When Elizabeth Young, 50, and husband Gary, 46, moved into their first home together in the first week of lockdown, they knew it needed renovations.
But after working out it would cost around £20,000 to buy everything new and have it installed professionally, they started looking for some second-hand bargains.
Thanks to their savvvy saving, they ended up paying £10,000 for the transformation – half the original quote.
The three-bedroom council house in Jedburgh, Scotland has now been changed beyond recognition.
‘An old couple lived in the home before us and every room needed updating when we moved in,’ Elizabeth said.
‘We didn’t have a lot of money so we decided to try and do everything ourselves using second-hand furniture.’
Starting with the bedroom, they stripped the walls and plastered them, before glossing the skirting board and doors.
They then wallpapered the entire room and bought a second-hand desk for just £20 from Facebook Marketplace – which they then sanded and painted.
The couple stayed in their spare bedroom while the work was being carried out and once it was completed, moved on to decorating their hallway.
Elizabeth said: ‘The hallway was dark with wood chips on the walls and the stairs weren’t opened up, so my husband ripped them all open and bought spindles from eBay so it would be lighter.
‘We then stripped the walls, plastered them, and glossed them before wallpapering and building cupboards under the stairs.’
Next up was the dressing room, which was covered in woodchip walls. They ripped it down and replaced it with elephant wallpaper.
Elizabeth also bought a second-hand dressing table from Gumtree and a sofa bed from Facebook Marketplace – finally adding the finishing touches to the room with lights and a mirror from IKEA.
With the bedrooms started, they moved onto the living room, stripping down the walls, plastering them and wallpapering these before furnishing the room with more second-hand goods found online, as well as upcycling some pieces.
Elizabeth said: ‘The furniture in the living room before was all a horrible orange pine so I upcycled the second-hand furniture by painting them.
‘We also used what money we had leftover for a log burner as my husband had always wanted one, so we had to get that installed.’
Finally, the couple turned their attention to the spare room and kitchen.
Elizabeth said: ‘In the spare room, the old fireplace was blocked off so we knocked through that and I managed to buy an old Victorian fireplace from Gumtree for £60.
‘In the kitchen, we knocked through three cupboards and removed the door that was previously there to make it all open plan.
‘Then my husband and father-in-law built cupboard carcasses and fitted in a cooker and extractor which I bought second-hand for less than £150.
‘We also ordered kitchen worktops and new doors as we couldn’t afford an entirely new kitchen, and put in plate racks and even a wine rack.
‘The kitchen was definitely the most expensive part, but it was worth it.’
It took just a year to complete the renovations, doing most of the work themselves mainly during evenings and weekends on the project between his full-time job in forestry.
Elizabeth said: ‘It looks so much bigger and we can now sit in the kitchen for meals.
‘We love our first home together, it’s not to everyone’s taste but we love it and that’s all that matters.’
After Elizabeth shared pictures on social media, they were inundated with comments praising their work.
One person wrote: ‘How amazing your new kitchen looks, I love it! You must be super proud.”
‘Kitchen goals right there. My fiancé and I plan to make ours too,’ another Facebook user added.
And another person added: ‘Wow stunning, I love every bit of it. What a transformation, that would have cost a fortune.’
‘This is stunning… looks a million dollars,’ another person said.
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