Mum quoted £2k for home bar does it herself for £200 using DIY hacks

A North Yorkshire mum has revealed how she saved 90% on the cost of a home bar, initially being quoted £2,000 but DIYing it for just £200.

49-year-old Louise Morrison built the bar with her husband in their Brotton garden using pallets and items they got at a discount.

The finished result is a chic space they can entertain in now restrictions are easing, and the couple say they couldn’t be happier with it.

They spoke exclusively to money-saving marketplace LovetheSales.com about their experience.

Louise said: ‘For the seating area we got 20 pallets free from my hubby’s work. With the remaining two pallets we created the base for the bar.

‘We constructed the top of the bar, the roof and the bar cladding from materials bought from B&Q’s online spring sale. That came to a total of £80.’

Donations from friends and family were also welcomed. The family was given a memory foam mattress, which they cut to size for their seating area.

The comfy seats were covered with door curtain panelling bought for £20 in the B&M clearance sale, and the scatter cushions were ones they already had.

B&M was also where they got the ‘willow green’ Cuprinol paint which brightened up the bar and seat frames.

Louise adds: ‘The decking had been in place for over ten years, we gave it new life by painting it with Spear and Jackson ‘slate grey’ decking paint for £18, also from B&M. The outdoor rug was £20 and came from Kukoon rugs online.’

The mum upcycled empty gin bottles by filling them with solar fairy lights, also from B&M at £5.

The unique decorations didn’t stop there. Louise says: ‘The wooden drum cable reel we sourced free from a building yard. All we had to do was varnish with an outdoor varnish we already had.

‘We transformed the top of the drum into a table top using beer bottle caps collected from a local pub. My husband held in the caps place with tile adhesive (£40) and epoxy resin (£20), both were from eBay..

After saving almost £1,800 on the price quoted for the bar, Louise said looking for free or low-cost items that would’ve been thrown away is key.

She suggests: ‘Use social media to ask for any recycled materials that your friends might be getting rid of. This is how we acquired the mattresses, wooden cable reel and the bottle tops.”

‘I also always keep an eye on end of season sales or end of line products and B&M is a great place to source low price materials.’

It’s certainly not an easy task to complete such a big project on a budget, but it’s paid off for Louise and her family.

‘It has taken a lot of hard work and a bit of shouting along the way, but we are so proud of how it has all come together,’ she says.

‘We are by no means expert builders, but I would say to anyone don’t be afraid to give it a go.

‘We are planning to have the grand opening with our closest friends over the Mayday bank holiday, as we are hoping for a bit warmer weather than we’ve had in April.’

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