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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Business
Levi Winchester

Savvy dad quoted almost £500 for walk-in wardrobe makes his own for just £120

A dad who was quoted almost £500 for a walk-in wardrobe created his own for just £120 after getting stuck into a DIY project.

Kenroy Malcolm, 33 from Bromsgrove in Worcestershire and is a teaching assistant and father to two girls aged 6 and 1, was able to transform the small space between two bedrooms.

The original idea was to knock one of the walls down and make it a walk-in closet but this would’ve proved expensive.

So instead, he stumbled upon a sliding door on Argos which would save the family space compared with a traditional door.

“I knew this was the best option as we could avoid swinging a door open and closed, instead just sliding one over to access the space,” Kenroy told LatestDeals.co.uk.

How the space between the bedrooms looked before... (Kenroy Malcolm)
...and how it looks now with the wardrobe area (Kenroy Malcolm)

“I wanted to do this myself rather than pay someone to come in and do it for me. A friend who is in the trade estimated that a joiner would charge approximately £170 per day for labour.

“As this project would likely take a full day, and materials if bought would cost around £300, this means I would be paying roughly £470.

“I knew I could make this space a walk in wardrobe with a difference without paying for a professional job.

“I also wanted to use some scaffolding boards I got for a previous project, which had some left over, to make some shelves above the wardrobe and stack things on.”

The entire project cost Kenroy just £120.

Kenroy is thrilled with the finished result (Kenroy Malcolm)
The family saved hundreds of pounds by taking on the DIY project (Kenroy Malcolm)

He purchased a folding door from Argos for £32, some shelf brackets from eBay that were £22 for four, and a metal frame clothes hanger from Wayfair for £55.

Kenroy also picked up some timber from his local hardware store for £10 and got free recycled wood to make the door frame.

“The first thing I did was clear the space. A lot of stuff was in there that just needed to go,” said Kenroy.

“I measured up the door and then the timber which would cover the gap between the door and the wall, before trimming it to size.

“Next, I removed the staples from the salvaged wood I had picked up from my neighbour and cut it to the size I was looking for.

“The wood was in pretty rough condition, but I sanded it down and once that was done it meant I wouldn’t need to varnish or paint it.”

Have you transformed your home on the cheap? Let us know: mirror.money.saving@mirror.co.uk

The wardrobe rail Kenroy purchased (Kenroy Malcolm)

Once he had set up the support above the door, I picked up the actual sliding door and says it was “pretty straightforward” to set up.

One of the downsides of these sliding doors is that they come in a specific size and there isn’t much you can do to alter them, but this one came in the exact size Kenroy wanted.

“Next I set up the naked wardrobe. The overall quality was good for the price, and the assembly was very straightforward,” he said.

“The final step was to attach the shelves, which I had made earlier in the year out of scaffolding boards. I drilled in the brackets and then attached the shelves with the help of my brother.

“Overall I’m super happy with this project. I was quite busy at the time so it took me a few days to complete, but I reckon if I’d set aside one full day I could have had it all done and dusted in that timeframe.”

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