One savvy mum says she’s saved thousands of pounds transforming her boring white bathroom into a chic Scandinavian space.
Julie Pentelow, a 32-year-old teaching assistant from Swindon and mum-of-two, kept costs down by completing the DIY project herself.
For example, instead of forking out money on professionals, Julie said she decided to paint over her bathroom tiles and even revamped her bath panel with stick on tiles.
Julie says the tile paint cost her £25 from B&Q and she also picked up a grout pen for just £3.99 from Amazon.
The stick on tiles for her bath panel cost her £1 a sheet from One Below bringing her total spend on this part of her project to £15 altogether.
Julie also saved money by redecorating with bargains she found from stores like B&M, Ikea and Matalan.
The money-conscious mum says she was inspired to transform her bathroom after seeing people on Facebook groups completing similar makeovers.
She told LatestDeals : “We’ve saved thousands by decorating ourselves and it now looks like we have got a new bathroom.
“I saw people on Facebook groups saving money by revamping their bathrooms to give them a new look so I decided to give it a go myself.
“I browsed the internet for different ideas and fell in love with Scandinavian design. It has a really relaxing and cosy feel to it that gives you a lovely sense of escapism.”
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Julie says her first stop for supplies was B&Q, where she picked up Dulux Rich Black paint for £17 and White Satin V33 Wall Tile and Panelling paint for £25.
She also purchased Unibond Re-New Sealant off Amazon for £5 to help cover up black mould marks that she’d removed.
Another area which needed work was the floor tiles, which is where her £3.99 grout pen from Amazon came in handy.
After this, Julie then applied her self-adhesive wall tiles to the bath panel - saving her money on having to fully replace it.
The next job was redecorating her new bathroom.
She said: “I needed an under-sink console that wasn’t too big, as I only have a small space between the sink and the bath.
“I eventually found one that fit perfectly for £34.99 from The Range, and I painted the handles black to match the colour theme.
“I was able to save money on the decorations as I do a bit of graphic design in my spare time and have anEtsy shopselling art prints and wedding stationery.
“Therefore I made some of my own prints and enjoyed creating simple designs to add to the Scandinavian picture wall.
“I used artificial plants and accessories from IKEA, B&M, Tesco, Dunelm and Matalan to give a natural look to the room and add some colour. Altogether these didn’t cost more than £15.”
Julie says she also used a YouTube hack to clean up her dirty shower screen.
It involved using a paint scraper, white vinegar, Viakal spray and Elbow Grease spray to make the shower screen look as good as new.
Julie is thrilled with her new bathroom but says the project wasn’t without regrets.
She said: “Having two young children often made it difficult to find time to work on the project without them being near the wet paint or distracting me.
“If I had to do this project again, I would have allowed more time. It was a bit of a rush job.
“Some of the tiles could have been painted better, the paint instructions mention waiting certain periods of time before a recoat and before showering, I admit I probably didn’t wait as long as it said to.”
Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, said: “Julie has done a great job transforming her bathroom - the Scandinavian style is becoming more popular these days due to its clean, minimalist design.
“She has undoubtedly saved a lot of money by painting the walls herself - according to Household Quotes, the average painting and decorating prices are around £160 a day, with prices between £375 and £500 to paint an average sized room.
“Plus, creating a new tile bath panel can cost £300 on average according to Building Sheriff.
“Furthermore, prints can easily cost £20 to £50 each depending on size, so Julie has done well to create her own.”