Saturday 25 May 2013

Room makeover on a budget

The people at Moneysupermarket have challenged us blogger types to makeover a room with a budget of £50.  Now, I'm always up for a thrifty challenge, but up til yesterday I feared I'd bitten off more than I could chew...particularly as I'd just fallen off the step ladder for the 2nd time and was doubled up with post-ceiling-painting-neck-cramp.

Can I start off by saying, I'm not proud of this appalling state of affairs, but in the spirit of before and after shots, I have to show the 'before' at it's absolute worst.  Right?  That's how it's done?

                         

Our much neglected downstairs loo, whilst being the smallest room in the house, is probably the one with the most roles to fulfil.  We've done nothing to it since moving in nearly 2 years ago, and I'm sad to say it has been very badly treated.  As well as being our downstairs toilet, it also houses all our coats (and hats; scarves; wellies; smelly trainers etc). Added to that it's the laundry room as the washing machine is situated there, it's where the dog sleeps and has her food and water bowls, and the previous occupants obviously had grand ideas of it being a wet-room - yes there's a shower too!  I guess you'd call it a little undefined...

Because it wasn't serving any of it's purposes well (and it's all too easy to simply shut the door on it), it got used as a dumping ground.  Shoes are slung in there; dirty gym kit waiting to go in the wash gets chucked on the floor; the overflowing coat cupboard meant that coats are hung from any available place, or stuffed on top.  My wine-making equipment had taken over.  Good grief, there was even a string of garlic hanging off the shower - don't even ask me.

Yep, it was time to tackle this mess!

    

The simplest, quickest and cheapest way to improve a room is to have a damned good sort out.  De-clutter; re-organise; re-arrange and deep clean.  So that's what I did.  Everything that didn't belong in there was given it's marching orders, then the place was scrubbed from top to bottom.  The windows were cleaned inside and out.  The washing machine was cleaned inside and out; the floor scrubbed; the tiles cleaned and buffed to a shine.  Vanish is great for stain removal and luckily I'd been sent some so I used that to deep clean the dog's bed.

Ordinarily I wouldn't start painting on a quick makeover, but there was no choice here.  The walls were covered in filler and bits of bare plaster where the previous owners had removed something from the wall to take with them.

Both the walls and ceiling were a dull buttermilk colour, so I used some white emulsion I had left over from previous decorating to paint the ceiling, and asked nicely for a pot of bright yellow paint for the walls - well, it was doing nothing in my father-in-law's garage!  It has made SO much difference.  It's so much brighter and lighter in there now, and it feels sunny and cheerful.  It's not a colour I'd use in a room that you live in, but here where most of the walls are tiled, and being a room which won't be occupied for any length of time, it's fabulous.

 


I'm not a huge fan of net curtains, but being downstairs and having a toilet and shower, it needed something, so I chose sunny yellow voiles for the French doors, and they too give a lovely light to the room.

Although this room is actually a new extension, the previous owners loved their period features and obviously spent a lot of time sourcing items from architectural salvage yards.  The improvements allow these antique pieces to shine.  I added a vintage toilet roll holder which I picked up at a car boot sale for £1, and various other stuff I've obtained over the years!


The canvas was from BHS, and the song is special to us, so I had to buy it!  It makes me smile every time I see it now.

The washing machine was already housed inside a tall cupboard, and now I've sorted out all my laundry products, it's great to have them all on-hand, but out of sight.


The whole place is clean, fresh and organised.

Finally, it is what it should be.


Total spend:

Loo roll holder - £1 car boot sale
Canvas print - £15 BHS
Voiles - £5.85 eBay
Shower curtain - £10.99 Dunelm Mill
Coat Hooks - 3 x £3 from Tiger (mounted on skip-found wood)

Total = £41.84 - the rest went on chocolate chip cookies for the worker's many tea breaks.

What do you think?  Better before or after?  What are your top tips for thrifty decorating?

Disclosure: Thank you to Moneysupermarket for providing the £50 for this makeover challenge.

51 comments:

  1. it looks great! what a fab room...love the sink & toilet!

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    1. Thanks Helen. I had to get a plumber out to the loo once, he was totally in awe of it. He said "wow, I've only ever read about these in books". He loved it so much he fixed it for free. Haha.

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  2. Great job, love the loo roll holder.

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    1. A lucky find! It goes so perfectly, and there wasn't one up at all before. I just need to find some brass screws, but I was impatient so used what I had!

