Do the best you can with what you’ve got: Frugal DIY

I find myself saying this often when it comes to updating the house on a budget: do the best you can with what you’ve got. So, we are using what we have, upcycling, adding a coat of paint here and there, buying second-hand, etc. to make a home we love without spending too much money. There’s nothing like a bit of frugal DIY!

Fortunately, in this house, the plaster on the walls is in good condition and the woodwork is reasonable. You may remember in our last place, I was hiding the uneven walls using a sponge painting technique. None of that here. We can simply add paint to brighten things up.

I have focused my frugal DIY efforts on the kitchen and dining areas in the past few weeks and months. This project is almost done! I have a few bits and pieces to finish, and then I will start on the sitting room area.

Upcycling and adding storage

Much of our furniture is second-hand. I prefer buying second-hand when I can, as it saves money and is better for the environment. On top of that, I find I can afford better quality than I could if I was buying similar stuff new.

I have shown you before my upcycling of our old Welsh dresser a beautiful candy pink. Since then, I have finished two shelving units, both painted sage green.

I am pleased with how they turned out. We need this storage as the kitchen is quite small, but we have made a feature of them by using lots of glass jars to store dry goods.

Transforming our old sofa

We haven’t done any decorating in the lounge, as I said, but I did update one of the sofas with some stretch covers (these ones from Amazon*). I am amazed at how much better it looks! 

The sofa was purchased second hand from a charity shop a couple of years ago. It is a very well-made and comfortable G-Plan piece, but it was ugly and a bit grubby.

I think the covers make it look as good as new! With two cats and a dog, we didn’t want to buy a new one as it’s very dispiriting when you spend a lot of money on something and they scratch it or make it dirty.

Adding colour with curtains

It is rare for me to buy new curtains, as I find so many lovely ones preloved and very cheap! However, I searched for ages for two pairs to unify the windows in the dining room and lounge areas, without success.

I wanted a pink and green scheme and eventually found these curtains in Dunelm. They weren’t really cheap, but they didn’t cost a fortune either and will last many years.

I even splashed out on some cushions and I think they look great on the freshly-covered sofa.

New tiles

Our other big investment has been some tiles from Jes Rose Vinyl, which are on order. We lived with several samples for months before deciding on the design we wanted.

They are vinyl, stick-on tiles, which are easy to fit and hard-wearing. Again, not cheap-cheap, but much less hassle and cost than pulling off the old ones and starting again. These are the ones we have ordered.

Future plans for frugal DIY

All we have left to do is to paint the lounge and maybe invest in a new rug.  But I also intend to upcycle the chest that the TV sits on and our small coffee tables, which will be a longer term project.

In addition, I am planning to stencil some pink daisies above the back door as it looks rather plain. Justin doesn’t know about this extra splash of girlie creativity yet, so don’t tell!

So those are our frugal DIY efforts so far.  We do obviously spend when we feel we need to, but try to always get the best effect for our investment. What do you do to save money when updating your home?

For more ideas on frugal living, check out my book! Extreme Frugality: Save Money Like Your Grandma*.

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