We turned our shabby garden into a chic paradise
Kirsty Swatman, 30, and partner Daniel, 38, from Ossett in West Yorkshire, were quoted £10,000 to make over their garden, so they decided to do it themselves We were both working from home during the pandemic and found we had much more time on our hands because we were no longer commuting. I had wanted to transform the garden just before lockdown but quotes came back in the region of £10,000.
It was way out of our budget, but we were desperate to do something as the garden was a complete mess.
We ripped out everything and started from scratch. My partner watched YouTube videos on how to build decking and put up fences, and then we set to work. It wasn’t easy because we were homeschooling our 10-year-old daughter Isobel.
We pulled up the decking and three fences, lifted up broken flagstones, dug out old tree stumps, removed a shed and even levelled the garden.
I shared our progress on my Instagram account @theonlywayisgrey and strangers started to message us for DIY advice. We also shopped around to save costs. The sofa was a gift from my mum for my birthday and plants were from B&M, Home Bargains and The Range.
The cost of materials was £1400. Our property was valued at £155,000 when we moved in, in April 2019, and now we’re told it’s worth £180,000.