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I transformed my dark and gloomy kitchen for just £150 using B&Q bargains with NO experience
I transformed my dark and gloomy kitchen for just £150 using B&Q bargains with NO experience

The Sun

time6 days ago

  • General
  • The Sun

I transformed my dark and gloomy kitchen for just £150 using B&Q bargains with NO experience

A SAVVY woman has revealed that she saved herself thousands of pounds by transforming her kitchen all by herself. Natalie Stainthorpe, a dental nurse from Middlesbrough, estimated that it would cost her £3,000 to rip out her dark and dingy kitchen and start from scratch. 4 4 After moving into her new home, the 34-year-old was desperate to add some light to the dark and gloomy kitchen without it costing a fortune. The kitchen had barely any natural light as an extension had been built and the dark wood furnishings didn't help either. Armed with TikTok tutorials and a dream, she set out to transform the space without breaking the bank – and managed to come in a whole £100 under her original £250 budget. 'I just couldn't stand how dark and gloomy it felt – I wanted a fresh, light space where I'd actually enjoy cooking and spending time with my family,' she told What's The Jam. 'The kitchen before was in good condition, but needed a little bit of TLC and I had a vision for the room. 'We did a rough estimate of how much it would cost to completely replace the kitchen from a family friend and we were looking at quite a lot of money - around £2,000 to £3,000 - which was money we didn't have. 'I decided that I was going to do a budget-friendly makeover instead.' She decided not to get new units and opted for a few tins of paint and rolls of vinyl. Natalie roped in her partner and sister to help freshen up the cupboards, wrap the worktops and breathe new life into the handles. She bagged cupboard paint for under £15 a tin, snapped up bargain vinyl from B&Q and picked up all her decorating bits from B&M to keep costs down. The makeover took around a month, squeezed in between shifts and weekends, but the results speak for themselves – the once gloomy kitchen now bright, airy and looking brand new. Natalie said: 'Our original budget was £250 – I didn't want to spend more than that, so to come so far under budget was amazing. 'It was quite a dark room – dark floors, worktops and cupboards and I really wanted to lighten the space up as because of the extension on the back we don't get that much natural light. 'We found the vinyl easy on the straight parts of the worktops, around the sink was a bit fiddly, we watched a few tutorials on YouTube on how to do it around the sink to try and minimise any mistakes. 'My partner Chris actually did most of the sink area as I ran out of patience with it. We repurposed the handles that were already on the units as to replace 14 handles in matte black was quite expensive. 'We gave them a light sand and then we sprayed them with Rust-Oleum black matte spray paint and then sealed with a matte sealant spray. 'We got all our painting supplies from B&M to keep the costs down and budget-friendly – they sell such an amazing range of painting and decorating tools to help with projects like this. 4 'I spent some time researching how to vinyl worktops watching videos on YouTube and TikTok. 'I also got lots of tips from my friend who has done lots of vinyling to change up her rental home.' Natalie, who documented her journey on TikTok, says the whole project took around three to four weeks to complete as she picked it up on days off and weekends. She said: 'It definitely wasn't a quick transformation but that was fine with us, we loved seeing it slowly come together. 'The hardest part for me was probably the vinyling, simply because it took more brain power than the rest, and a lot of patience - something I'm known to not have a lot of. 'We didn't encounter any mistakes, we just took our time with the project - apart from when I spilt paint on my hob. 'If I was to start this project again, I wouldn't change anything – I love how we took our time and worked together to get our final look in here. Rome wasn't built in a day and sometimes time and money restrict a quick transformation. 'I'm all for realistic budget makeovers and those take time. 'The difference it's made is amazing, it's now light and airy, it's really brightened up the room, I'm still obsessed with it now two months down the line.' 'We've had such an amazing reaction to our makeover, my friends and family said it looks like a brand new kitchen and it's had such a good response both on my Instagram and TikTok. 'My advice would be to take your time, it's okay if you don't get a transformation like this done in a day like you can sometimes see on social media. 'My second piece of advice to make sure the longevity of your makeover is prep, prep, prep. 'Spend time prepping your units and surfaces for painting, you'll thank yourself later. 'It just goes to show, you don't always need a big budget – sometimes a bit of patience and a few clever tricks can completely change your home.'

