A mum said she has saved a couple thousand pounds by upcyling furniture instead of buying new.
Karen Cook began learning DIY when she was growing up and these days uses her skills to save money on home improvements.
The mum-of-three from Teddington, in south-west London, bought the house of her dreams - a six-bedroom detached house - four years ago.
Since then, the 41-year-old and her husband Stuart, 45, have been working their way round each room and fixing it up to suit their style.
Karen said that her DIY skills have saved her lots of money over the years.
"Most of the furniture we have is second-hand or upcycled, so I've saved at least £2000 over the last few years," she said.
"I'm always finding things to upcycle or tweak in our home so every month or so there is a new project underway.
"For example, I love how my painted gin cabinet turned out.
"This was a charity shop buy and was originally very brown with badly chipped veneer. I added racks to hang gin glasses and then painted in bright contrasting colours.
"Overall it only cost £45. To buy something new like this would cost £300 upwards. The great thing about painting furniture is that they're relatively quick transformations and can be done in a few hours.
"I've also taken on a few Ikea hacks where I've given Ikea items a complete upstyle."
Karen explained how she came across her ideal family home while living nearby in a period house which had been done up by a developer and totally lacked character.
"We lived a few roads away and always loved this house," said Karen.
"When it was listed for sale in January 2018 we quickly put our existing home on the market and luckily we managed to buy it. It's a labour of love and we're working our way round room by room.
"It was a crazy period of our lives juggling three children - Emilie (8), Sam (5) and Seb (5), and taking on a big project.
"This will hopefully be our forever home so we're able to put our stamp on it and not worry too much about the impact on the resale value."
Since learning basic DIY as a child, Karen says that she has built up her skills through styling her home.
"My Dad was a serial DIY'er so I was always helping him from a young age," said Karen.
"As a teenager I was wallpapering and building flat packs. My painting skills have really improved.
"For furniture I always recommend using a mini foam roller which helps give a professional finish.
"I've also got comfortable using a drill and am pretty handy with a staple gun.
"My husband hates DIY with a passion so I do it all. The kids love to lend hand with the painting though.
"We've done some fairly major work, new bathrooms, windows and converted the garage to a summer house. We get the professionals in for the big jobs but I will take on the bits I can like painting.
"We're currently having a new roof and doing a loft conversion so I'm busy planning the decor for two bedrooms and a new bathroom."
Karen decided to share her upcycling tips and projects on her Instagram, @upstyleyourhome.
"I've had my Instagram account for a couple of years," said Karen.
"When I first started I was a stay at home Mum to preschool aged twins and wanted a bit of a creative outlet.
"When most of your day is spent cleaning, feeding etc it feels great to do something a bit different.
"Generally everyone is really positive. The interiors community is very supportive and I've had some lovely comments.
"I don't ever promote myself as a professional though!"
