A woman managed to save more than £800 transforming her staircase doing the work herself and using a budget item from B&Q.
Patricia Bradley, 43, an NHS worker and mum-of-two, wanted to add panelling to her hallway, but when she was quoted £900 for a builder to do it, she decided to take matters into her own hands.
Using budget materials from B&Q Patricia managed to pull off the panelling by herself for £70.
READ MORE: Matalan shoppers praise 'stunning' £25 red 'Christmas Day dress'
Patricia told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk : "The stairs in my hallway are the dominant feature and I wanted to make a feature of the staircase.
“First I changed the stairs, which were done by a carpet fitter by putting laminate on the riser and carpet on the tread.
"I was aware that wall panelling is very popular just now and looked into the cost and availability of joiners to perform the job.
"I was quoted in the range of £650 to 900 for the work but struggled to see how the cost matched what I thought about what was required in terms of materials and labour.
"I then Googled some info on how to panel a staircase. I enjoy DIY and decided that I would have a go at it myself.”
Patricia added: "I used a picture rail along the top and used decorative moulding strips from B&Q to create the panelling effect.
"I used a hack that I found on Pinterest for creating the required angles, which involved using cardboard as a template.
"This was inexpensive and worked very well. The only tool I used was a small handheld mitre saw for cutting the moulding to size, a strong adhesive for gluing the wood to the wall and a tube of wood filler to perfect the angles.
"The panelling was then painted a light grey in keeping with the colour of decor I had chosen.
"The cost of the materials used was approximately £70. I am pleased with the result and that I was able to perform the job myself and made a huge saving in the process. I did it in my free time as I work full time, but the total was probably about two or three days of working on it.
“The breakdown of costs was £54 for 12 smooth natural pine astragal mouldings, £10 for two picture rails and £13 for paint.
"I had the adhesive in the house, but it costs £4.60 to buy and that was one recommended by someone online.
"There is so much information available on the Internet nowadays that it is easier than ever to teach yourself skills. It is also an achievement when you get the desired result and have saved money into the bargain.”
Patricia has also shared her top tips for anyone wanting to tackle a similar project.
She said: "My tips would be to do your research into the work you want to have done, use YouTube and Pinterest to pick up handy hints and tips and have the confidence to have a go.
“However, it's also important to understand when tradesmen are required for safety reasons.”
Get the top stories straight to your inbox by signing up for one of our free newsletters
