DIY fan who couldn’t afford £700 sideboard revamps £40 Facebook Marketplace unit & it looks amazing
WE’VE all been there – you’ve made the mistake of shopping for furniture online, fallen in love with something WAY out of your budget and are now considering selling everything you own.
Or is that just us? Either way, we could all do with taking notes from this savvy DIY fan who revamped a £40 Facebook Marketplace sideboard after refusing to fork out £700 on the designer option.
Speaking to Latest Deals, Alexandra Carton, 28, from Durham, explained how she had lots of free time on her hands after being furloughed from her job in a hair salon.
After doing up their dining room, Alexandra and her boyfriend Jonathan were looking for a unit to complete the transformation.
It didn’t take long for Alexandra to find a stunning black-and-gold industrial-inspired design she liked – but the £700 price tag put her off.
She said: “The black and gold sideboard I fell in love with online was priced at £699.
“Usually, I wouldn’t think twice about spending that much on a sideboard but, given the year we’ve had, I couldn’t bring myself to spend that kind of money at the moment.
“As I currently have time on my hands and no income, I thought I would try to recreate it.”
Within days, Alexandra spotted a similar table on Facebook Marketplace and she snapped it up for just £40.
To begin with, the DIY fan painted the unit using Frenchic‘s Blackjack £17.95 paint after reading rave reviews online.
After this, Alexandra bought some decorative moulding from Wickes to add texture to the front of the unit.
She said: “Jonathan taught me how to use the table saw, which saved so much time. I cut all the moulding strips for the doors to size and stuck them on with PVA wood glue, which we already had at home.”
“The final step was adding the handles, which I found on Amazon. This was the most challenging part of the project.
“As I was repositioning the handles, I needed to sand down bits of the drawers to make room for them.”
Needless to say, Alexandra is chuffed with the transformation – and the whole project cost £150.
“I didn’t expect it to look as good as it looks,” she said. “Even Jonathan is amazed at the end result. It has completed our dining room and I can’t wait to have a go at another project!”
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