Woman quoted £700 to transform her garden does it herself for under £200

Many homeowners are willing to splash out a bit to spruce up their gardens. However, one internet influencer has revealed how she managed to slash the cost of renovating her garden.

Clare Seal, known as @clare. seal on Instagram, regularly shares personal finance, shopping culture and real life content with her 118,000 followers on the app.

In one of her recent posts, the mum disclosed how she refreshed her garden for under £200, despite receiving a quote for £700. Clare initially shared a photo of a small corner of her garden, writing: "We were quoted £700 to level and pave this gross corner of our garden.."

She then showcased the finished results, adding: "...so here's what I did for under £200 instead."

Clare, who wanted to create a play area for her children, mentioned that after browsing mud kitchens from toy shops priced over £100, she managed to secure a "beautiful" one from a local craftsman on Facebook Marketplace for just £40.

She relocated the planters they already owned to form a barrier and purchased some weed control fabric for £11.49.

Clare then bought some herbs - sage, mint and thyme - for £15 and utilised compost she already had to fill the troughs.

The influencer noted her largest expense was the play bark which cost £99.50, while the edging was a mere £6 from B&Q.

She stated that the vast majority of the accessories she acquired for the mud kitchen were "foraged from our cupboards", providing the added bonus of decluttering her kitchen.

However, she did manage to pick up an "amazing" water dispenser and a few other items from IKEA for just £23.50.

Discussing the renovation, Clare stated: "This project transformed the second half of our summer holidays.

"Not only did H love it, but our 7-year-old and 10-year-old boys spent hours making recipes, setting up cafes and let's face it, chucking water at each other."

She continued: "I'm really not a DIY expert, and I was winging it the whole way, but I'm so pleased with how it turned out.

"Don't forget that one of your best money-saving tools is your creativity."

The post was a hit, garnering thousands of likes. One individual exclaimed: "So sweet. What a brilliant use of space!".

Another chimed in: "Love this! I'm guilty of getting overwhelmed by the cost of things and just not doing anything. I need to remember I can approach things this way at home too."

A third person also commented: "This is amazing - I think you've underestimated how well you've done with this. The vision. The confidence. And the execution. It looks amazing."