After turning down an expensive garden renovation, Kirsty Swatman tells us how she took matters into her own hands by turning her shabby garden into a lockdown paradise - not only saving her a fortune, but dramatically increasing the value of her home...
Kirsty Swatman, 30, and partner Daniel, 38, from Ossett in West Yorkshire, were quoted £10,000 to make over their garden, so they decided to do it themselves...
"We were both working from home during the pandemic and found we had much more time on our hands because we were no longer commuting.
I had wanted to transform the garden just before lockdown but was shocked when quotes came back in the region of £10,000.
It was way out of our budget, but we were desperate to do something as the garden was a complete mess. The decking was crumbling and the fences were broken and had been put up against old ones.
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It was a completely botched job. We ripped out everything and started from scratch. My partner watched YouTube videos on how to build decking and put up fences, and then we set to work.
It wasn’t easy because we were homeschooling our 10-year-old daughter Isobel at the same time.
We pulled up the decking and three fences, lifted up all the broken flagstones, dug out old tree stumps, removed a shed and even levelled the garden that seemed like it had four different tiers.
Every morning and night we were outside in all weathers working on the garden for about six months.
I shared our progress on my Instagram account @theonlywayisgrey and strangers started to message us for DIY advice. As well as doing all the labour ourselves we shopped around to save costs.
The sofa was a gift from my mum for my birthday and plants were from B&M, Home Bargains and The Range. The most expensive plant we bought was £15.
The total cost of materials for the decking and fencing was £1,400. Our property was valued at £155,000 when we moved in, during April 2019, and now we’ve been told it’s worth £180,000.
Lockdown really showed us the importance of having a peaceful outdoor space and it’s now where we spend most of our time."
