Harry Potter fans will want to turn their bedrooms into Hogwarts homages after seeing how one money-savvy mum transformed her son's room with just £70 and some imagination. Mum-of-two Christy Boswell used clearance items, budget materials and eBay, as well as painting skills and some ingenuity to keep costs at a minimum.
The 37-year-old shipping administrator told money-saving Facebook group DIY On A Budget UK : "Both my boys are Harry Potter crazy. Ozzy, my eldest, decided that he’d like a Harry Potter room.”
Of course, she got straight to work swapping his muggle bedroom for a much more magical one, complete in Hogwarts house colours and a secret wardrobe room.
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"He already had duvet sets, and some Harry Potter room decorations and toys so I looked online for some Harry Potter promo shots and found one of Hogwarts,” the mum-of-two said.
"I knew that I’d be able to draw my interpretation of the school, free hand and paint over the top of the old wallpaper using acrylic and emulsion tester pots that we already had in the garage.” Christy, from Farnborough, took Ozzy to B&Q and bought tins of paint in red, yellow, blue and green - the Hogwarts house colours - in the clearance.
She also used a themed duvet cover as a curtain and framed wallpaper offcuts as wall art. Christy added: "Whilst painting Hogwarts he told me that he needed the crest on the wall too, which would be the perfect fit for that size of the wall. This was one of the more difficult elements to hand paint!
"I made a Harry Potter single duvet cover into a curtain and attached a small net curtain rail over the door frame and removed the door. He has a built-in wardrobe which I decided to make into a secret room.”
The DIY-enthusiast included some antique-style decoration with one roll of £9 book wallpaper, and cheap corner shelves to display some of his Harry Potter toys. "Then came the station wall, which was his bedroom door,” said Christy.
"I initially tried to paint the bricks directly onto the door which was difficult and didn’t look very effective. So I found another bargain roll of brick design wallpaper and hung his Hogwarts express sign that he already had.
"The two remaining walls were painted red and green for Gryffindor and Slytherin, his favourite houses.” All together, the 37-year-old spent around £70 creating the room. She said: "The paint rollers and brushes were items I already had. For anyone wanting to try an indoor project there really is nothing to lose.
"There are plenty of places to look online for inspiration and even if you lack imagination, once you get started you will be surprised at what you can achieve. I was blown away by the response I received when I posted the bedroom on Facebook. The notifications on my phone were popping up every second - it was incredible.
"I’m very proud of this room - each time a room is finished I get the bug to start another! I’m very proud of the work and my son was thrilled when it was finished. It’s very rewarding knowing that you can create something magical for your child without breaking the bank."
Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, added: “Harry Potter is still a worldwide phenomenon 25 years after it was published, so it’s not surprising that Ozzy chose this theme for his bedroom.
“Christy has done a marvellous job of bringing the magic of the wizarding world to his bedroom without spending a fortune, and she’s shared some really clever, wallet-friendly decorating ideas for other parents to follow.”
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