Barbie and Beetlejuice inspire woman's massive home makeover for less than £5k
A woman has revealed how she was inspired by a strange combination of the movies Beetlejuice and Barbie to convert her rental house into a punk-graffiti wonderland for less than £5K.
Natasha McBrinn has rented her ex-council house for £400 per month since 2009 and her landlady told her "the house is yours, do as you wish with it". And using her DIY skills, buying recycled furniture and grabbing bargains where she the 32 year has done just that.
"When I first rented the house, it was run down, old, worn-out flooring, damp, mouldy and decorated very poorly. I made a few modifications here and there, like the front door was completely destroyed, the front pane of glass was broken as were some parts of the PVC. I fixed these and totally transformed the door using duct tape and vinyl," she said.
"Since moving in, I have had all the floors, both upstairs and downstairs, replaced. Under the tape floor in the kitchen is cream tiles. It was a wooden floor when I first moved in. I have since put a design in duck tape over the tiles, which can be easily removed if I ever move. Every single room has been decorated about four times each, if not more. I've made modifications to the bath, replacing taps and plug holes, and all toilet seats have been upgraded numerous times."
Natasha McBrinn loves DIY and funky colours (Mediadrumworld/Natasha McBrinn)
The family's front door (Mediadrumworld/Natasha McBrinn)The most expensive thing Natasha as bought for the home in Ormskirk, Lancashire, which she says she has used in abundance, was duct tape, which cost her £80. "I've lost count of how many modifications I have made to this house as I do all my decorating in small bits, using budget shops, recycled furniture and items left over from other projects around the house," she said.
London flat for rent for £1,400 a month with bed tucked away in kitchen cupboard
"It hasn't cost me more than £5,000 as everything is done on a budget by myself. Taking the kitchen, for example, it has been transformed around three times, and it has only cost me less than £230. Movies like the Barbie and the Beetlejuice were my inspiration for this area.
"A lot of furniture around the house was either gifted or recycled and barely cost anything to upcycle and modify for the house."
Natasha painting her son Anthony's bedroom (Mediadrumworld/Natasha McBrinn)Natasha has two sons, one of whom, 16-year-old Anthony is autistic. She wanted to add vibrant colours to the house much earlier than in 2019 but refrained from doing so because it could have disoriented him or made him uncomfortable.
"I could not incorporate a lot of colours originally; however, as he has aged, he has adapted more to alternative designs and colours, which has let me push the boundaries within our house," she said. "Initially, I only added colour through the furniture and kept the walls plain. But he grew to absolutely love the colourful additions and took so well to it that I started going bolder with introducing colours around the house.
The stairs (Mediadrumworld/Natasha McBrinn)
Their outside space (Mediadrumworld/Natasha McBrinn)"Now he loves the house and laughs any time he comes home from school, and something has changed. He's recently asked for me to update his bedroom as he wants a poster wall like the one in the kitchen with anime/gaming art. This should cost me about £300 as, once again, I'll source items for very cheap or use gifted items from previous projects to complete his room."
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