Mum of three Clare Francis and her husband Martin have turned a cheap caravan into a stunning home office to let them get some work done at home and escape the chidren.
Clare, 41, wanted a bigger workspace to help with her baking business - Scrumptious Cupcakes by Clare - after one of her sons moved into her old area.
But as prices for garden sheds and summer houses soared over lockdown, she had to find another way.
“We are a family of five and live in a three-bedroom house," Clare told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk.
"My teenage son wanted more space during the lockdown and decided that he liked my workshop that we'd already had insulated.
“So I started looking for another workshop similar to the one I already had, but during the lockdown, that's what everyone seemed to be doing as the price had increased three times."
So the couple from West Sussex came up with a new plan instead.
"My husband then decided to look at caravan options as they are already insulated and have electrics and plumbing," Clare said.
“We started looking through ebay and won a three berth caravan for £1,100."
The next job was getting the holiday home ready to go to work.
“We collected it and Martin began stripping it all out, taking out the bathroom and half the seating which wasn't needed for the cake room," she said.
“Martin laid the floor and added Floor Pops peel and stick floor tiles from Homebase. He used the self-adhesive Gothic range, which cost £15 a pack and we needed four.
“We then added the kitchen cupboards and worktop that we already had from my previous workshop. Martin adapted them to fit the caravan - he is very resourceful.
“He added under-seat lighting from Amazon for £25, new cupboard handles again from Amazon for £15 and painted straight on to the cupboards with leftover Farrow and Ball Hague Blue.
“We added the top coat with matt varnish and the white paint was Dulux wood paint.
"The wallpaper was from Homebase. It was from the Superfresco range and cost £20 a roll. We bought two.
“The sink was from Amazon at £30, the self-adhesive tiles at the back are from Amazon costing £50, the curtains were from ebay costing £30 and the nets were £10.
“We changed the seating to an L-shape so I could use the space better and added a small additional worktop for £50.
"I paid a lady to recover the seats which cost £150.”
All in, they spent £800 making it into a stunning modern space and Clare is delighted with the finish of her new workshop.
"My husband is currently still on furlough so it's been good for him to do some jobs around the house,” she added.
“This project has taken him four weeks from start to finish.
“I couldn’t justify spending £3,000 on a cabin plus putting foundations in, then insulation and electrics.
“It would have been closer to £5,000 once it was finished.
“The total cost of the caravan was £1,900, and I absolutely love the workspace now it's so organised and compact.
“The caravan cost £1,100 and the decoration cost £800.
“I did the decor and Martin did the hard work!
"I'm really happy with the amount of money we saved investing in the caravan so that we can have a lovely family holiday next year also, all being well.
“Cake-wise I have a much larger area to work in, one area to decorate the cakes and another for modelling cake toppers.
"It's my own little den to escape the kids!”
