How Stacey Solomon made her house a home with a DIY mirror and beach in the bathroom – and it was ALL on a budget
TURNING a house into a home can be pretty expensive - filling each and every room with your most treasured bits and pieces.
But if there's one person who knows how to do it on the cheap, it's Stacey Solomon, who has long been turning to DIY to create the perfect home for her family.
The Loose Women star, 31, revealed the exciting news last week that she and her partner Joe Swash had found their £1.2million "forever home" - and recently spent the first night in their new pad.
The couple, with their son Rex, one, and Stacey's boys Zachary, 11, Leighton, eight, decided to upgrade their Essex pad to an enormous picturesque property not that far away from their usual stomping ground.
Admitting the house needs "love and TLC", the mum-of-three and fiancé Joe Swash hinted they may be renovating the opulent property.
Here, we take a look at some of the many ways Stacey has turned her house into a home, and what she might just do to her new, plush pad - all on a budget, of course.
Stunning feature mirror
Let's face it, mirrors are expensive - especially if you're after a huge wall-mounted design.
But they do open up a small space and homes are always better off with one, so Stacey made her own for just £30 using bargain Ikea frames.
The savvy shopper bought nine black frames and nine panel mirrors from the popular furniture chain, costing £1.25 and £1 respectively.
To put that into context, charge £110 for a very similar nine panel mirror - and that's a cheap version.
Stacey used command strips, a spirit level, a tape measure and a pencil to hang them up, and even added a cute sticker which read "You Are Enough."
DIY vases
Rather than forking out loads of cash on expensive vases (which ALWAYS look amazing) the thrifty mum will instead use old rubbish to store her luscious blooms.
There's no limit on her creativity either, as the popular Instagram star as used everything from glass jars to old perfume bottles and even a maple syrup jar.
Using paint, twine and tape to spruce them up, the creative Stacey will use them to decorate her home.
The star previously revealed she had kept the empty bottle of Chanel No 5 as it was a sentimental gift from her 25th birthday.
Posting on her Instagram story, she wrote: "I'm going to try and turn this perfume I got for my 25th birthday that I've hoarded for five years into a vase.
"I love what it looks like and it's so special to me I didn't ever want to get rid of it but it's dirty and the last drop of perfume is stale so it needs a make up."
Never one to let a pretty bottle go to waste, Stacey also upcycled a leftover maple syrup bottle into a chic small vase - and you wouldn't know the difference.
Proving anything was possible with a little clever thinking, the TV star ended up with a stunning floral arrangement which looked perfect against her plain white wall.
She's even use old jam jars and plastic bottles too.
Garden Galore
During the warmer months, it's natural to spend more time outside, and the mum-of-three made sure her garden in her old Essex home was in tip top shape.
Aside from ample grass for her boys to play, the crafty mum turned her sights to some decorative pieces for her garden - making sitting in the space that much more enjoyable.
Stacey previously revealed the amazing herb garden she created out of rubbish for next to nothing.
She used old “junk” from around the house instead of buying plant pots, which can be pretty pricey.
Captioning the finished product in Instagram she wrote: “My new herb garden made from old junk, I love it so much, just need to keep it alive now.”
What's more, instead of chucking away an old watering can, Stacey decided to give it a new lease of life but turning it into a light feature.
She added an old pair of battery powered fairy lights inside, and then attached the can to her fence, dangling over her flowers.
At night, she turned on the lights to reveal the beautiful display she had made for free - and it looks incredible.
She also made a bird bath which she attached to her fence using a slab of timber and some old candle jars.
And proving old junk can be turned into something new, she turned an old colander into a super cute hanging pot plant.
With sprawling gardens in her new Essex property, she's bound to deck it out with some more crafty bits.
DIY beach
The doting mum never wants her kids to miss out.
So when they were missing the beach during lockdown, she painstakingly turned her bathroom into a makeshift beach - with real sand.
The act had fans label her "the best mum ever", with Stacey making sure her family didn't miss out on a "trip to the seaside".
After ordering an enormous bag of sand, Stacey laid it down on the bathroom floor and filled up the tub for her boys to play in.
Sharing heartwarming snaps of Leighton, Zack and Rex hanging out in the sand, Stacey wrote: "Beach Life in the bathroom.
It may have taken days to clean, but the kids sure had fun.
Stunning home decor
The Particularly during lockdown, Stacey has showed her fans how much love she has for DIY crafts and has used the time to fill her home with decor.
From flower arrangements, to hanging photo frames, there isn't a room in sight without some DIY craft.
The savvy mum set about making a "flower letter" using cardboard, an old cereal box, fake flowers, fake leaves, spray paint and a glue gun.
Admitting she'd "seen them everywhere" she insisted on jumping on board the trend but without the hefty price tag.
She was pretty chuffed with the finished result and said: “It’s a bit rough around the edges but I love it.”
The thrifty mum also used a few cheap items to make a dream catcher, and said making it was perfect for “taking her mind away from the world.”
Not only that, but the finished result looked very impressive and as though it could have been brought in a shop.
On a more sentimental note, the Loose Women star revealed an amazing photo frame she made out of old twigs, and it didn’t cost her a penny to make.
She decorated the twigs using leftover fake foliage and a string of fairy lights, revealing that she picked up hers from eBay for just a few pounds.
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