A MUM has spent £10k transforming her “tired” garden into an outdoor paradise fit with a hot tub, fire pit and cosy lounge area.
Lydia Elder, 31, wanted to relive her childhood growing up in Singapore and spent thousands of pounds having the backyard of her Kent home done up.
Lydia, who lives with husband Peter, 30, and two kids Teddy, five, and Arlo, three, renovated their new build by adding paving, stepping stones, a roofed deck area and artificial grass.
For that extra touch of luxury, a stunning patio set, hot tub, fire pit, barbecue, gas fire table, playhouse and lounge area were installed.
Lydia, who is a social media influencer, said: “Since moving into this house, there was so much scope for what we could do because it was a new build so it was just a white box.
“I knew from the start that we would have to save up to do a big landscaping project; I grew up in Singapore and there is a big outdoor living lifestyle there.
“We wanted to make an outdoor space we could sit in, eat out in and somewhere that would be flexible so we could sit out in any weather.
“I wanted it to be an extension of the house; we had to save up for a year.”
The ambitious mum-of-two said she scored some of her furniture using Facebook marketplace and made her own bench out of free wooden pallets people were giving away.
She added: “The garden is really versatile so we can switch it up throughout the year; one month we could have a hot tub and the next we’ll have a playhouse for the kids to play in.
“There’s also room on the grass for a paddling pool and it’s just a really flexible place.
“Since lockdown, the space has been even more important to us because we’ve been working from home and the kids have been at home so we are so glad we had it done in time”.
Lydia has an Instagram account where she shares home buying and project tips to her 99,000 followers.
She said: “I started the Instagram account before we moved in because I wanted to stalk other David Wilson homes.
“I wanted to get inspiration from other people but once we moved in and started decorating, I wanted to document the progress.
“People enjoy seeing the DIY I do because it helps them to realise that they can do a lot of things themselves.
“This year, I really saw it take off because everyone has been at home so have had more time to decorate and up-cycle different things around the house.”
