Tips to completely remodel your home on a budget

By Lydia Patrick via SWNS

A thrifty woman says she saved about $35,000 by renovating her home from scratch with only Facebook Marketplace, thrifting and YouTube videos. Now she's giving tips.

Nine years ago Louise Jones, 37, a mental health nurse, and her husband James, a software developer, 42, bought a fixer-upper in Bristol, UK.

The front of the house was brown and every room had yellow and orange walls and bright blue carpets.

The three-bedroom Victorian terrace is now unrecognizable.

Louise is a "bargain-buying queen" and says research and planning are key to creating your dream beautiful home on a budget.

Louise said: “When we first moved in nine years ago, it was absolutely disgusting.

“We didn’t have the money to splash out on expensive tradesmen and decided to do everything ourselves.

“When we started, we couldn’t even paint a wall.

“But anything is possible with the guidance of a YouTube tutorial.

“We laid all the tiles, and painted and decorated our entire home.”

Transforming the home gave her a passion for interior design which she is now trying to pursue as a full-time occupation.

She spends hours trawling Facebook Marketplace and using her creative eye to look for bargains that can be upcycled with a bit of sandpaper, paint and TLC.

The money-saving mother of two swears by a mantra of being patient and not being afraid to go wrong.

“Tiling was one of the most difficult things we had to learn to do but if something goes wrong, you can always start again!”

“We have created our dream family home all without breaking the bank."

She says you can use paint to create the illusion of having a bigger room, by sectioning the wall and using different colored paints.

Although she is never afraid of going wrong, Louise admits to one disaster:

"We attempted to install our own underfloor heating and lay the tiles in our hall, let's just say it didn't go to plan and we are waiting to get the professionals in to fix it for us."

Louise’s top tips for transforming your home on a budget are -

- Go to thrift stores and Goodwill.

- Always look in the clearance sections of shops.

- Facebook Marketplace is the holy grail of saving money- look there before anything else.

- Have a go at DIY- anything is possible with a YouTube tutorial.

- Try and re-use and re-purpose items you already have, it’s amazing what a bit of paint and sandpaper can do.