A mum has created a media wall in her home - after getting a huge quote to have the work done professionally. Carly Elwick, 36 who comes from Newport, South Wales also saved a lot of money on a new fireplace with her plan.
The mother of three said her living room had been looking very tired with two toddlers causing all kinds of wear and tear. She decided to create a ‘tv wall’ and also keep a lot of storage space and went to get a quote for the work.
However, she felt the £2,500 which was being asked was too much and decided to try to do it herself. Carly, who has 3 children aged 19, 10 and 8 said: “I have quite a good-sized living room, but it previously had no focal poi
‘The existing furniture we had had seen better days after seeing life with 2 toddlers. We had renovated the rest of the house so the living room was the last inside job to really put our stamp on the house. I had seen people on Instagram do these chimney TV walls and I wanted something similar, but I also previously had 2 IKEA units in the room and I didn’t want to lose that storage.“
She had spotted the built-in storage she wanted on instagram but then she received the quote and explained: “We were given a quote of £2,500 to have the work done. I sensed we would be able to do it more cheaply ourselves, even if it might take us longer. So we decided to go DIY instead and the first step was gathering supplies.”
Carly bought supplies from Howdens and a local handyman store and also got th Dimplex fire from Costco. She said: “It was so much cheaper than B&Q for the same one - about £300 cheaper actually!
“‘The tiles came from B&Q and the bricks behind the fire are actually polystyrene panels with a brick-like coating. They were so much cheaper than actual Brick Slips, but you really can’t tell they’re anything different unless you go really close. They were so easy to install too. All in all, the cost of the materials was around £900.”
She said that the work was helped by a friend who was able to plaster, and the main issues were disagreements with her husband - and also managing the time while working full time. Carly explained: ‘There were plenty of challenges along the way. The main ones being I’m always right and my husband doesn’t listen! Time is also a huge issue as we both work full time so it did take us a lot longer than it would have if we’d hired a professional.
“I don’t think there is anything we would change about this project, apart from having a real log-burning fire put in rather than an electric one. We just didn’t have the budget for that, unfortunately.”
Altogether the cost of this project came to £1550 including all materials, having the electrics and the plastering done by professionals, and having 2 new doors fitted, saving £1,000.
Tom Church, Co-Founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, said: “Carly’s DIY media wall is a perfect example of how you can transform a room on a budget while still achieving a stunning result. By taking matters into their own hands, Carly and her family not only saved a significant amount of money but also created a personalized focal point for their living room.”
