Thrifty DIYer saves HUNDREDS upgrading his dated fireplace using eBay and Gumtree bargains

• Jonathan Barnes, 50, gave his living room an ‘industrial theme’ update
• Shop manager, from Rochdale, could have paid over £2,000 for a professional 
• The thrifty DIYer used materials from B&Q, Gumtree, eBay and Tesco
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From Christmas card displays to hanging stockings, all eyes are on the fireplace at this time of year.

But if yours is looking a little lacklustre ahead of Christmas, then you might want to take a leaf out of Jonathan Barnes’ book. 

The thrifty shop manager, from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, has revealed how he’s saved a small fortune upgrading his dated old fireplace using bargains from eBay, GumTree and B&Q. 

Speaking to Latest Deals, the 50-year-old explained how he’d been wanting to put his plan into action since moving into his new home last year – but it could have cost up to £2,000 to have it done professionally. 

Thrifty shop manager Jonathan Barnes, from Greater Manchester, transformed his living room from dark and dingy (pictured, before he took on the home improvement project)

After settling on an ‘industrial theme’ for the room, the first thing Jonathan did was go down to his local B&Q where he bought some £29 wooden batons and £60 MDF for the chimney breast. 

He said: ‘After that I headed into Screwix and got 7 tubes of Evo-Stik gripfill adhesive for £2.80. Then I went to Homebase and picked up lintel for £15 and stone effect wallpaper for £22 before going to Travis Perkins for mortar priced at £7. 

‘Online, I browsed eBay and purchased a mesh grill for £9, an LED mood lighting kit for £15, and reclaimed Georgian brick slips for £51. Finally, I got a pre-owned electric fire cassette for £50 off Gumtree.’

Once he’d sorted his supplies, Jonathan ripped out the fireplace which had been installed by the previous owner – tackling it section at a time.

Jonathan (pictured) decided on an ‘industrial theme’ for his living room before going down to his local B&Q where he bought some £29 wooden batons and £60 MDF for the chimney breast

The 50-year-old ripped out some of the original bricks to make the fireplace bigger during his work in the living room 

The fireplace was held together with brick-slips for a time after Jonathan increased the size during his two hour project 

In total, Jonathan says this process took him roughly two hours – but the real challenge was making the opening larger to accommodate his new fireplace. 

‘I used an electric SDS+ hammer drill with a chisel attachment for the job,’ he added. ‘This was the most physical of all the renovation challenges, which took roughly three hours.’

After he was satisfied with the new size, Jonathan then clad the fireplace in MDF and created two pillars to cover the ‘unsightly’ original brickwork, which was being held in place with brick-slips. 

In order to hang his flat-screen TV above the fireplace, Jonathan then set about making a sturdy new frame. 

Pictured left, before, and right, after the build. Jonathan explained he had ‘always enjoyed his DIY projects, and said ‘a lot’ of meticulous planning went into the design  

Jonathan continued: ‘Wooden batons were added to the top half of the chimney breast for supporting the bulk head that I made from chipboard.

‘To make the bulk head, I measured the framework that I had attached to the chimney breast earlier. I then cut two lengths of chipboard using a small circular saw to create the sides for the bulkhead.’ 

Next, Jonathan then made a small shelf to house his soundbar and covered the panel in concrete-effect wallpaper.

In order to make his soundbar blend in with the rest of the room, the DIYer covered them in a pair of tights he bought from Tesco for £4 in lieu of a specially-designed speaker cover.

To attach it to the chimney breast, Jonathan then created a plinth out of his remaining MDF.  

He added: ‘A lot of meticulous planning went into my design and build, and fortunately everything went as planned.

‘I’ve always enjoyed DIY and I was really looking forward to implementing my design as my budget would not stretch to hiring a professional.’

Commenting on the staggering transformation, Latest Deals co-founder Tom Church said: ‘Jonathan has totally transformed his living room with this fireplace makeover. 

‘A professional installation can cost anywhere between £600 and over £2,000, so he has saved £100s, if not £1000s, by doing it all himself!’

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