A DIY couple who were quoted £1,000 for a storage space underneath their staircase built it themselves for £175.
Thomas and Kayleigh Firth, both 31, were told it would cost an eye-watering sum to have a professional builder install the storage drawers in their home.
The couple decided to cut costs and take matters into their own hands by building the stylish and super useful storage area - and saved more than £800 in the process.
Thomas, a mechanical engineer, bought bargain materials and tools from Wickes, Homebase and Screwfix on a budget.
Thomas, from Kent, told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk : "My wife and I have always rented our properties so we've not had the opportunity to do this before now.
"We bought our first home last year and we were in need of extra storage.
"We thought it would be a good idea to create this under-stair storage as there was no other space in the property.
"We decided to get a quote to have the work done by someone else, but the quotes we were getting were nearly £1,000.
"Just after my son was born, I built a toy box for him which went really well so I decided to have a go at this."
The dad got to work to work building the storage cupboard out of cheap buys.
He said: "After removing the plasterboard wall, I constructed the framework by fixing it into the concrete floor and bracing it at the top to the underside of the stairs.
"I didn't want the frame to move when the drawers were fully loaded and extended.
"I fixed the runners to the framework and made a base for the drawers to sit on. This also held the runners together and square.
"I made the drawer boxes with all the joints glued, screwed and with dowels for strength.
"These were sat on the drawer runner frames and aligned so that I could fix the doors and have them all be flush.
"The doors were made out of 12mm MDF and I cut the angles and checked them all before routing a decorative profile on the edges.
"These were glued and screwed from inside the drawer to prevent anything showing on the outside.
"My wife did all the priming of the MDF and painting of the drawers and doors.
"We decided to add some carpet tiles in the bottom to make it easier to clean if dirty shoes were put in the drawers.
"In total, it cost us £175 including the paint and knobs we used.
“In terms of tools, I used a table saw, a router, a screwdriver, a hammer, a drill and a circular saw.”
The project provided a great lockdown project for the family and saved them over £800.
Thomas said: "The project went really well and it took around two weeks to do from start to finish.
"We have now benefitted from lots more storage and saved over £800.
"Plus, it makes a feature of a blank wall and is a great use of the wasted space that was behind.
"My main tips for others to do the project would be to make sure the frame and runners are perfectly level and square to prevent alignment issues."