Woman who had size 34H breasts reveals she needed help showering and had to spend hundreds on special bras
Woman who had size 34H breasts reveals she needed help showering and had to spend hundreds on special bras

Daily Mail​

time13-07-2025

  • Health
  • Daily Mail​

Woman who had size 34H breasts reveals she needed help showering and had to spend hundreds on special bras

A woman who had size 34H breasts has revealed that her chest was so big she needed help showering and had to spend hundreds of dollars on special bras. Amy Hills, 24, first started developing a large chest at age 14 but things spiraled in her late teens. At just four-foot-seven-inches, the weight of her breasts left her in constant agony and barely able to function. She said the pain got so bad she struggled to eat, sleep, and even breathe. 'My back and neck pain became debilitating,' she told What's The Jam recently. 'I lived with constant neck, back and shoulder pain and my posture suffered. Exercise was painful and felt embarrassing. 'I couldn't eat because I was so nauseous from constant pain. I had to supplement my intake with protein powders. 'I couldn't get out of bed without help. I felt like I was losing my mind – I was so stuck and in so much pain. At just four-foot-seven-inches, Amy Hills, 24, said the weight of her breasts left her in constant agony and barely able to function 'Even sleeping was difficult – I'd wake up sore and uncomfortable and it reached the point where I couldn't get a full breath in due to the weight on my chest.' What was even worse than the physical pain was the 'emotional toll' that it had on her. She recalled getting stares from strangers in public, and struggled to feel comfortable with her appearance. 'It was the emotional toll that hit hardest,' she continued. 'I felt hyper-visible in public, even when I was just wearing a hoodie. 'Strangers would make comments or stare. I dreaded photos and avoided certain clothes entirely – tight tops, swimsuits, anything with buttons. 'I often cried while getting dressed and found it hard to recognize myself in the mirror. It obliterated my confidence, my relationships, my mental health – everything.' Unable to purchase normal bras, Amy would be forced to spend roughly $100 each on specially sized ones – even then being left with little to no support. Buying clothes was often just as miserable as she had to size up and pay for tailoring or settle for oversized styles that didn't feel like her. She said: 'I couldn't wear standard bras – they didn't make my size in most stores. 'I was spending $100 to $150 per bra and I'd still end up with red marks and shoulder grooves. 'Every time I tried on clothes, I felt ashamed and ended up crying in the change rooms.' The business support officer, who lives in Australia, even stopped looking in mirrors and avoided going out – and she didn't even feel at ease in her own home. She needed assistance with basic activities like getting dressed, putting on shoes, and showering. 'I couldn't get out of bed without help and I could hardly use my arms as every slight movement triggered instant pain,' she explained. 'Due to this, my partner Charlie helped me dress, put on shoes and at times even helped me to walk. 'He also supported me in the shower because I would get dizzy and couldn't bend or twist. 'It made me feel so vulnerable – like I wasn't in control of my own body. I felt like an empty shell of the person I once was and I couldn't find a way out.' It got so bad that she contemplated ending her life. Amy (seen left before and right after the surgery) gushed: 'I felt relieved, emotional, and weirdly light [after my surgery] – physically and emotionally' 'It reached the point where I struggled with suicidal ideation, I struggled in darkness trying to cling to anything that would take away the constant debilitating pain and the mental anguish and grief of the life I couldn't live,' Amy shared. For years, the Australian native wanted to get breast reduction surgery but private clinics quoted her up to $13,500 for the procedure. She applied to have it done through Australia's public healthcare system but was rejected four times. But the young woman kept pushing, documenting her physical and emotional symptoms with her GP until she was finally referred to a surgeon who agreed it was medically necessary. After a long wait, Amy's operation finally went ahead free of charge in April this year. Surgeons removed around three pounds of breast tissue and performed a nipple lift to reshape her chest. The breast reduction surgery took her chest size down to a 12D, and she couldn't be happier. She has been documenting her journey on social media, where is has gone viral, and she has now created a free FAQ guide for anyone considering having breast reduction surgery. Amy concluded: 'I felt relieved, emotional, and weirdly light [after my surgery] – physically and emotionally. 'I cried the first time I looked down. I felt like I could breathe again and I finally saw a version of myself that felt right. 'I can now sleep on my side, wear cute tops, exercise freely, go for walks without pain, run and hold my body with pride. 'I even went to a concert in a crop top recently – something I never thought I'd do. Even just relaxing at home, I feel so much more comfortable and at ease. 'I feel free. The weight is gone – literally and emotionally. My confidence has skyrocketed. 'I don't cry getting dressed anymore. I feel connected to my body for the first time in years. And I feel proud, not just of how I look, but of how far I've come.'

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