A mum-of-two from County Durham has shared the secret to how she managed to achieve her dream bathroom refurbishment on a budget. Jade Simpson kept costs down by bagging freebies, being smart about where she shopped and not being scared to muck in and do some of the labour herself.
It's no secret that bathroom renovations are notoriously expensive. Depending on the level of work and finish, a high-quality bathroom refurb can set you back anywhere from £3,000 to £15,000.
However, the interior designer only ended up spending £3,500 for her dream refurb, crediting Facebook Marketplace with finding some real bargains. Speaking to money-saving Facebook group DIY On A Budget UK, the 34-year-old explained that while the bathroom initially appeared to be perfectly fine, she soon discovered that it was actually in a state or disrepair.
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She said: "The bathroom looked OK when I bought the house, but once we started using it the shower was an old electric one and hardly worked very well - we ended up showering at the gym most of the time!
"The taps didn’t work very well and were falling off and the toilet kept getting blocked. I found out from the plumber that the soil pipe wasn’t tilted enough so it kept flooding the backyard. So it had to be done, I didn’t really have much choice."
Luckily, she got a head start, as one of her clients had a hardly used bathroom suite that they gave Jade for free. Her next step was to scour Facebook Marketplace for bargains.
She continued: "I then found eight metres of the grey hexagon tiles for a bargain on Facebook Marketplace at £80 and the design started from there. The tiles would have been around £300 if bought from a tile shop.
"The black shower was £80 new from Marketplace, and would probably cost about £200 bought from a shop. As the bathroom was so big I wanted to create a stud wall so that the shower was separate."
She also used online second-hand marketplace eBay when looking for the key components to kit out her new bathroom. She added: "The shower door was £130 and the stone tray was £90, both new from eBay.
"I knew I wanted to keep a monochrome look as the shower tiles were quite busy so I went for the wood effect tile floor in different tones. I must admit I hated the floor at first but once the design was finished I love it all together now.
"I had an old scaffold board outside so I created a window sill and also a shelf. The shelf brackets were from IKEA for £5 each. The bath and sink taps were bright chrome so I sprayed them with a cast iron effect spray for £10. I also found a towel rail for £30 on Marketplace so I sprayed that too. I also sprayed the bath feet with the same can.
"Most of the money was spent on labour, with the plastering costing around £500, the tiling £500 and the plumbing a further £1,500. In addition, the wall and floor tiles cost Jade £180, the towel rail was £30 and the shelf brackets were £10.
“The panelling was free from a job where I had some left over, the waterproof paint was £15, the rug was £30 from ebay, the mirror was £60 from Next, the wall light was from B&Q for £30, I already had the plants, I had the blind leftover from a project too so it was free, and the bathroom sink, toilet and bath was free," she clarified.
"I’m used to doing these kinds of projects with work so I’m quite good at project management. I used and organised different trades myself to keep the cost down.
"Me and my friend took all the old bathroom suite out, took the flooring up and took all the tiles off the wall so it was ready for the first fix plumbing, then the stud wall was built and the whole bathroom plastered as it was a mess under the tiles.
"The tiler then came and tiled the shower and floor before the plumber came back in to do the second fix. It’s always stressful managing a project and it did take around four or five weeks so we were without a shower and sink for that long. The plumber kept the toilet in for us apart from a couple of days so that was good."
Jade says her project went smoothly, with everything going to plan as she is generally "very organised". She said: "I think it cost around £3.5k altogether, which I think is hardly anything as many of my friends have been quoted around £6k to £8k for new bathrooms and that’s standard.
"With the free bathroom suite I probably saved about £1,000 and then all the little savings of individual items maybe another £1,000. I wouldn’t have been able to afford a new bathroom if I didn’t make those savings and find those bargains I did."
As for her biggest piece of advice to anyone hoping to refurb their bathroom without breaking the bank, Jade concluded: "My main tip is to definitely use Facebook Marketplace, the bargains are amazing. It’s made such a difference and even the kids love the new shower and being able to have a nice bath!”
Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, comments: “Jade has made some really fantastic savings here by making the most of online selling sites and her work connections.
“Even if you’re not an interior designer, it’s still relatively easy to bag home essentials for free - check Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree and Freecycle to find loads of items going for free as long as you can pick them up quickly!”
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