"I spent £20k turning my council house into a luxury palace - with budget furniture and decor."
- 2 months ago
A woman spent £20,000 tearing apart her rented council house and renovating it into a "luxury palace" - with budget furniture and decor.
Self-confessed interior design addict Danielle Leigh, 26, bought furniture from Home Bargains, B&M and supermarket homeware sections to give her council home a "hotel" feel.
She reckons she's spent at least £40k less than she would on high-end designers, and has managed to turn her two-storey, three bedroom home from a "typical council house" to a "palace" in three years.
The carer has torn down her kitchen to make way for a new, "traditionally-styled" cooking area.
She's painted her walls gold, added butterfly motifs to each door handle and chest of drawers, and has made each bedroom look like a "hotel room".
Danielle, a carer, from Teeside, said: "I had to start from scratch with this house - but I’ve transformed it into a luxury home.
“A lot of people think I’m wasting money on this house because it’s council - but I wouldn’t do that if I didn’t want to buy it.
“I’m just waiting until I can afford to buy it outright - I see this house as my own.
“I’ve done a lot of research on Instagram and Pinterest - there are people who can afford to spend £10k on just a single room.
“I can’t afford that, but I just knew I could get the same results on a budget.”
Danielle has loved watching design shows like ‘60 Minute Makeover’ for as long as she could remember - and she’d always wanted to renovate a house one day.
After a year in her previous house, she decided to move to somewhere more accessible for her daughter, six, who is autistic, and her mum, 43, who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
In 2021, while house-hunting, she created a 'mood board' on Pinterest, and visualised what she wanted her new place to look like.
Once the council gave her access to her current home, Danielle knew she wanted to paint it all gold.
She said: “I was seeing black and gold aesthetics all over TikTok and Pinterest - but when I moved into our house, it was plain white, and completely empty.
“I decided to stick with it, but give it my own stamp with lots of gold.
“It was really quite difficult to make it feel homely at first, it was a complete blank canvas.”
Over three years, Danielle has spent £20k - as well as the £1,600-a-month rent and bills - to renovate her council house.
She has to put in a permission form every time she wants to make a big change - but she hasn’t been turned down yet.
Some of her favourite buys include a £120 Ikea TV stand, a £50 Facebook Marketplace bed for her daughter, and an Ikea wardrobe costing £1,200 - despite originally being quoted £5k.
She said: “I buy a lot from Home Bargains, Shein, Tesco, Facebook Marketplace and occasionally Dunelm.
“It might seem small, but one of my favourite purchases so far are my butterfly-shaped drawer handles.
“I looked online for them, and saw they cost £8.99 for one - when I needed about 20.
Self-confessed interior design addict Danielle Leigh, 26, bought furniture from Home Bargains, B&M and supermarket homeware sections to give her council home a "hotel" feel.
She reckons she's spent at least £40k less than she would on high-end designers, and has managed to turn her two-storey, three bedroom home from a "typical council house" to a "palace" in three years.
The carer has torn down her kitchen to make way for a new, "traditionally-styled" cooking area.
She's painted her walls gold, added butterfly motifs to each door handle and chest of drawers, and has made each bedroom look like a "hotel room".
Danielle, a carer, from Teeside, said: "I had to start from scratch with this house - but I’ve transformed it into a luxury home.
“A lot of people think I’m wasting money on this house because it’s council - but I wouldn’t do that if I didn’t want to buy it.
“I’m just waiting until I can afford to buy it outright - I see this house as my own.
“I’ve done a lot of research on Instagram and Pinterest - there are people who can afford to spend £10k on just a single room.
“I can’t afford that, but I just knew I could get the same results on a budget.”
Danielle has loved watching design shows like ‘60 Minute Makeover’ for as long as she could remember - and she’d always wanted to renovate a house one day.
After a year in her previous house, she decided to move to somewhere more accessible for her daughter, six, who is autistic, and her mum, 43, who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
In 2021, while house-hunting, she created a 'mood board' on Pinterest, and visualised what she wanted her new place to look like.
Once the council gave her access to her current home, Danielle knew she wanted to paint it all gold.
She said: “I was seeing black and gold aesthetics all over TikTok and Pinterest - but when I moved into our house, it was plain white, and completely empty.
“I decided to stick with it, but give it my own stamp with lots of gold.
“It was really quite difficult to make it feel homely at first, it was a complete blank canvas.”
Over three years, Danielle has spent £20k - as well as the £1,600-a-month rent and bills - to renovate her council house.
She has to put in a permission form every time she wants to make a big change - but she hasn’t been turned down yet.
Some of her favourite buys include a £120 Ikea TV stand, a £50 Facebook Marketplace bed for her daughter, and an Ikea wardrobe costing £1,200 - despite originally being quoted £5k.
She said: “I buy a lot from Home Bargains, Shein, Tesco, Facebook Marketplace and occasionally Dunelm.
“It might seem small, but one of my favourite purchases so far are my butterfly-shaped drawer handles.
“I looked online for them, and saw they cost £8.99 for one - when I needed about 20.