A mum who was desperate for a bit of peace and quiet to work from home has revealed how she and her husband built a dream garden room – and saved themselves a whopping £18,000 in the process.
Louise Peer had long dreamed of having her own stylish space to work, relax and entertain.
But after a nightmare experience with rogue builders during a previous home renovation, the 47-year-old swore she’d never hire professionals again.
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Despite her reservations, she obtained a quote from one builder.
After being told the garden room would cost a whopping £35,000, she and husband Ewan, 42, rolled up their sleeves and decided to do the whole thing themselves – from the foundations to the finishing touches.
“We had a bad experience with builders when we renovated our home a few years ago,” she told What’s The Jam.
“They told us an extension would take eight weeks, and six months later, it still wasn’t done.
“So when it was time for a garden room, we didn’t want to face a similar experience and decided to project-manage and build everything ourselves.”
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Working full-time and raising their seven-year-old son didn’t stop the pair from tackling the ambitious project.
Determined to prove it could be done, the couple, from Solihull, spent evenings and weekends transforming the bottom of their garden into a sleek, modern room complete with bi-fold doors, a bar area and a cosy workspace.
The couple taught themselves everything using online tutorials, only bringing in professionals for the electrics and plastering.
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She said: “We’re completely self-taught; my husband has always been really handy by nature and watched YouTube videos for anything he didn’t know how to do.
“The only things we called professionals in for were the electrics and plastering – literally everything else was DIY.”
Ever the bargain hunter, Louise waited until Black Friday to snap up discounted bar stools, lighting and furniture.
She scoured eBay, Amazon and Dunelm for budget-friendly decor and even found a realistic ‘living wall’ of faux plants online for half the usual price.
The finished result is a light-filled garden retreat that now doubles as Louise’s home office by day and a party space by night.
She loves escaping her old makeshift desk in a dark bedroom and says the new room has completely changed her work-life balance.
Louise said, “It’s made such a difference.
“It’s so nice to walk out of my back door and go to work in my garden.
“The bedroom I used to work in was so dark and cramped in comparison, and now I have so much more natural daylight in there thanks to big bi-fold doors and a full-length window.
“It’s been a game-changer for my day-to-day work.
“Before, I’d reach the weekend with peak cabin fever, but thanks to the physical separation of my work and home space, I feel that a lot less often now.”
Of course, it wasn’t all plain sailing.
Unpredictable weather made outdoor work tricky, and the garden had to be reseeded after turning into a muddy bog during construction.
But despite the challenges, the couple say it was all worth it.
She said: “Aside from work, whenever my friends and I are down the pub, we often come back here – there have been a few times where the school mums and I have been dancing in our garden room ‘til late!
“Everyone who sees it says ‘Oh my God!’ and is in awe of the finish, even more so when they find out we did it ourselves.
“I love that it’s separate from the house, too, because we can tackle the mess from parties the next day, and it’s insulated well to keep noise low.”
The pair have since shared their story with Factory Direct Flooring, who provided the LVT herringbone floor used in the project.
The company says more homeowners are turning to DIY to cut costs and enjoy the satisfaction of creating something with their own hands.
Louise added, “There’s nothing I’d change about the garden room; we’re so pleased with how it turned out.
“It was great to have the vision for something that we were able to bring to life ourselves.
“We didn’t have to rely on anyone else, and at the end of the project, it was amazing to see the work we’d done.
“We’ve still got at least one more house renovation in us, but for now we’re going to enjoy what we’ve done.”
