I transformed my council house with B&M and IKEA buys to make it classy – trolls slam me but I don’t care
WITH more and more people taking to social media to show off their home interiors, one woman is on a mission to break the mould of what a council house ‘should’ look like.
While many people may have a perception of what they think a typical council house is like, 25-year-old Celene Francis has given her council property a mega makeover whilst on a budget, in a bid to break the mould.
We spoke to the single mother about her council home and how she gave it a stunning transformation, all by herself.
Celene, who posts on TikTok under the username @, explained that she moved into her two-bedroom house in Rotherham two years ago, with her three-year-old daughter.
With not much money to spare, the student midwife and mental health support worker used all of her leftover cash to buy cheap but chic accessories to really bring her council property to life.
She explained that she regularly shops in high-street chains such as B&M, The Range and Home Bargains and by watching YouTube videos, has been able to give her home a stunning upgrade.
And while nasty trolls often tell her that her DIY work is ‘a waste of money’, Celene isn’t fazed and is obsessed with her beautiful home.
Celene told Fabulous: “I moved in a couple of years ago now and it was a blank canvas essentially.
“It was really run down, it was left in a state, there was nothing on the floor, the garden was horrendous.
“I think the previous people who lived there were smokers as it had yellow ceilings.
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“It was your typical council house, what they deem ‘liveable’ - there was some paint but it was what was left - so some of the doors were purple.
“Some of the walls had wallpaper but it was just what was left.
“There was no flooring down, there was an old lino that had been ripped up so it was quite bare.”
Celene got to work on making the home her own and explained that she watched YouTube clips to learn about DIY.
She explained: “I’ve done all sorts of DIY. I’ve painted it all white.
“I painted the kitchen cupboards, got new handles, and painted the tiles.
“Obviously I put down flooring and just got laminate and carpets.
“On the stairs I did a stair runner and just used what was leftover from my carpet.
“I did all of the DIY myself - obviously the carpet I had that fitted, but I did everything else myself, including fitting the stair rods and all of the painting.
“I watched a lot of YouTube videos but I’ve always been into DIY and interiors and doing things myself.
“I would look at ideas and think ‘I like that, I’ll try that’.”
Celene revealed that as a single mother, she has tried to cut costs where possible, and so buys a lot of her home furnishings from cheap high-street chains.
I absolutely love B&M. As soon as something is trendy, B&M have it straight away.
She added: “I like to be on a budget and especially in this day and age, I haven’t got loads of spare money.
“I’ve done everything gradually and I don’t really go out or drink [alcohol] so any spare money I have, I buy things for the house.
“I love IKEA and B&M.
“I like H&M Home but it’s slightly more expensive so I’ve only got a few ornaments from there.
I mainly shop at The Range, B&M, Home Bargains and IKEA. Some things I’ve got from JYSK.
“But my favourite shop is B&M. I absolutely love B&M. As soon as something is trendy, B&M have it straight away.
“You see something you like in H&M Home and you go into B&M and they’ve got it in there straight away.
“I love their garden stuff, their kitchen stuff, love it. I think B&M is great.”
The DIY whizz revealed that her garden was in desperate need of some TLC when she moved in and so she gave it a stunning fence upgrade, saving herself thousands of pounds.
She continued: “The garden was an absolute mess when I moved in and I’ve just started on it.
“I got quotes for a fence and they were £3,000, but my brother knows someone who has a timber yard, so I got the wood from there and it was £400.
“It's not completely finished at the minute but I did the fence on a budget.
“I got quotes for a fence and they were £3,000, but my brother knows someone who has a timber yard, so I got the wood from there and it was £400 and so I did it myself.”
Thanks to Celene’s impressive DIY skills, she has been able to transform her home into a relaxing retreat.
She noted: “My house now is very neutral - it’s a calm, relaxing space.
“I love colour but I have kept it really neutral with black accents.
“All my walls are white, I haven’t got any feature walls. I’ve just built on that with accessories.
“One of the things I made sure to do was to have a cohesive feel in all of the rooms.
It’s classy. I like the black.”
As a result of her home’s makeover, Celene revealed that people always say that her house ‘doesn’t look like a council house.’
As well as this, although lots of people have praised her beautiful home, there have been some trolls that have questioned her efforts.
She said: “I’ve had a few people comment on my videos on TikTok saying ‘why would you do that?’, ‘the house is plain’, ‘it’s a waste of money’.
Sometimes people have the perception that if you live in a council home then you can’t have it nice, but you can.
“I have people say ‘it’s a waste of money’ all the time, but I just think, it’s my home. If you lived in private rental you would still go and buy the cushions you want and the accessories you want.
“Sometimes people have the perception that if you live in a council home then you can’t have it nice, but you can.
“I just think it's their opinion and I’ll leave them to it. I don’t say anything back.
“If anything, I think it’s more people not knowing how council properties work and people thinking that ‘if you live in a council house then you don’t work’, but that’s really not how it works.
“People are easy to judge and just don’t understand how it works.
“I definitely want to break the stigma about living in a council house.
“With the council, where I am, you get the option to put in to buy for it after three years which is something I am hopefully going to do, so for me, it is an investment anyway.
“I just think - why not make it your own if you’re going to stay there?
“A lot of people say that my house doesn’t look like a council house and it is completely opposite to what you think a council house would look like.
“I’ve had loads of messages from people living in council properties genuinely asking me to give them ideas and go to their house and do their interiors.”
If you want to give your home an upgrade but without breaking the bank, Celene shared her top advice.
She advised: “Go to B&M. Have a colour scheme in mind and stick with it - don’t go on tangents.
“Buy things as you go along - you don’t have to do everything at once.
“For me, I painted the walls white, kept neutral carpet and flooring and accessorised it how I wanted.
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“People haven’t got the money to splash, so watch YouTube videos and try and do it yourself.
“Paint something any colour and put new handles on and it’s really crazy what you can do.”
