WHEN she first moved into a three-bedroom council house with her family, Sarah O’Brien was in tears every day over the state of the property.
With walls covered in old-fashioned woodchip paper, thinning carpets on their last legs and ageing cabinets in the kitchen, it was not the fresh start she was hoping for.
The 35-year-old lives near Chester, Cheshire, with husband Adam, 35, a prison officer, her daughter Lilly, 14, from a previous relationship, and the couple’s youngest daughter Honey, five.
They moved to the rented property in November 2016 and a year later, the part-time cleaner and education student took matters into her own hands.
She says: “The house was grim and got me down big time. I hated it.
“For two years, I was in tears every day over it. One day, I grabbed a wallpaper stripper and started taking the woodchip off the walls.
“Adam and I ended up stripping every single wall. It was horrendous afterwards. We had to get it all replastered, which was a long process.” The couple, who have been together for eight years and have a combined income of £34,000, began slowly renovating their council home on a budget in 2018.
Cutting back on luxuries like meals out and holidays abroad freed up £1,000 a year to spend on improving their home.
Sarah and Adam started with a lick of paint, using a 20-litre tub of white emulsion costing £20 from Asda.
They got a carpet fitter in and paid £500 for the whole upstairs and staircase, which included his labour and the carpet. Sarah says: “Before, I was embarrassed about the state of our home.
“We’d only done the bare minimum we could afford, which wasn’t a lot as we were saving for a wedding and Honey was in nursery, which was so expensive.
“I’m so happy with how the place looks now.
“Anyone can do it all on a budget, as long as you take your time.”
ADAM transformed the family garden by repurposing a Wendy house for the girls.
They also got decking and a pergola built during lockdown, after a holiday abroad got cancelled due to Covid. It cost £1,000 and came from money Sarah had when her nan died.
Sarah says: “Adam built the girls’ Wendy house from an old slide. He took the legs off it. All we bought was the pink paint from Johnstone’s and daisies from
Amazon. It cost less than £10.”
THEY updated tired kitchen cupboards with Rust-Oleum furniture paint from B&Q costing £15 and covered the worktops with vinyl wrap from B&Q at £10 per roll.
They added plants from Ikea costing £6 and a bargain print over the oven from a small business on Instagram for £3.
Sarah says: “During lockdown we updated the kitchen, spending £200. Two years later, it still looks great. You might think it would need redoing where we did it on the cheap, but it really doesn’t.”
SARAH spruced up the bedrooms with a lick of paint, adding fairy lights from Amazon costing £11, Desenio prints costing £9.95 a pop and £8 cushions from B&M in the master bedroom.
She says: “We went for the cheapest white paint we could get, at £20 for a 20-litre tin.
“We have a basic Ikea bed. Ours is the Hemnes frame costing £229.
“I love the lights behind our bed, they’re one of my favourite parts of the house.
OVERHAULING the living room was one of the family’s top priorities.
Sarah bought £7.99 mirrors from Home Bargains, a plant from Asda for £8, got a rug gifted from Online Home Shop on Instagram and bought a £90 Next lamp.
She says: “I would never usually pay that but splurged because we had £100 of Next vouchers as a wedding gift.
“The sofa is second- hand. My sister saw it on Facebook Marketplace and I got it for £200.”
SARAH and Adam paid £50 for stick-on tiles from Dunelm, bought a £35 wooden cabinet from B&M to go under the sink, and added finishing touches, like a Get Naked bath mat from B&M for £6.99, and a fern from B&M for £10.
Sarah says: “The difference is amazing. We couldn’t afford proper tiles but that doesn’t mean you have to live in a home you’re not happy with. The accessories complete the look. Everything I get is cheap but you can style it to look nice.”
IN the girls’ rooms, Sarah created feature walls using I Love Wallpaper designs at £22 per roll.
She says: “Lilly wanted a double bed but her room’s too small, so we got her a small double costing £189 from Dunelm. Honey’s bed is Lilly’s old one.
“The girls haven’t got space for wardrobes, so they’ve got cabinets that came free from their nana who passed away. They also have Kallax storage boxes from Ikea, which cost just £3.”
