My girl, 12, completely transformed our family home for £50 in 7 days – & she’s a dab hand with the power drill too
A MOTHER has revealed how her 12-year-old daughter transformed their home in just seven days in between lessons - costing only £50.
Susie Levache, 47, from Kent, said Bea developed her DIY skills, including using a power drill and a handsaw, by redecorating the utility room, the stairs, the office as well as designing a feature wall.
The portrait photographer said Bea was ‘a natural’ and did a ‘blinding job’ and she shared before and after photos on Facebook - to which she received thousands of responses.
Susie added that she and Bea’s brother Ted, 15, also lent a hand, and the family aims to reuse as much as possible, so only needed to buy a few extra items from eBay for the projects.
Writing about the home office transformation which took place in 2020, she said: "I usually tackle all the DIY projects alone but my 12 year old daughter took an interest and actually I figured I had a lot of time on my hands to rectify anything she might damage.
"Turns out after telling her to just go for it - she’s a natural and did a blinding job-with direction she did this herself. She was VERY handy with a handsaw.
Read more home transformations
"We just used some thin MDF strips, paint and a roll of wallpaper to transform my office."
Susie added: "I supervised and told her how to use the spirit level and how to measure and cut the MDF strips we had.
"She was really nervous to begin with as she was worried that she would mess up.
"The room was gloomy and hadn’t really been used properly for ages anyway so she had nothing to lose - then there was no stopping her!
"This gave her the confidence to just go for it and after the first two panels she then did the rest alone."
Susie watched as Bea successfully marked, levelled, glued, pinned and added a dado rail before filing the room ready for painting.
The office panelling took just a few hours to do and the following day to paint.
Susie said she had been steadily renovating the family’s 1970s semi-detached house for 10 months, and decided to use the time at home to give the plans a boost.
Read More on The Sun
She homeschools Bea and Ted in the mornings, but after week two of lockdown, the children seemed ‘bored’, so she asked them to help with DIY projects in the afternoon.
Susie said they have been as resourceful as possible during lockdown by using things, such as paint, that they already had in the shed and loft. The only purchase they’ve made during pandemic has been kitchen handles.
After seeing how the new home office looked, Susie encouraged Bea to decorate the stairs with black panelling using the assistance of her brother Ted - totally unsupervised.
She said: "Then we used up some old tester pots I had to stencil and hand paint an accent wall in a funky animal print design.
She added: "We have been staggered by the reaction. Some of the posts have had thousands of likes.
"We’ve also had some great messages from carpenters and builders lending advice which has been terrific."
Susie added that the family DIY projects haven't just resulted in an incredible home transformation - it has also helped Bea’s confidence.
She said: "I was always a creative child and my daughter thought she didn’t have any skills before lockdown, I hope this will give her confidence that it’s all there. She just needed to believe she could do it!
"Initially she was quite timid about using the power tools and things, but now she’s so proud of what she’s achieved.
"Pre-lockdown I would never have thought to include Bea in my work - this period has really shown me that children are far more capable than we may think."
The family’s six-week complete ‘spring fling’ came after Susie decided to decorate the house.
She revealed in a recent social media post: "No more white box. My husband has zero interest in DIY and interiors which leaves me in charge!"
Despite transforming numerous rooms in the house, Susie said their DIY endeavours are not fully complete just yet.
She revealed: "We’re going to gold leaf some furniture and hopefully the last thing will be to make a brick wall.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
"Then we will finally do Bea’s bedroom which she is designing at the moment by researching colour swatches and looking on Pinterest.
"This whole thing has made her a lot more involved and she is excited to plan her post lockdown bedroom renovation."