Lockdown makeovers transformed our homes
After turning down expensive renovations, four women tell us how taking matters into their own hands not only saved them a fortune, but dramatically increased the value of their properties
Kim McFarlane, 31, has renovated a Victorian property in Glasgow. Papering her spare room with dalmatian spot wallpaper would have cost about £500. So she did it herself with a stencil that cost £24.99. At the start of lockdown I was looking to change my spare room and make it more fun. I liked dalmatian wallpaper but I couldn’t believe the price. All the ones I found were around £100 a roll.
I would have needed three or four rolls. And while I could have tried to hang it myself, I’ve never done wallpapering before. I have high ceilings, so if I was spending all that money on the paper I would have wanted someone to do it for me.
I was on furlough from my job at Cala Homes and doing a lot of DIY. Online I came across dalmatian spot stencils. So I bought one to see what it was like. I tried it first on a piece of paper. It looked great so I went ahead with the wall.
The wall was pale grey so I didn’t need to repaint it. I ended up using three colours – pink left over from my bedroom, black left over from another job and a green sample pot. The only other thing I had to buy was the flat-headed stencil brush.
It took a day and a half. Once I’d finished I put pictures up on my Instagram account, @the_ home_kim_ built. So many people shared it, I gained 5000 new followers overnight.
It’s such a cheap and efficient way to do up a room. I love it now, it’s such a wee fun space to work in.