Thrifty DIY mum saves £6,000 on gorgeous £182 kitchen makeover

An eagle-eyed DIY fan has created a stunning kitchen for just £182 – saving £6,000 on the average budget refurbishment – by scooping up pound shop bargains, repainting and upcycling.

Occupation data manager Louise Honeyman, 42, has made her £140,000 three bedroomed detached house into a 'little palace' on a shoestring, with incredible home improvements. Honeyman bought the Swansea home with project manager husband Nick, 42, back in 2013.

Inheriting a talent for home improvements from her late dad, Kevin, she caught the DIY bug early after watching him transform the family home and even go to woodworking classes to learn to make furniture.

Read more: In the black: This woman transformed her boring kitchen for just £60

While Louise, who has twin daughters, has given the whole house a facelift, she says it is the kitchen she's most proud of, explaining: “I’ve completed the whole room for £200.

“That included the floor tiles, paint for the cupboards, vinyl for the worktops. The only thing we bought new was a sink for £70. Everything else I’ve upcycled or improved.”

She added: “My dad was very handy, so I used to watch him around the house and I guess it must run in the family.”

With the average budget kitchen refurbishment in the UK in 2022 costing £6,200, according to Checkatrade.com, Louise’s big ideas came in at a fraction of the price.

She spent just £12 on nine packets of wall tiles from Poundland, £28 on 14 packs of floor tiles from Home Bargains, £9 for a roll of vinyl for the worktops from Wilkinson’s, £40 for paint – which included a couple of tester pots – £70 on a new sink, £20 on a tap and £3 on a grout pen.

Using her DIY skills, she then replaced the old marble worktops and the worn-out floor with enviable expertise.

There is one particular item in the house that holds a special place in Louise’s heart – her pink dresser in her kitchen.

“This dresser belonged to my late grandmother Margaret and was made by my dad when I was a child, so it means an awful lot to me," she said.

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“Originally it was a dated orange pine colour with old-fashioned handles, so I did worry that painting it might ruin it.

"But I’m pretty sure that my dad and my gran would prefer for it to be given a new lease of life, rather than have it sitting there unloved because the colour did not match the rest of the house.”

And she didn't stop at the kitchen. Other items that came under her Midas touch include a headboard she made for the spare bedroom for just £15.45, using four packs of £1.29 canes from Home Bargains, a 50-metre roll of raffia for £4.39 and three metres of conduit – a bendy plastic tubing which has a similar effect to a concertina -for £5.90 from eBay.

If she'd bought it new in a boutique furniture shop, she estimates the board would cost £200.

But Louise only ever uses designs she has seen as a starting point for her creations.

"I let things evolve organically," she said.

“I’ll start off with a small idea from looking at Instagram and what we have in the house, but I never really stick to it rigidly.

“It kind of grows as I move along and that is what makes the process so enjoyable.” She added: “The kitchen was in such a sorry state to start with that I just wanted to make it look presentable.

“I’m really pleased with how it turned out.”

While Louise has a magpie-like ability to find treasure in second hand shops, she likes to mix old and new items.

“Not all my stuff is vintage and I don’t buy everything new either,” she said. “I think mixing it up a bit means that you end up with something that’s completely unique.”

One of her favourite cut-price finds is a giant ceramic leopard which she bagged in a charity shop for £100, but can retail for upwards of £400.

Read more: Thrifty mum reveals food shopping hacks that saved her more than £1k

She said: “I was driving past, saw it in the window and immediately stopped and went and bought it. "It’s from the 1980s."

The leopard, named ‘Teefies’ by Louise’s twin daughters, Lily and Jess, 12, sits in his favourite spot – at the side of the sofa in the living room.

Big fans of their mum’s interior style, both girls have benefited from her talent.

Louise said: “I gave Lily’s bedroom a makeover. She has a 90s/Y2K style room. Think pastels, cow print, a photo collage wall.”

“Lily also has some of my old stuff in there from the 90s/00s – my old lava lamp, fibre optic lamp and fluffy cushions," she added.

“We did the wood panelling behind the beds for about £60 from B&Q. There’s a chest of drawers at the side of the bed which I got free from Facebook marketplace.

“The wardrobe in there was from an auction and then the rest of the furniture we’ve kind of just pinched from other rooms in the house.”

Meanwhile, Jess is currently having her pink and grey room completely transformed.

“The current colour scheme isn’t her at all,” said Louise. “We’re in the process of adding some black and just changing the whole dynamic of the room to more of a Goth-style look.”

Time and effort, rather than money, should be the main investment if you're looking to spruce up your home, according to Louise.

“For bargains, I’m always looking in charity shops and eBay can be a great place to look, too," she said. "You just need to think a little bit differently. You don’t have to go to the high street all the time.

“You can get ideas and just come up with something similar that you can achieve on a lower budget.

“It’s just about being creative and slightly clever with what you’re using.”

Additional reporting, PA