I turned my tiny house into a dream home on a tight budget

Amanda Davies took a beige box in Glasgow and transformed it into a maximalist paradise, all thanks to a DIY attitude and a few YouTube videos.

Amanda bought the 1935 former council house during 2020’s big house buying rush – also known as lockdown – and made sure she was the first person to see it.

Standing in the driveway after the showing, she and her partner made an offer, which was accepted – their first home purchase.

Having lived in a rental and finally being able to decorate how she wanted, Amanda, 38, let her creativity flow in the two-bedroom property.

‘In the past, I haven’t been able to do much with rentals, so this was the first place I managed to get my teeth into. So I went for it,’ she says. The house wasn’t inspiring when she got the keys, but she had an immediate vision.

“It was a beige box,” adds Amanda. ‘Everything was beige – every surface, cupboard, floor was some variation of beige. I’m not exaggerating.

‘Maximalism is my inherent style and as soon as the offer came in, I started putting together Pinterest boards.’

Being a first-time buyer, the budget was tight, but Amanda used several money-saving tricks to keep costs down and managed to do most of the work for around £2,000 – although she did spend on a fireplace and a unique swivel. to get more space.

Instead of expanding, the couple placed a cocoon in the garden, which doubles as an office, studio and entertainment space. That alone probably saved £40,000, she says.

Amanda helped her painter and decorator uncle when she was a teenager, so she felt she had some skills stored that she could use.

The kitchen is a DIY masterstroke, costing around £300 for the entire makeover.

Amanda used budget-friendly DIY tricks like a checkerboard linoleum on the floor that looks as good as it is economical, and she brought fun and fun to the spaces on the cheap.

In the kitchen, she painted the door with doodles (Valspar pistachio), inspired by the picture frame on the door of the apartment in Friends. A lobster clock by Tatty Devine adds a surreal touch to what was once a gloomy-looking door to the pantry.

The room is also painted in Valspar, this time Cajun shrimp and twilight glow, with vintage leopard figurines, a sofa by Snug, and a leopard rug by Courthouse Interiors. The blankets are mainly sourced from Sass and Belle.

All of the potted plants are second-hand and were online swaps for items Amanda inherited from the house. Amanda made the chair rail herself, with help from a friend and a local hardware store. The living room is a seventies style.

“The main inspiration for the room was the maximalism of the seventies,” she says. “It is very cozy and has a very pleasant atmosphere. For inspiration, I love old movies, fashion photo shoots and things like that.

Upstairs in the master bedroom, Amanda found a new use for wallpaper — putting it anywhere but on the walls. “Wallpapering the ceiling was an intense day,” she says. ‘Putting wallpaper on the ceiling is not easy. I had to ask my uncle for help.

Amanda says the trick to a colorful home is to have a cohesive palette.

‘Your home reflects your personality, you are decorating to your taste and then nothing looks out of place. You have to go ahead and not be afraid of color – and remember that you can always paint over paint. Try the things you can change.

The master bathroom originally had dark brown tiles. Amanda painted them white with tile paint and then painted the ceiling and walls lilac and the radiator pink. ‘I wanted it to be bold, with lots of color blocks. There were so many tiles that I wanted it to be as colorful as possible.

Another area to save money was the staircase, which could have been replaced. It was full of nails and lead paint, so Amanda couldn’t sand it. Instead of the expensive process of ripping out the staircase and replacing it, Amanda hired a carpenter to build a new one on top of the old one.

The house is now full of color and positively affects whoever enters.

“Even the merchants who showed up said they loved the pink Barbie aisle,” she says. ‘My home is my style and makes me feel comfortable, safe and happy. I feel like I can’t be unhappy in that house. It’s not possible.

For more information about Amanda’s renovation click here.

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