You don’t need to spend hundreds of pounds doing up your home - as one mum found out when transforming her kitchen.
Upcycling and repurposing items that you already own is one way of saving hundreds of pounds if you’re doing a spot of DIY.
Instead of spending £600 on a new kitchen island, Nikki Dixon decided to make her own from an old baby changing unit she snapped up on Facebook Marketplace for £20.
Nikki, 43, a mum-of-three and carer from Cardiff, managed to turn the changing unit into an exact match for her kitchen.
Her transformation cost her just £32.99.
Nikki told money-saving Facebook group DIY On A Budget UK : "I have three children who nickname me the DIY queen - they never know what they’ll be coming home to.
"I’m currently ripping out my chimney wall and rendering it to have a log stove installed. I’ll have a go at anything.
Have you transformed your home on the cheap and want to share your experience? Let us know: mirror.money.saving@mirror.co.uk
"I had been looking for a kitchen island for quite some time and they were expensive or too large for the space I had in my kitchen.
"I wanted more worktop space in my kitchen so I priced up kitchen islands from a few local shops and online and they were hundreds of pounds."
Nikki wanted to be able to move the island, so she went to The Range and picked up a pack of four swivel wheels for £6.99.
She then removed the original legs and drilled these to the base.
"I had recently used Ribbeck Oak Fablon to cover my kitchen worktops so I bought another roll of this from B&M for £6 and re-covered the top so it was an exact match," said Nikki.
"I painted the rest of the unit in brilliant white furniture paint that I had leftover from another project and changed the handles to match my kitchen cupboards.
"I transformed the unit for a total cost of £32.99. It was an absolute bargain, and took just two hours of my time."
Other DIY transformations we've reported on at The Mirror include a mum who spent just £100 doing up her kitchen.
Melissa Preston used budget paint and vinyl from B&Q to complete her makeover, and even made a breakfast bar from an old wardrobe.
The mum-of-two from Northampton says it would have cost £6,000 to have the room renovated professionally - so she decided to take the project on herself.
Another DIY fan, grandmother Carol Fortescue, managed to completely change the look of her kitchen for just £76 with B&Q paint.
