A savvy DIY mum-of-two from Northampton has saved thousands in her bathroom transformation.
Melissa Preston, 44, who owns a cleaning company, took on a bathroom renovation project with her 13-year-old daughter Mia.
By using affordable materials, taking on the labour and repurposing and upcycling existing items, the duo managed to totally transform the bathroom for just £600.
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It resulted in a saving of £3,400, as Melissa says the bathroom would have cost at least £4,000 to redo professionally reports the Daily Express.
Melissa told money-saving Facebook group DIY On A Budget UK: "I decided to do a makeover in the bathroom.
"I was fed up of my daughters using up all my nice shampoo and products that I would treat myself to in my en-suite shower.
“I decided to do a makeover on the main bathroom so they can use that and their own products.
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"It got to the point where I was hiding my stuff in the cupboards.
"I would often find myself dripping wet (because I'd forget to get them out of my stash place) rifling through the wardrobe to find my hidden products!
"As it’s just mainly the girls that use the main bathroom I let them design it.
Daughter Mia was left in charge of planning out the bathroom design.
Melissa said: "She had a strong vision of pink tiles, a green wall and black accessories.
"I was a little dubious at first given these colours, but after lots of hunting I found some combinations that I felt would work and still keep in line with Mia's ideas.”
The savvy DIYer bought a lot of her decor pieces from the pound shop and B&M.
She explained: “Mia wanted a bath mat from Urban Outfitters but it was way out of my price range at £25 so I hunted a copycat one down for a bargain £6.99 - and she’s not even noticed.”
Melissa did all the labour herself to cut costs but did pay a professional £160 to tile the bathroom.
She said: “I had previously tiled my downstairs toilet but it took me forever and I thought I’d rather scrub people’s loos for hours than do that again.
“To cut costs with the tiler I had agreed to take off all the old tiles myself and prep all the walls ready for them to just tile.
"I replaced the basin taps and the bath mixer and shower taps myself.”
Once the tiling was done, she set about painting and putting up the wallpaper.
As Melissa didn’t replace the old bathroom unit, she upcycled it using cupboard paint.
Melissa and her daughters are thrilled with the look of their new bathroom.
She said: “All in all it cost me just under £600.
"If I were to have got it professionally done I would have been looking at around the £4,000 mark for materials and labour.
“I love that I saved so much with doing it myself, and also the satisfaction it gives me to know it’s all my own work.
"I suffer from anxiety, and I find getting stuck into a project really helps me cope and gives me great distractions when times are hard.”
Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk commented: “What a stunning bathroom, and a stunning saving.
“By doing so much of the work themselves, Melissa and Mia have literally saved thousands of pounds.
“Their bathroom is Pinterest-perfect - it’s hard to believe it only cost £600!"
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