When Shauna Hannah moved into her rental property the nicotine stains and general disrepair made it feel like something out of Rab C Nesbitt.
But with a bit of hard work, imagination and a few cunning tricks the student has managed to transform her new home into something worthy of Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen.
And, best of all, the remarkable property makeover came in under £300.
That was the very tight budget that Shauna, 22, from Port Glasgow, Inverclyde, and her fiancé, Stewart, had to upgrade the two-bedroom property.
Shauna did it by scavenging charity shops and clearance sections and refusing to be tied to a colour scheme. Naturally, the technical theatre student had to do the work herself but even when she needed help she turned to her gran.
The results speak for themselves. Shauna shared a comparison photograph of her bathroom in a DIY Budget group and won praise from hundreds of social media users.
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Budget bathroom for under £40
Shauna had the seemingly impossible sum of £40 left for the bathroom makeover, but still managed to transform the peeling walls with discount paint and give the room a streamlined feel with bargain bucket accessories.
Taking to Facebook, Shaun captioned the before and after pictures: “My fiancé and I recently moved into our first flat together. The tenants before us obviously smoked a lot and everything was nicotine-stained and the whole house needed repainted and refreshed, which I didn’t mind doing.
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“The room that has taken the longest and the last room to do was the bathroom, and with only £40 from our £300 (for the whole house) to spare for the bathroom I didn’t think we were going to manage it but I did and I am so excited!”
Over 1,300 social media users liked Shauna’s post, and many were in disbelief at her tight budget.
Providing a breakdown, Shauna added that she spent £10 on wallpaper, £1.50 on wallpaper paste and £7 for bathroom mats.
Spending only £3 on a toilet roll holder, £6 on towels and £2 for a toothbrush holder, Shauna managed to come in under budget at £38.50.
Social media users were quick to praise Shauna for her DIY skills.
Jude Iles said: “Wow! Well done, that looks amazing.”
Ceri Morgan added: “Well done. This is amazing you’ve every right to be proud of it.”
Joy McConnell Wilson commented: “Love it, you’re a great wee bargain-hunter.”
And that’s not all the thrifty Scot managed to achieve, re-carpeting her hallway and both bedrooms for £100.
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Decorating on a budget
The prudent student has plenty of top tips to keep interior design budgets at a minimum.
Shauna said: “I didn’t stick to a colour scheme at all, I basically went with whatever paint was on offer at the time.
“I only went into clearance sections and bought from there, don’t even look at the full price ones.
“I bought all my furniture from charity shops. People who don’t look for bargains are daft, there’s so much good stuff out there. I got my coffee table for £8. The most money I spent was on one thing was my living room rug, and that cost £50.”
And the Scot isn’t afraid of hard work, undertaking the whole project with zero experience. Shauna added: “I’ve never done anything like this in my life before.
“I did pretty much all of the work myself, all the painting and stripping the walls. It was hard work. My gran did help me with the bedroom though.”
