I spray painted the oven on the front. People don’t realise you can get good paints and a good finish from them
BUSY mum Maisie Rees has managed to transform her kitchen in just one week during her two-year-old daughter’s nap times – and all for under £150. When she bought the three-bedroom 1930s terrace in south Birmingham two years ago, Maisie decided against ripping out the kitchen, instead using the budget to make modest structural changes and create more open-plan living spaces.
However, she still had big ideas for the kitchen and used her skills as a window dresser and interior stylist to completely renovate it, finishing the revamp quickly and for just a few quid.
‘I knew what I wanted to do with the kitchen,’ says the 35-year-old.
‘It had good bones and the cabinets were fine, they weren’t chipped or off the hinges. I knew from my experience with my day job of transforming spaces with self-adhesive vinyl and spray paint that I could do it quickly and cost effectively.
I knew I could go straight into it.’
Maisie created mock-ups on her laptop of what she wanted, experimenting with what to paint on the splashback and what colour the cupboards would be. She decided to vinyl wrap the cupboards rather than paint them, pink for the top and black on the bottom, sourced at Hexis Crafts. ‘I went for the vinyl because I didn’t have the patience to paint,’ she says. ‘Vinyl can be tricky to use, but once you know what you’re doing it looks really good.’
The handles came in a pack of ten on eBay, all for about a tenner. Next, Maisie tackled the tiles. Rather than remove all of the black ones, she created her own design and stencilled and painted them with Zinsser BIN shellac-based primer white paint and black Rust-Oleum Universal paint, masking up the monochrome patterns as she went.
Afterwards, everything was painted a couple of times with Polyvine heavy duty varnish to seal it and make it scratch and chip-resistant. ‘Obviously kitchens are a place where you spend a lot of time and make a mess, so you need to do it properly,’ says Maisie.
She has shared the step-by-step process on her home to her Instagram account (@maisieviolet_rees). ‘I did the kitchen like this because we didn’t have a budget to rip it all out. I’d be happy if it lasts five years, and when I have the money I can get a new kitchen.’
Next came the oven with a chrome surround that didn’t quite fit. Rather than buy another, Maisie had an easier, cheaper solution. ‘I spray painted the oven on the front. People don’t realise you can get really good paints and a good matt finish just from them. I masked it, cleaned the area and then just spray painted it.
‘It’s been over a year now and it hasn’t budged.’
Maisie also shared her tips for completing her DIY projects on a budget with Tap Warehouse, advising to always prep to save having to redo everything in the future. ‘If it’s wooden furniture, lightly sand. If it’s Ikea furniture, use the correct primer. If it’s painting tiles, use the right type of paint. You’ll thank yourself later,’ she says.
The final touch was a curtain to cover the space where the small fridge once stood, which is now home to the bins. Maisie made the curtain herself, and hung it with tension wire as a simple way to hide an unsightly space.
‘I love maximialism and I like to do things on a budget. I also think you can create luxury-looking decor without having to break the bank. I like bold elements in the kitchen, but it’s also quite eclectic and colourful. It’s a fun, happy place.’ tapwarehouse.com
INTERIOR designer Justin Coakley created a loft conversion that’s so nice, he now goes on holiday there. Justin bought his 1930s terraced house in south-west London seven years ago and the conversion was the last thing to be completed, adding a fourth bedroom for guests and a bathroom.
The loft was a ‘spider house’, in his words – it was just full of junk, dust and cobwebs that had accumulated over the years. Justin cleaned it out over two days and created the guest bedroom. He decided to keep the bathroom separate rather than making it en suite, so that guests in the rest of the four-bedroom house could use it.
Now completed, the stylish loft getaway – with a chic design influenced by top-end hotels he had stayed in – isn’t just for family and friends who are on a getaway – Justin and his partner go there for what is possibly the world’s nearest staycation.
‘There are days when we have all these plans and then the weather is horrible,’ he says. ‘Then we stay at home and go up into the loft, get a takeaway and spend most of the day chilling out. It feels like checking into a hotel at home – it’s so nice.’
The loft has become a social media star, too. Justin gained many of his 87,000 Instagram followers on @design_at_ nineteen when he posted its transformation from dusty junk storage to boutiquey bliss.
‘They were following the journey of the loft,’ he says. ‘I had seen lots of conventional-style lofts being done and I didn’t want a cookie-cutter conversion – the ones with typical eaves storage and a door. You have to crawl in and out of the space and everything gets forgotten. My whole idea behind the concept was to maximise the space as much as possible.’
Justin has certainly done that – you have to visit it to believe the bathroom is a dinky 2.7-sq-m, because in pictures it looks much bigger. By making it a wet room, Justin avoided it getting cluttered and looking small, with thin partition glass rather than a cubicle. To make this work better, there’s underfloor heating throughout, so the room is dry in a few minutes. £122.50 sanctuary-bathrooms.co.uk ‘I was after a really simple pill-shaped mirror in here, and the size and shape of this mirror was a perfect fit’ £319, heals.com
‘I’m a big advocate for bathroom lights still being a feature, and I particularly love this one from DCW Editions as it ties into the scheme with all the black fixtures and fittings and has a separate switch and arm for adjusting the light’ £17.63, capietra.com
‘I chose these tiles for their simplicity and longevity. Marble is always an excellent choice when you’re opting for more of a classic style of bathroom that will stand the test of time’ £699.95 victorianplumbing.co.uk
‘I opted to go for matt black fittings throughout the conversion to give a more contemporary take on the wet room’
He has also fitted a full-length window and ceiling Velux to bring in as much light as possible – you can see the stars while showering on a clear night. Justin also kept space under the vanity unit and fitted a raised toilet rather than a floor-mounted one to make the room seem larger than it is. ‘Raised furniture is important. This gives the illusion that the floor is bigger than it is – the eye can travel to all points of the room,’ he says.
The tiles, colours and materials have been kept to a minimum. Justin says using the same tiles throughout in a small space makes the space look bigger than it is. ‘Stick to two or three materials rather than trying to get too many things into the same space, especially when it’s small,’ he says. Justin describes his style as contemporary and influenced by Scandi minimalism. Hailing from South Africa, he admits that he misses the sun living in London, so he likes to choose light colours and bring in as much natural light as possible. Mixing that with a love of beautiful hotels, he has created the perfect bijou bathroom.
‘When I go into bathrooms in top-end hotels, there’s a feeling of luxury and relaxation as soon as you step into them,’ says Justin. ‘That’s what I’m trying to emulate here, with a pared-back Scandi vibe.’ £29.50 paintandpaperlibrary.com
‘I chose Canvas II as I wanted a colour that would sit seamlessly with the marble and still keep the bathroom light and bright – and is the perfect neutral for bringing some warmth into the space’
OLIVER STALLWOOD
£139, tormar.co.uk
‘I’m a huge fan of supporting British brands, and I love that the Bridgford stool brings a bit of a classic feel to the bathroom, with its turned legs. It’s also a nod to shaker furniture, with its clean lines’