Homeowners don't always need to spend a fortune to completely transform their home. There are many ways that you can inject personality into your property without breaking the bank - including DIY, upcycling and shopping smart.
Karolina Pachniewicz, 43, and her partner David bought a four-bed house in Monton, Salford seven years ago, which she described as 'basic, boring and plain' when they moved in. After giving it a colourful lick of paint, and furnishing it with her own bohemian-style décor, the entire place now looks completely unrecognisable.
Karolina spoke to the Manchester Evening News as part of our Where I Live series - where each week we chat to a different homeowner about their buying and renovation journey whilst taking a look inside their home to see how they've made it their own.
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Karolina, who is originally from Poland, moved to the UK around 15 years ago for a 'better life'. She started off renting in Manchester city centre before meeting her partner and moving in with him.
The pair then bought their first house together in the village of Monton, a four-bed townhouse priced at £239,000.
"I moved over to Manchester for a better life like most people. I first lived in the city centre then when I met my partner I moved in with him. He had a bigger house but we wanted to downsize so we sold it and used the money to buy this one" Karolina, who is an interpreter, told the Manchester Evening News.
"Monton has become a very nice place, the area is really growing and it’s got lots of lovely, quirky cafes, bars and restaurants. We wanted to be here because there's lots to do and there's also some nice dog walks around Worsley Woods."
When Karolina and David moved into their home, she said it lacked personality and was very plain.
"It was very basic, boring and plain looking. Since then we have changed everything in it," Karolina said.
"After selling David's home, we still had money left over which helped us to do it up quite quickly."
The couple spent around £20,000 renovating and managed to transform the property over the course of a year.
"We changed all the floors, repainted the whole house, we replaced all three bathrooms and ripped out the whole kitchen to put a new one," Karolina said.
"We didn’t buy our furniture all at once; we have collected it over the years to make it more special."
Karolina says that what makes her home unique is the fact that the majority of her furniture has been bought second-hand from Facebook Marketplace which she has then gone on to upcycle.
"A lot of our furniture is from Facebook Marketplace. I knew it would be really costly if I bought it all brand new, and there are some great bargains on there," she said.
"I have upcycled all the furniture I've bought. I buy something and then I repaint it, put some new handles on it and things like that. My mum was very much into interior design and I have just got that from her, I’ve always been into it.
"I've also put my own stamp on it with the décor. Home Sense is my all time favourite shop and I've also got a lot of things from Wayfair as well. Shopping this way has helped me to keep costs down when renovating."
Karolina describes her interior style as bohemian and eclectic.
"I'd say it's a modern bohemian style. It's eclectic and quite artistic," she said.
"I had the most influence on the interior throughout the house, luckily David let me do whatever I wanted.
"I follow a few Instagram accounts that I love and look at them for inspiration daily as well as Pinterest."
Giving us a tour around her home, which has an upside-down style layout, Karolina described: "Downstairs there is a hallway with a bathroom on the left side as you come in and further down there is a bedroom on the right. Then you go through to the utility room which then leads out to the garden.
"You then go upstairs which leads straight into the living room which is a nice sized living room. Then you go upstairs again and to your right is the kitchen which has a little dining area. This is my favourite part of the house because I love to cook, so the kitchen is my little haven.
"Then you go upstairs again and there’s a smaller bedroom which we transformed into a dressing room and then there is a guest bedroom and next to that room is a little bathroom. And then there's the master bedroom with an en-suite bathroom."
Speaking about their plans for the future, Karolina said: "A neighbour with the same style house has just sold his for £325,000 recently so it’s gone up in value quite a bit round here now.
"David wants to live in a detached house but I really like it here because I love Monton and all the quirky shops and cafes, so I don’t really want to move. I'd like this to be our forever home."
Want to feature your home in Where I Live? If so, please email your details to phoebe.jobling@reachplc.com.
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