A woman has converted a dusty, old caravan into a glamorous nail studio using DIY skills she taught herself from TikTok and YouTube. Nyasha Maponga, from Leeds, purchased a second-hand caravan off Facebook Marketplace for £400 and paid £50 to get it towed to her family home.
The 23-year-old wanted somewhere she could work that wouldn't cost her a fortune, as salon rates are expensive a summerhouse was out of her budget. Nyasha told the Mirror: "A lot of my friends in the industry have summerhouses, so I got quoted for one - but the cheapest was £8,000 and I could not afford that."
Nyasha, who has been a nail technician since November 2021, said: "It was a trial and error process. It was a lot of improvisation and learning from TikTok.
"It cost me £280 to change the fence to a double gate so I could fit the caravan in the back garden. Then I had to level the ground first and rip everything out."
In total, the renovation cost Nyasha £2,550, which saved her around £5,450 in comparison to building an outhouse in the garden.
Nyasha lives with her mum and brother and said the most expensive part was buying all the tools from B&Q, as they didn't have any at home.
"It cost £445 for panelling, work tools, wood filler, primers, paint and a heater. The panelling was much more expensive than I thought at £97."
Nyasha, who runs Ny's Nail Room, bought light grey vinyl flooring for £178 and paid £80 to get it fitted, then spent £119 on a small fridge.
"I wanted it to be as bright as possible so the room looked bigger," she said, so she painted the walls white and bought translucent curtains.
Nyasha bought the sink and tap from Facebook Marketplace for £65 and paid £80 to get the counters fitted - then the kitchen was complete.
"My uncle was visiting from South Africa so he helped me with some bits like the electrics and panelling," Nyasha said.
She bought most of the interiors from IKEA and Homesense - which cost around £420 - and spent £90 on new cleaning supplies and bits for tea and coffee from B&M and The Range.
"It took six weeks in total which felt so long, but in the grand scheme of things was very quick. I was still working full-time," Nyasha said.
To add the finishing touches, Nyasha decorated with a green plants, pampas grass, small vases and miniature woven baskets.
"I've had clients in the for the last two weeks and they love it as much as I do. They feel much more comfortable and like the 1-1 vibe," Nyasha said.
"It makes me so much happier and I can tow the caravan with me whenever I move. I get to keep my workspace separate from my house but also work from home."
Amid the cost of living crisis, Nyasha has found ways to save herself money on bills, like purchasing as many things as possible that are battery operated.
"My nail drill is chargeable and only needs to be charged once a week. During the day, I don't put the ceiling light on and just use a lamp or overhead light," she said.
"It attracts a lot of light space so I don't end up turning the main lights on until 5pm.
"At the moment I've got a portable eco-friendly heater that only needs to be on for 15 minutes to heat the space."
Sharing her advice for any other avid DIYers, Nyasha added: "Things that look doable are probably doable - just YouTube or TikTok it and have confidence in yourself."
Have you got a DIY transformation to share? Email nia.dalton@reachplc.com.
