£350 spent on bathroom led to £40k profit
Hayley Rubery, 30, from Hertfordshire, lives with her partner Ben. When she moved into her house in January 2019, she embarked on a mission to modernise the bathroom We’d been saving up to have the bathroom professionally redecorated and managed to get together £4000 but the pandemic threw a spanner in the works.
We didn’t want to risk using the money we had saved in case we lost our jobs or got sick. And as we wanted to sell the property soon, it seemed silly to get an expensive decorator.
I set myself a budget of £350 and did the bathroom last March when lockdown started. The main cost was the shower screen which was £99 from eBay and we replaced the shower for £100 and taps for £40.
The tile paint was only £13 a tin and it made the world of difference to the dreary walls. It was tricky to use but after the first coat I got the hang of it. I also picked up some budget vinyl flooring from eBay for £36 and Ben helped me to lay it.
I upcycled the units by adding brass handles and a rattan table runner and made a herringbone worktop out of scrap wood from the garden.
We were so impressed, especially as it cost a fraction of the money we’d planned to spend. We put the house on the market in September and the estate agent said our bathroom makeover definitely added value to the house. It was so great to hear as we’d only spent £350 in total.
Lots of people commented on it when they came for viewings and we sold the house in January for £375,000, making £39,000 profit in just two years. I now do lots of projects such as upcycling furniture and DIY room makeovers on a budget and share my ideas on @FrockMeImFamous on Instagram.