Welcome to our austerity home: Couple completely make over their house with reclaimed goods that cost them next to nothing

By SIMON TOMLINSON

Bargain-hunter: Kresse Wesling in her kitchen with her granite and marble work top made from reclaimed off cuts and and a friend's fireplace. She and James Henrit have saved thousands by decking out their one-bedroom flat with unwanted items

In these belt-tightening times, it always helps to shop around to get the best deal.
But one couple have taken that philosophy to the extreme by completely transforming their home simply with reclaimed goods.
Kresse Wesling and James Henrit bought their two-bedroom flat last year when it was little more than a shell.

Industrious: The couple have made this bed out of reclaimed scaffolding boards and bars to save on buying a new one


Crafty: The bed's scaffolding board hides a walk-in wardrobe (left), while this chair (right) has been fashioned from a wine barrel

Trawling charity shops and tips, and searching on websites Gumtree, Freecycle and eBay, the pair managed to create an incredible home from items no-one wanted.
What would have cost about £35,000 using new materials has been done for under £3,000 - albeit with thousands of man-hours.
Their bed is made from scaffold poles, the kitchen is created from reclaimed wood and granite and the tiles in their hallway are made from old firemen’s hoses.

Pallet-able: This bed has been lovingly made using painted wooden crates. The couple call their technique 'upcycling' - taking quality, unwanted goods and making them like new

Got it sewed up: James Henrit makes adjustments to a belt in the couple's workshop, which they used to custom-make their cut-price finds

Buckling up: In a feat of true resourcefulness, the curtain ties (left) have been created from BMW seatbelts, while wooden pallets have also been used to make the kitchen cupboards (right)

Kresse, 34, said: 'We bought the flat a year ago and it was little more than a shell.
'There was no heating and no sewage and our aim was to put nothing new in it at all.
'Of course there had to be some compromise - electrical wire for example had to be new.
'One of the few things we had to buy new was the toilet - we couldn’t find a second hand one.
'Mostly when they are thrown out they are cracked so we had to buy a new one - we were very disappointed about that.
'The floors were covered in lino and it took us five days to get it off and underneath were beautiful wooden floorboards.'

Lounge act: The window shutters have also been fashioned from wooden pallets, while the furniture was picked up for peanuts or even free


No burden on the wallet: Kresse with the eight cupboard doors she found at a tip. Her cost-cutting wasn't without man-hours, however, as many items needed work to bring them up to scratch

Saving cash: The kitchen sink was found in woods while the couple were out walking, the white granite work top was made from a friend's fireplace and the tiles are reclaimed

A disused work bench has been turned into a dining table and other furniture including the sink has been found at dumps and transformed into spectacular pieces.
Much of the furniture was made from pallet wood and a painting hanging in their front room was created by a friend.
The couple call their technique 'upcycling' - taking quality goods nobody wants or is selling cheaply and making them like new.
A bathroom mirror was picked up from a firm that makes them and was about to be thrown out because it was not quite perfect.

Cutlery and crockery was found in charity shops and the bathroom tiles were made from reclaimed Welsh slate.
Their TV was a present and their range and fridge were snapped up from websites offering second-hand goods.
The website Freecycle provided them with a Chesterfield sofa and carpets were provided by Kresse’s collection of old Tibetan rugs.
The couple, from Bournemouth, Dorset, have also turned their passion into their living and now run a company - Elvis and Kresse - that sells upcycled goods.

Transformation: The couple's two-bedroom flat (in this block above) was just a shell when they bought it last year

Water steal! This red welcome mat is made from waterproof, hard-wearing fire-hose


The wooden kitchen units (left) have been made from a modified 'dresser' found at the dump, while the bathroom tiles (right) have been created from reclaimed Welsh slate. The bath is lined with scaffolding boards

Kresse added: 'Our bed and closet were made from scaffolding poles and we found many things at the dump or in charity shops.
'We don’t have two knives and forks that are the same and we use old jars for glasses.
'But we have a lovely Chesterfield sofa and Tibetan rugs in the floor and Welsh slate tiles in the bathroom.
'We have proved it can be done as long as you keep your mind open and are prepared to do the work.
'We estimated that doing the work with new materials would cost about £30-35,000 and we have spent a fraction of that.'

source: dailymail