I transformed my rundown dining area into a stylish Victorian-inspired room - with a budget of just £100
- Gabi Welsh, 42, Somerset, made over her 'run down' room with a low budget
- READ MORE: I'm an interior design expert and these are the 8 mistakes you're making with your living room décor
A mother-of-two has revealed how she transformed a drab dining area into a stunning Victorian-style space - spending less than £100 in the process.
Gabi Welsh, 42, from Somerset who is a support worker with two children aged 11 and 12, says her dining room was looking 'run down', and the pink walls had marks on them.
She wanted to update the area and used the internet to get inspiration for some money saving ideas.
'I got inspired to transform the space after browsing Facebook DIY groups online," Gabi told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk.
'The design inspiration came from Victorian houses and I decided to use a dark colour palette with shades of grey and blue, complemented by a wooden bench as a seating area.
BEFORE: According to Gabi, her dining room was looking 'run down' before the makeover, prompting her to take action
'I also wanted to add more texture to the room which is why I added coving to the tops of the walls and added panels to one of the walls using MDF.'
According to Gabi, she bought most of her supplies from B&Q and Home Bargains.
She said: 'The pack of coving was £30, and the MDF board was £23. Cutting the board into strips was an additional £10 and this is a service they do for you in B&Q.
'I got decorative pine beading for £21 and two bags of multi-finish plaster for just £10 - they were discounted because the bags were ripped!
'I picked up No Nails glue for £8 in total and decorating chalk for £1.50. I didn’t need to get any paint because I recycled and mixed what I already had in my home. 2.5l of paint in a similar colour from Wilko would have cost me £26.'
When it came to doing the DIY work, Gabi first had to strip the existing wallpaper.
'This was the biggest challenge - there were four layers of paper and the task required an entire day of scraping,' she said.
'Once the walls were clean I skimmed them, and once they were dry I fitted the coving to the ceiling.
AFTER: Gabi spent just £100 overhauling the room, by doing the work - including plastering - by herself
'This took time, as I had to measure carefully, and cut the coving to exactly the right side.'
Next, she worked on the panelling, fitting the MDF panels to the wall and pinning them in place to allow the glue to dry.
Gabi said: 'The panels I used were 120 x 7cm and one 6mm sheet from B&Q covered all of the walls.
'I found that B&Q was the cheapest option to buy the panels - from one 240 x 120cm sheet we had about 33 panels, and I used nearly all of them.
'I left between 38cm and 40cm between each panel.
Mother-of-two Gabi (pictured) managed to save a fortune on the work, by researching the best way to do everything, and taking it slowly and carefully
'I filled in the gaps on the panelling with decorating chalk, then left it to dry for 24 hours.
'After this timeframe, the panelling was ready for its primer coat and the walls could have a mist coat applied.
‘At the end, I painted it all with two coats of chalk paint. I recycled two different paints to get the dark grey colour.
'The project was then done and I’m very happy with the finished result.'
According to Gabi, she did the work 'took everything slowly as [she] am not a professional'.
DIY: Gabi describes the room makeover as a 'nice little project', and says that anyone who is a little handy would be able to take it on
The biggest saving Gabi made was by doing the plastering herself instead of hiring someone to do it, which she says would have cost around £800
However, she does have one skill that allowed her to save a significant amount of money.
'I am taking a plastering course and so my work on the walls saved me around £800,' Gabi explained.
'The course itself is challenging, but for this project, I didn’t need to use any tips or hacks. It was a very easy project and I believe it could be a nice little project for anyone who is a little handy.'
Speaking about the transformations, Tom Church, co-founder of Latest Deals said: 'Gabi has completely transformed her space for a surprisingly low price!
'It's impressive that she has managed to make the room look so different with just a few cheap supplies from B&Q.'
Most watched News videos
- Scottish woman has temper tantrum at Nashville airport
- Tesla Cybertruck explodes in front of Trump hotel in Las Vegas
- Mass panic as New Orleans attacker flies down Bourbon street
- Shocking moment zookeeper is fatally mauled by lions in private zoo
- Horrific video shows aftermath of New Orleans truck 'attack'
- Meghan Markle celebrates new year in first Instagram video
- Tesla Cybertruck burns outside Trump hotel in Las Vegas
- See how truck that drove into crowd made it through police barrier
- Cheerful Melania Trump bops to YMCA at Mar-a-Lago NYE bash
- New Orleans terror attack suspect reveals background in video
- Plane passenger throws drink at flight attendant in boozy fight
- Horrifying moment yacht crashes into rocks and sinks off Mexico coast
