We built budget bogs in our garden like the Beckhams – we used bargains and they’re a godsend when it comes to cleaning
DAVID and Victoria Beckham are making an unusual addition to their £6million home – an outdoor loo.
The A-list couple had the posh bog added to their farmhouse in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, to save guests trekking back up to the house during fancy garden parties.
A friend told The Sun: “As toilet breaks go, it’s a lovely place to spend a few moments in the fresh air with the sounds of birdsong.”
Ex-footie star David, 47, and Spice Girl-turned-fashion designer Victoria, 48, are not alone in their need for an al fresco facility.
Here, NIKKI WATKINS talk to three Fab Daily readers who admit to U-Bending it like Beckham:
‘IT STOPS THE KIDS BRINGING IN MUD’
SECRETARY and DIY enthusiast Hannah Bragg, 47, lives in a Victorian property in the Brecon Beacons, South Wales with husband Tom, 46, a surgeon, and their kids George, 13, Lilly, 11, Lexi, ten, and Rosie, eight.
She says: “I loved the idea of an outside loo as I hate the kids running through the house with grassy feet in the summer.
The Beckhams have the right idea.
Like them, I didn’t want to be constantly cleaning dirty floors and slipping on mud.
My kids can now spend all day playing outside and get as messy as they like without making a mess indoors.
We have a paddling pool for the warmer months, so being able to use the toilet while they’re wet is so handy.
Plus, it doubles up as a shed for me to store gardening bits and plants in the winter.
The loo might seem glamorous, but it isn’t and was done on a budget.
I don’t like waste, so I used recycled materials to do it up and a builder simply added a wall off an extension to create the structure.
For the ceiling, I used off-cuts of wooden pallets I had from deliveries of materials needed for other rooms in the house, but you can often pick these up for free on local Freecycle sites.
For the floor I used leftover patterned tiles from another bathroom that were over-ordered and would have been scrapped.
All the walls are made from old floorboards taken from the house and the sink and loo are from the old kitchen and bathroom that we upgraded.
The clock, mirror and plant pots were donated by friends as well as the baskets with flowers, and the pendant ceiling light was gifted from The Soho Lighting Company.
It took a week to complete the work. I spent just £60 on shelf brackets and candles to decorate it.
It’s rough and ready but it’s so practical.
If we are having a garden party in the spring, I’ll decorate it with flowers and around Halloween I will decorate it with pumpkins.”
‘I ALWAYS MAKE SURE IT’S PRETTY’
PAULINE Cookson, 46, from Swansea, was not impressed by the old, spooky, spider-infested garden toilet when she bought her dream home.
But rather than flatten the outhouse, she and engineer husband Peter, 56, decided to turn it into a beautiful garden loo.
She says: “The previous owners of our house had lived there all their lives and the property, built in 1890, hadn’t been renovated in years.
It was a huge project – the whole thing needed gutting.
There was an old toilet just outside the back door but it was dark and gloomy and crawling with spiders and other creepy crawlies.
It was terrifying, but the only other toilet in the house was upstairs, so Peter cleaned it up so we wouldn’t have to traipse through the house if we were outside and bursting for a pee.
I hated using the decrepit old toilet, so when Peter asked me what I’d like for my birthday in June 2020, I asked him for a garden loo refurb. He agreed to give it a go.
I ordered the new budget toilet from Screwfix for £80 as well as a sink from Amazon for £70. The brass taps and a towel holder cost £100, also from Amazon.
Peter even installed an electric water heater so I’d be able to wash my hands with hot water, and a shelf so we could put up some decorative ornaments.
Peter did all the work and the whole project cost about £500.
I hope it has added value to the house as I’m sure others would see it as a desirable feature. I love my new garden toilet.
The Beckhams will probably agree it is so handy and I always make sure it looks pretty.
At Christmas I brighten it up it with festive decorations.
In October I’ll put a pumpkin in there and in spring I’ll decorate it with a jug of fresh flowers.
My friends love it too – one of them is petitioning her husband for her own garden loo.
I completely understand why the Beckhams have installed one – it’s so convenient and means nobody has to go in and out of the house with dirty shoes.
I treat it like a room in my house and always make sure it’s looking its best. Peter has just given it a fresh lick of paint.”
‘HARD WORK BUT A THING OF BEAUTY’
STEF Burgon, 43, a writer and, now, hotelier, originally from Newcastle, lives with partner Simon Hunt, 40, on Scotland’s west coast.
After fixing up their property, they turned an outhouse into a posh loo.
Stef says: “We were living in Dubai when we took a holiday in Scotland and fell in love with the lochs, rugged countryside and open space.
We saw an advert for Kilmartin Castle in beautiful Argyll and Bute and it was selling for less than a London parking space.
We were excited and felt like we needed a complete change.
We quit our jobs, I was a radio presenter and Simon was a creative director, and moved over 3,000 miles to Scotland.
Over the next four years we transformed the castle from a three-bedroom and one-shower property, to a five en-suite-bedroom bolt-hole.
After a lot of hard graft we finished the inside in 2021, so it was time to tackle the garden.
We decided to turn a dark and damp stone outbuilding into a toilet.
It started as a bit of fun, but we got carried away.
We found a loo from a company called Chadder and Co, who we heard had supplied toilets to the Royal Family, and that’s the only expensive item in there.
Ours is posher than theirs though as we even had a wood burner put in our throne room.
We did all the work ourselves to save cash and with the help of our friends, it cost just a few hundred pounds.
Our fancy loo is made to look super cosy with the help of second-hand finds and decorative items we’ve collected over the years.
It’s certainly not what you expect to see inside a stone garden shed.
The idea of an outdoor loo being a sign of social deprivation is out of the window with this beauty.
Our room is on the first floor, so when we’re out in the garden it’s a long way to go and we have been pleased, as Becks will be too, to be able to spend a penny in the garden.”