I did up my rented house for cheap using leftover paint – my bathroom transformation only cost £4

PROPERTY shows love to give tips and tricks to flip tired properties or turn them into forever homes.

But what about the millions of us who rent?

Olivia Nash’s first home with boyfriend Michael was a tired 1980s terraced house in need of some serious TLC when they moved in earlier this year.

Olivia, 25, and Michael, 29, had a budget of £1,000 to get the property how they wanted it.

But as the couple were renting, they were unable to make any permanent or structural changes.

Their son Arlo was just nine months old when they moved in, and Olivia was unemployed.

She spent six weeks transforming the property — almost entirely on her own as Michael was working 12-hour days in his admin job with a car firm.

She documented it all on he Instagram account and now, five months after they moved in, Olivia has 17,000 followers on the social media app — including cleaning sensation Mrs Hinch.

Olivia, who lives in south-west Bedfordshire, says: “We had a very tight budget so we had to come up with cheap alternatives that would make big changes.

“The kitchen was one of the main areas I wanted to focus on but a new suite can cost thousands.

‘Becoming a mum in lockdown was isolating’

“Of course we were also limited to what we could do to the space because we were renters. Luckily our landlord was pretty relaxed but I still didn’t want to take on a huge project in something that wouldn’t be our forever home.”

Statistics show that around 4.4million households were privately renting in England during 2021, and around 4million in social housing.

For Olivia and Michael, who are saving up to buy a house, it was important they were sensible with any money they spent on their temporary two-bedroom house.

The first room they tackled was the outdated kitchen.

Olivia says: “Rather than ripping out the whole kitchen, I used tile paint in a single coat to totally transform the space.

“I used leftover paint from the bedroom to then paint the cupboards into a greige — grey beige — with a sealant on top and I gave them a new lease of life with matte black handles from eBay.”

I used MDF from Wickes and Gorilla Glue to do panelling in the bedroom and it cost me less than £150.

A self-confessed “Hincher”, Olivia was inspired by the cleanfluencer’s grey colour palette for the master bedroom, which was previously magnolia.

Rather than paying hundreds for a feature wall of panelling, Olivia taught herself to do it using YouTube videos.

She says: “I used MDF from Wickes and Gorilla Glue to do panelling in the bedroom and it cost me less than £150.”

The bathroom came in at even less, with Olivia spending £4 reviving the ageing tiles.

She says: “I really didn’t want to take on anything too strenuous so I picked up a grout reviver pen rather than having to replace the tiles, which would have been extremely costly.

“It made the bathroom look new but only cost me the price of the tile pen.”

It made the bathroom look new but only cost me the price of the tile pen.

After Arlo was born in June 2021, amid Covid restrictions, Olivia had postpartum depression.

But throwing herself into the house renovation helped her.

She says: “Becoming a mum during lockdown was extremely isolating and I got to the point where I didn’t really want to leave the house.

“Ploughing myself into the renovation gave me a sense of self. It kept me busy and kept me sane — it was of endless benefit to my mental health.”

And Arlo’s bedroom quickly became the star of the mum’s Instagram account thanks to the stylish neutral tones, quirky stencils and statement slogans.

Olivia says: “In my son’s room, colour blocking was really effective.
“We managed to get all of my paint for free through my Instagram account.

“But even if you buy the paint, you can get it cheap from Wilko, and this is an easy and cheap technique and makes such an enormous difference.

It’s important to make wherever you’re living your own.

“We used a scallop stencil kit to achieve the border. It literally took me half an hour.

“If you can’t add paint to the walls of your rental, you could paint a sheet of MDF rather than painting the actual wall. Or you could also try peel and stick wallpaper.”

Olivia is now working as a human resources administrator and runs kids interior design company, Arlo & The Giraffe (@arloandthegiraffe). She says: “I was unemployed up until May, so I used the renovations to give me purpose.

“It was just a great outlet. Being a mum is the best thing in the world but it still caused a struggle. It’s so important to find time for you away from being a parent.

“Some people ask why we’ve bothered to do up the house when we’re only going to be here a few years.

“But it’s important to make wherever you’re living your own. But we are also lucky in that we don’t have to return our home to its original state.

“We have opted for a neutral palette that is likely to suit future tenants’ taste and we use command strips to hang things to prevent any holes in the wall.

“We will stay here until we’re in a position to buy a house — for a couple of years at least.

“But for now I am more than happy with the haven I have created.”