A mum-of-two has shared how she transformed her friend’s tired looking balcony into a cosy haven for just £75.
Rebecca Capewell, 35, from Birmingham, completed the bargain transformation by shopping at budget retailers B&M and Poundland to furnish the area.
Originally covered in dirt and surrounded by metal caging, the balcony wasn’t up to scratch to enjoy summer evenings.
However, thanks to Rebecca’s DIY success, the outdoor space is now popping with colour and warm lights, making it the perfect relaxation spot – and it only took five hours.
Having been decorating her own home for the last year, bargain hunter Rebecca says the trick to saving so much money is all about waiting for discounts.
“My method is to wait until the items go on sale and also buying the majority of the items from B&M as their costs are already quite low,” Rebecca told NeedToKnow.online.
“I have been renovating my own house for around a year never completing any DIY prior.
“My friend who often visits my house and sees my projects asked me to do her balcony because she likes my interior design.
“She was originally going to pay for the balcony and had a £300 budget in mind, but I made a suggestion to wait until July and that way I could do it for her birthday.
“At this point I already knew all the garden outlets would be on sale in July and it will be worth the wait.”
When July came, Rebecca took to the shops to bag her reduced items spending just £75, saving her a huge £225 from the £300 budget.
In total it took Rebecca only five hours to transform the balcony, leaving friend Carol in “absolute shock”.
She said: “My friend was at work while I completed the balcony.
“She obviously knew what the balcony looked like prior to the makeover so when I completed it, I sent her pictures and she was in absolute shock as she had no idea what to expect.
“In the end it took me around five hours to complete the balcony and I did it all with my two-year-old with me.”
In B&M, the mum-of-two spent just over £35 on discounted products, such as lights, rugs and bunting.
Paints and outdoor plants were purchased at Homebase for a total of £12.76.
Other items such as wooden floor tiles were also bought at for a reduced price at Rebecca’s local stores.
Most impressively, the bargain hunter took to Facebook market and managed to bag a patio set for free – although it did need a little bit of TLC.
Rebecca said: “All major home and garden outlets release their garden range from May but then the same items go on sale in June and July with as much as 70% off some items.
“Homebase is always great for plants – they often mark the items that need a bit of TLC on the sale, the worst they look the cheaper they are.
“But the wonderful thing about these plants is that they come back every single year so planting them now means they will bloom amazingly the next year.
“Never be afraid when you see an item that is damaged or in need of a simple repair and TLC, just ask if it can be discounted and complete it yourself.
“Also look on Facebook marketplace for second-hand garden furniture that may just need a lick of paint or some TLC.”
Since sharing pictures of the remarkable makeover on Facebook, Rebecca’s post has had over 9,000 likes and 600 comments.
One user commented: “What a beautiful space ……now that’s deffo a gin palace … well done.” [sic]
“Wow, what a transformation – so much better and inviting,” another said.
Someone else wrote “Looks much bigger as well love this enjoy the summer and a few wines there.”
“You’ve just added another ‘room’ to their house, great job, looks so cozy and so much bigger,” said another.
Another person said: “Absolutely gorgeous!!! Suprising what you can achieve, well done.” [sic]
Rebecca added: “I shared the post at about 11 at night and went to bed, when I woke up the next day, I had all these notifications on my phone and saw that thousands of people liked the balcony and saw hundreds of comments.
“I was so shocked. I thought it looked nice and thought a few people would probably agree but I never imagined that 9,800 would.
“What makes me especially happy is when I see that somebody has tagged somebody else in the post and says ‘we should do this for our balcony’.
“It’s also great when people ask me where to get the sale items from so they can buy them themselves.”
COST BREAKDOWN:
Chairs and table – free from Facebook market place
Self-adhesive floor tiles – Poundland (£4 each – £8.00 total)
Wooden floor tiles – local carpet store (sale £3)
Rug – B&M (sale £8)
Lights – B&M (sale £12)
Stones – B&M (sale £1.99)
Plants -Homebase (sale £1.69 each – £6.76 total)
Candle – B&M (sale £4)
Bunting – B&M (sale £1 each – £2 total)
Floor Planters – Homebase (sale £8)
Eye decor – B&M (sale £3)
String candle holder – B&M (sale £6)
Cushions – Unknown (sale £3 each – £6.00 total)
Masonry white paint – Homebase (£6)
Total: £74.75