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  3. I love the vintage feel of it. Looks great. I love a good challenge and would love to do this. My guest bedroom desperately needs some TLC x

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    1. Thanks Carolin. You should apply - the link at the top, not sure if there's time, the closing date is 3rd June x

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  4. I adore that sink! What a great makeover

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    1. Thank you, me too! It should have the mop grill/drainer but it wasn't here when we arrived. I've been on the lookout for one...

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  5. Ohh you did so well Liz. Looking fab, Mich x

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    1. Thank you Mich. Never again will I tackle re-decorating with the Other Half is away though!

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  6. It looks brilliant! Well done! :)

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  7. ooh it is fab, well done you!

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    1. Thank you Cass and thank you for the tip off about the Room for Improvement challenge. Looking forward to seeing yours x

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  9. Fab makeover. The period fixtures really stand out now.

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    1. Thank you Fiona. Yep, it was pretty shameful that we were using the antique copper shower as a glorified hat stand!

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  10. It looks amazing! The sort of place I'd happily sit with a newspaper and have a big poo in comfort and style :)

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    1. Mwahaha! I suspect the OH will be disappearing for hours on end in here.

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  11. Crying at Mammasaurus's comment.

    Fantastic makeover, Liz. I love the colour, it's a great back drop for your bits and bobs

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    1. Thanks Sandy, you know when you have an idea in your head for ages of how a room to look, then finally you get round to doing it... that!

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  12. Love, love, love it! Great job! Just my cup of tea! xxx

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    1. Ooh thanks Emma, I hoped you might like the vintage stuff. x

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  13. Ooh, it looks fabulous! And how cool to have french doors in your downstairs loo! You've done a great job. I'm doing this challenge too and I've just been out to get the bits and pieces to get started.

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    1. Thanks Jean. It's a great challenge isn't it? A real kick start to projects that have been on the back burner. Can't wait to see yours.

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  14. It looks brilliant! I love it.

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  15. oooh it looks fantastic, well done you :-)

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    1. Thanks Emma, I'm pretty proud of myself :0)

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  16. What incredible features - those tiles! The vintage fittings! I'm gnawing my arm off in envy! It looks ace, you did a superb job x

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    1. Ha thanks Vicky! This was the room I bought the house for if I'm honest, then was filled with self loathing at how i'd let it become! So glad it's all done now :0)

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  17. Absolutely amazing. I am in awe :) and what a fab find (the loo roll holder) for £1. You have done a wonderful job on only £50.
    This lady deserves her own TV show, are you listening to me Channel 4?

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    1. Thank you Molly. x

      Why are you so keen to see me on the tellybox? I have a face for radio don't cha know.

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  18. That is amazing! Also amazing is the size of the room as our downstairs loo is the size of a changing cubicle! You have done really well though and it is amazing what you can get by shopping around

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    1. Thank you Nicola.

      Yes, I guess it's quite large for a downstairs loo, but it does have a lot of other jobs too. x

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  19. That looks great, well done on getting so much achieved with 50 quid! Mine will be up Sunday or Monday, can't wait to get it finished!

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    1. Thank you! Looking forward to seeing yours, I've really loved having a good nosey around people's houses - er I mean admiring their DIY skills!

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  20. Looks fab Lliz. You did a great job. I love all the fabulous finds and what a glorious view from the 'pot'.

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    1. Thank you Kelly. Tis rather a nice place to take a piddle now!

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  21. I really love this! What a fab job and great find with the loo roll holder!!

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    1. Thank you, glad the loo roll holder is finally in use!

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  22. OMG I LOVE your bathroom!!! So vintage looking - amazing - the room looks so much lighter - amazing transformation!x

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    1. Ahh thank you. I reckon just painting the ceiling white made a HUGE difference.

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  23. You have a lovely bathroom and did a great job :)

    I got invited to take park on Friday and forgot the kids were off school, it took us 3 trips out until I decieded what to do, I must have spent a loads on treats too ha :)

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    1. Oh thank you!

      I have to break my neck getting this done before we went on holiday or it wouldn't have been done before the closing date. Least it meant I got to do it on school days though!

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  24. oh Liz it looks sooooooo much better now. i love all the little period features and quirkyness and the colour looks nice brightens it up and gives it a clean look. i would like to come and have a pee just for a nosey x x

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  25. Love that paint colour - tempted to nick that idea for our downstairs loo too, especially as there is no window. Love the period touches too - that loo roll holder is fantastic.

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  26. Just beautiful! As is your blog makeover :)

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  27. Love it! You are just so stylish!

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  28. Professional ceiling painting services can provide an invaluable service for homeowners who want to update the look of their ceilings without having to break the bank.

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