I hated the boring alcove in my house, so I turned it into a desk space with DIY bargains
A DIY fanatic fed up with the boring alcove in her living room transformed it into a functional desk space stocked with B&Q bargains.
Alex Lawson, from Aberdeen, regularly shares her tips for transforming homes on Instagram, where she has 311,000 followers (@casalawson).
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The clever blogger urges people to “feel the fear and do it yourself”, with many swearing by her simple tutorials to turn their house into a home.
Alex, who now lives in London, also offers interior design advice for anyone looking for inspiration.
In a recent video, she revealed that she was tired of the corner in her living room and wanted to convert it into a workspace where she could sit with her laptop.
So she spent £76 on wood from B&Q plus £9.50 on a paintbrush and around £44 on paint for a DIY project.
She said: “I created an alcove desk to create my dream office space using materials, paint and accessories from B&Q.
“I built the frame for the desk and shelves first, then used 300mm pine furniture planks for the shelves and desk.
“I then added a front trim and stained it with the color of my choice. I absolutely love how this space turned out and can’t believe how easy it was to complete.”
She told her fellow DIY fans about her steps, saying: “First of all, I painted the back wall in a striking color.
“This is a custom color from the V&Co dead-flat mat range (prices start from £44). It goes on like a dream.
“Then I made my cutting list and started cutting the pieces of wood for my frame together.
“I checked to make sure there was nothing behind it before drilling into the wall.
“I first went in with a smaller drill bit and then with a larger one, put Rawlplugs in the wall and then screwed them in place.
“I completed this until I had a texture on all three sides and then it was time to cut the top.
“I had a tricky part getting around the chimney breast, so I used a piece of cardboard and my jigsaw to make a template.
“I then continued the same process to create a frame for the shelves.
“I obviously screwed everything in with a pilot hole first so we didn’t split the wood and then secured these front pieces.”
She added: “After this I colored everything with lime wash [and] white wash and followed by one of my favorite brown spots.
“I absolutely love it. I can’t believe how easy this was to do. I should have done it months ago.
“It’s so great to now have a practical workspace.”
Her DIY transformation has racked up around 170,000 views and homeowners are raving about the results.
One said: “I love this!! What a great hack.”
A second wrote: “Really beautiful! I wish I was good at DIY!”
A third added: “Love love love this!!!!!!!!! Well done!!!!”
A fourth chimed in: “Oh wow this is amazing.”
A fifth echoed: ‘Great work! You make it look so easy!’
A sixth gushed: “Great tips, you made it look easy and it takes skill, it looks great.”
And someone else said, “I actually can’t. You just built this yourself. It’s amazing and so beautiful. You have some skills that I’m in awe of.”
Alex first became interested in DIY after purchasing her first home in September 2019.
The engineer, who was a finalist for Scotland’s Christmas House of the Year, previously said: “I’m on a mission to inspire people to step out of their comfort zone, try new projects and create a beautiful home for themselves in the process.”