A DIY fanatic who was fed up with the boring alcove in her living room transformed it into a functional desk space with B&Q bargains.
Alex Lawson, from Aberdeen, regularly shares her home transformation tips on Instagram where she boasts 311,000 followers (@casalawson).
The savvy blogger urges people to “feel the fear and DIY it anyway” with many swearing by her easy tutorials to help make their house a home.
Alex, who now lives in London, also offers interior design consultations for anybody struggling for inspiration.
In a recent video, she revealed she was fed up with the nook in her living room and wanted to convert it into a working space to sit with her laptop.
So she spent £76 on wood from B&Q plus £9.50 on a paint brush and around £44 on paint for a DIY project.
She said: “I diy-ed an alcove desk to create my dream office space using materials, paint and accessories from B&Q.
“I first built the frame for the desk & shelves and then used 300mm pine furniture boards for the shelves & the desk.
“I then added a front trim & stained with my colour of choice. I absolutely love how this space has turned out & can’t believe how easy it was to complete.”
Talking her fellow DIY fans through her steps, she said: “First of all, I painted the back wall a feature colour.
“This is a custom colour from the V&Co dead-flat matt range (prices start from £44). It goes on like a dream.
“Then I made my cut list and got together cutting the pieces of wood for my frame.
“I checked there was nothing behind before drilling into the wall.
“I went in with a smaller drill head first of all and then followed behind with a larger one, added Rawlplugs to the wall and then screwed in.
“I completed this until I had a structure on all three sides and then it was time to cut the top.
“I had this tricky section to get 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 make a frame for the shelves.
“I screwed everything in with pilot hole first of course so we didn’t split the wood and then secured on these front pieces.”
She added: “After this I stained everything with lime wax [and] white wax and followed behind with one of my favourite brown stains.
“I absolutely love it. I can’t believe how easy this was to do. I should have done it months ago.
“It’s so fantastic to have a practical working space now.”
Her DIY transformation has racked up around 170,000 views with home owners loving the results.
One said: “Love this!! What a great hack.”
A second wrote: “Really beautiful! 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: “Awesome work! You make it look so easy!”
A sixth gushed: “Great tips you made it look easy and it takes skills looks great.”
And someone else said: “I actually cannot you’ve just built this yourself it is amazing and so beautiful. You’ve got some skills that I am in awe of.”
Alex first became interested in DIY after she purchased her first home in September 2019.
The engineer, who was a finalist on Scotland’s Christmas Home of the Year, previously said: “I am 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.”