I live in social housing, but you wouldn’t guess it: my upcycling trick cost £37
A DIY enthusiast has revealed an upcycling hack that cost just £37 and made a huge difference to her social housing.
Ms Clarkes recently completed her transformation and shared a video of her work on TikTok, which has since been viewed more than 90,000 times.
5
5
5
She explained that by using an upcycling trick, she had been able to change the entire look of her hallway and bedrooms.
Mrs. Clarkes, known as @mrsclarkescleaning on TikTok, with the video captioned: “I made my old council house door usable again with a £37 tool.”
The video first shows simple white doors with a silver handle, which appear to lead to an upstairs bedroom.
Mrs Clarkes starts by unscrewing the inside of the door, then removes it and places it outside in her garden.
She then loosens the door handle and releases the two from the door.
The DIYer then takes black spray paint and sprays the doorknobs while they are lying on the cardboard.
Mrs. Clarkes then walks back to the doors. She measures straight lines from top to bottom from her door, with equal spaces in between.
She then takes a £37 wood router bit she bought from Amazon and draws a line along the door, making sure she hasn’t cut all the way through the door.
The tenant of the social housing then gets quick-drying white high-gloss paint and gives her doors a new lick of paint. She then lets the paint dry and screws the doors back on.
Her video received a lot of attention and many interior enthusiasts responded in the comments to share their opinion.
Someone wrote: “They look great, my council doors are cardboard, they would fall apart if I used this tool.”
But Mrs Clarke replied: “These are hollow too, just make sure you don’t go too deep.”
Another added: “G’won girl. I was going to pop to B&Q tomorrow and get all new black grips but I never thought to spray them!!”
Someone else asked: “I just bought sandpaper, primer, matte black spray and caulk.
5
5
“Do I need all that or can I just spray it straight onto the chrome? Mine aren’t stainless.”
Mrs Clarkes replied: “I always sand them down so the spray has something to grip onto. There’s no harm in doing it your way and it will probably last longer too.”
Another DIY enthusiast asked, “I love doing this with my doors.
“They are the kind with a brown fake wood look. Would this still work?”
Mrs Clarkes replied: “I might try it on the inside if there is one facing a cupboard. I did that with the door of my ventilation cupboard. This also helped to practise the depth I wanted to achieve.”
How can I get social housing?
To apply for social housing, you must complete an application form and submit it to your municipality.
To find your municipality, you can simply use the municipality finder on the government website.
Once you have access to your municipality’s website, you will find guidelines there for completing your application.
After you register, you will likely be placed on a waiting list.
Please note that even if you are placed on the waiting list, this does not guarantee an offer of social housing.
Your local authority can also advise you on how to continue living in your current home and resolve any issues, such as problems with a private landlord or mortgage.
You are eligible for application for social housing if you are a British citizen living in the UK, provided you have not recently lived abroad.
Each municipality has its own local rules about who is eligible to be placed on the housing list for its area, but these rules are based on a system of ‘points’ or ‘bands’.
For example, you will probably be the first to be offered a home if you:
- are homeless
- living in cramped conditions
- have a medical condition that is aggravated by your current home
- trying to escape domestic violence
Once you are high enough on the municipality’s waiting list, you will be contacted as soon as a home becomes available.
In some municipalities you can submit an application from the age of 18, in other municipalities you can submit an application from the age of 16.
EU workers and their families and refugees may also be eligible.
You will be allocated social housing through a points system. Depending on your housing needs, you may be given low priority.
Once you are high enough on the waiting list, the municipality will contact you about available housing.
There is no limit to how long you will be on the waiting list.
