Money Supermarket recently set some bloggers a challenge to improve a part of their home with a budget of £50. With money becoming tighter for most, being thrifty with your money is always handy, especially when it comes to home improvements.
I am the worst when it comes to starting projects and never finishing them. The amount of crafty things I attempt and then realise that I'm rubbish at it is ridiculous so I wanted to do something that meant I could prove to myself and everyone else that I was capable of finishing a project!
We live in a rented property so didn't really want to do anything too invasive to the structure/walls. Our living room is a tiny room that we eat, play and study in so we wanted to make this more liveable. Here are some before pictures:
As you can see, the place is tiny and cramped and doesn't leave much to the imagination. We knew that we wanted to have a proper place for Max's toys to go so we found a toy storage unit in Argos (£20). Whilst all his toys are on show it means that we can keep an eye on how much stuff he has out and also he can help us tidy away at the end of the day.
Our sofa looks a bit worse for wear with dodgy cushions and things strewn all over it so we pulled it apart and evened out the padding in the seats then found some gorgeous duck egg blue cushions (£6) and a chocolate brown throw (£11). I also moved the brown box next to the sofa to use as a storage unit/side table.
I took Max's table and bought some red (his colour choice) spotted material (£3 per metre - 1 metre bought). It's the oilcloth style so it can be wiped down. I stuck it to his table and chairs with spray adhesive (£3) so that they looked a tad more colourful and neater. The plain white looked tired and dirty whereas this makes it fun for him to eat dinner.
I stuck up some book related postcards I got from work (£2) on the wall near his table so that he can sit on his armchair and read a book. I stuck this on using washi tape (£1), it looks a bit messy so I will probably stick it down in a neater way in the future.
I found a wicker basket in a charity shop (£1.50) which we can put magazines, remotes and anything else in there.
And finally I used an old jam jar, used the washi tape from earlier and some scrap wallpaper to create a pencil pot for Max's pencils. I also bought some carpet gripping tape for the rugs so they would stay still (£1)
I really feel like even though I didn't do anything invasive to the property I did manage to give the room a complete overhaul to make it look nicer and feel more homely for our uses. Max and Scott are chuffed and I'm proud of what I've managed to do in such a small space!
Overall I spent:
£48.50 exactly. Well about £48.41 when I considered that most things were rounded up to the pound from a .99p! It made the maths a lot easier.
Thank you Money Supermarket for hosting this challenge I think we can give thumbs up all round! I definitely now know that I can stretch a budget and finish a project!
What a really great job you did. I really like the difference that the spotty material made to the table and chairs.
ReplyDeleteYou've done such a good job Laura, Max's table looks so lovely :)
ReplyDeleteRosie x | Every Word Handwritten
Well done, all under budget with £1.50 to spare! (well, £1.59...) - we have done part one (visited Ikea), just need to find a spare moment to do part two (actually do the home improvements!)
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