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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Kris Gourlay

Savvy Edinburgh mum builds DIY partition in kids' bedroom to stop bickering

A savvy Edinburgh mum has used her DIY skills to erect the perfect barrier to prevent her kids constant bickering towards each other.

Louise Wilson was sick of her daughter Olivia, 13, and Hannah, eight, constantly arguing over bedroom space that they have shared for five years.

The nursery nurse got her husband Scott, 41, to help build a wooden frame and some plasterboard in the middle of the 14ft by 9ft room to put an end to the arguments and give them their own room each.

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Striking pictures show the bedroom transformed into two defined areas reflecting the girls' style choices.

The thrifty 40-year-old and NHS call handler Scott maximised the space by hanging shelves and a TV on the partition wall and installing fold-up desks.

And there won't be any more arguments about when it's lights out, as each of the girls can operate remote-controlled lightbulbs for their room.

The whole renovation cost just over £100 as they only had to shell out for the wood, plasterboard, paint and wallpaper.

The beds were made from repurposed Ikea units Olivia and Hannah already had in their original shared room.

Louise said: "They love it. They'd rather sacrifice the bigger room to have their own space.

"They hadn't been getting on well, they're both very different. It's a bit of personality [thing] and also their ages.


"They've had to share a room and that's where the issues came from. They didn't have anywhere to get away from each other.

"They had bunkbeds before because it left them a large area to play with the furniture around the sides of the room.

"The problem was that it was a constant mess. It wasn't working, they were fighting.

"There was a lot of 'that's not mine, that's hers' and we were struggling to find places to put bits and pieces.

Louise and Scott built the wooden partition to separate their daughters' bedroom in two halves. (Kennedy News and Media)


"The funny thing is, Hannah's room is spotless so we knew who was to blame for the mess. We've discovered that Hannah is very houseproud.

"They are getting better and it's really nice because they invite each other into their rooms."

The room revamps mean that Louise and Scott are finally able to hang up their paint brushes, as previously they'd be 'constantly' redecorating in a bid to accommodate both girls' tastes.

Louise added: "When they had the big room and we were decorating, I always felt bad because Hannah was too young to make any decisions so we just went with it and Olivia liked the wallpaper.

"Olivia liked French bulldogs and Hannah liked that it was colourful. It's nice that they can have their own styles now.

"We knew we needed something to block it off but a curtain wasn't going to be sturdy enough.

"We needed something sturdy so we could make the most of the space by hanging up shelves and the TV.

"We made the beds out of the old beds and four Ikea units so there's storage underneath.

"There's a bit of space underneath the beds as well so Hannah has made a den with some fairy lights.

"Hannah needs to walk through Olivia's room to get to her room.

"We put Hannah at that side because she's a bit younger and goes to bed earlier so she doesn't get disturbed."

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