIY to completely change the look of her kitchen.
The mum-of-three bought bargain materials from The Range, eBay and Facebook Marketplace to modernise her dull and lifeless kitchen, and even made a trendy chandelier using old ladders she had lying around.
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"A few years ago, when we moved to the UK, we only had our own clothes," Dorota told Facebook group DIY On A Budget UK.
"I made our first furniture from wooden boxes and pallets, then I bought second-hand things from charity shops or found something on the street and so I started my adventure with DIY.
"I love changes, I love old furniture and mixed styles. Not everyone will like it, but I'm glad that we can live, in part, the way we want, not the way we have to. I am a mother of three wonderful children and I love creating their little worlds out of nothing."
Dorota explained the process of transforming her kitchen. "In the beginning, we cleaned the entire kitchen," she said.
“We took off the fronts of the cabinets and painted them with white paint, then I degreased the countertops and tiles and glued the self-adhesive veneer on them.
“There was no door on the island, so we made it with a piece of a pallet. We used brick wallpaper on the other side.
“I used marble self-adhesive wallpaper from The Range for £6 a roll, AliExpress handles that cost £1, self-adhesive geometric wallpaper for the tiles at £10 a roll, and brick wallpaper from eBay for £8."
The mum-of-three got creative and made a chandelier from an old ladder.
"I made the chandelier from an old ladder, so that was free, and I painted the cabinets and tiles with Johnstone's wood and metal paint, which cost £9.
“It took me a day to transform the kitchen. It would have cost well over £1,000 to do professionally, but we did it for under £100.
“It feels perfect to have saved so much money and that we have created a wonderful and safe place for our family on a budget."
Dorota revealed that when renovating other rooms in her home she often buys most of her second-hand items for either very cheap or for free from Facebook Marketplace.
“Everything is bought for pennies or for free from Facebook Marketplace. Paints, veneers and wallpapers are normally bought from The Range and most of the accessories I buy for the children's rooms are often ordered from Aliexpress," she said.
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