DOING up your home can be painful on the pocket, but learning some super savvy hacks can save you a fortune.
And many people across the country are sharing their top tricks and tips to help others achieve a great look, without breaking the bank.
One mum has just the trick for creating her own dining table and bench, all for cheap.
Jennifer Jobling, 33, a stay-at-home mum of three from New Hartley, Northumberland, had her heart set on a piece of furniture online, but was disappointed when she found out it was out of her budget.
She wanted a herringbone table and bench, which cost £1,200 to buy new.
However, instead of buying it new, she worked with her mum, Yovonne, to build an identical one themselves.
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For £3 from local stores, they found pallets left over from deliveries.
Jennifer told LatestDeals.co.uk: "I’ve always loved big wooden tables, and wanted to balance the modern look out a bit.
"I was searching the internet for ages and couldn’t find anything that stood out or was anywhere in our price range.
"Eventually I saw a lovely table similar to the one I have made and fell in love with it.
“However, at over £1200 for a table and bench, it was way over budget.
"I know I was not going to find anything else after seeing that one.
"My mum Yvonne is very handy and makes all sorts of things, so with her help we decided to make one and try and keep it as cheap as possible.
"Someone mentioned a local business that sells pallets left over from deliveries for £3 each and they were all the same size and thickness.
It didn’t take as long as we thought
“We bought ten pallets, cut them up and did one zig zag section at a time using a chop saw and then sanding the rough edges.
“We used strong wood glue to place them and when it dried, we sawed around the edges.
"One thing I was not confident about was cutting mitred edges for the surround of the table so when our joiner Liam was here fitting our doors he cut the mitred edges and fixed them on.”
Because Jennifer was on a budget it was quite hard to find the table legs she wanted as they were coming in quite expensive.
She says: "I knew I wanted the black square legs as it meant I could push the chairs at the end in properly.
“After searching the internet and finding prices, we ordered two sets of table legs and one set of bench legs from a company called Hartleys Direct.
"We used three of the legs for the table as I wanted it to be as sturdy as possible with it being quite large.
"When either table was up and finished we mixed some glue with the sawdust gathered from the chop saw and just placed it in any gaps to fill them before sanding the whole thing down.
“It didn’t take as long as we thought.”
They then waited for it to dry before doing the sawing and sanding.
She says: “It took two or three days in total.
"Cost-wise, we bought 10 pallets for the table costing £30, four pallets for the bench costing £12, the table and bench legs costing £170, and wood glue for £8.
“The total for the table and bench was £220.”
"I absolutely love the table and have such a great sense of achievement and satisfaction whenever I see it.
'I still need to varnish the table and bench to just finish it off.
"My main advice to anyone would be to get matching pallets, spend time searching for the best deals as well if you're working on a budget and also cut each length down as you go as it makes each zig-zag section work easier.”
For other home hack stories, check out this couple who quit flat to live in a van, and now they've added £34k to its value with an easy revamp
And, a DIY fan with no space for tree creates pink Christmas garland using B&M bargains
Plus, one woman who saved £7k transforming her back garden with these simple DIY budget hacks
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