Moving into your own home is possibly one of the most exciting adventures you'll ever embark upon - I remember the day Craig and I moved into our rented flat like it was yesterday, I'd never been so excited to clean and put our own stamp on our first abode so you can imagine my excitement when we finally bought our first home together. Unlike renting (unless your landlord is amazing) the possibilities to add your own touch are endless. Having said that there's always one important aspect I forget about, money. I'm all for making our new home as beautiful as possible but the man friend is always the one to harp on about money be practical so when the lovely folk at Moneysupermarket.com got in touch to see how I could transform a room with just £50 I was more than a little determined to prove the boy wrong - I can do stylish and on a budget, you can read all about the competition here.

As England is finally experiencing a real Summer I instantly knew which space I wanted to transform, our outdoor patio space, which to be frank looked a little bland pre makeover. I love that we have both a garden and a patio space in our new home as it will be darling for hosting BBQs, enjoying a glass of wine after work or even somewhere I can blog from (don't let me down Sky Broadband!)



As a newbie to the home owner club I'm determined to finally get into DIY and do things myself, not only does it save precious mula but it also gives you a real sense of pride (so I'm told). That said I didn't want the patio project to be one that'd take an age, there's plenty to be done inside that's going to take that position so after spying some amazing outdoor options on the John Lewis website, I hot footed it to the Sheffield store.


Now I know John Lewis isn't the cheapest of places but I'm a firm believer in buying quality items that'll last whilst mixing in some budget buys, like I would with my wardrobe - it's all about the balance. At £69.99 the bistro set I purchased was technically over budget but a family member had kindly gifted Craig and I a John Lewis gift card so this table and chair set came in under budget at £44.99 - yes! 

I'd like to say I stopped there and felt proud of such an epic and rare achievement of coming under budget but I'd be lying to you guys, on the way out of the store I spotted this super cute London cushion. Now ya'll know how much I love London and this will go with my huge collection of cushions from the flat. With the added purchase of the cushion my budget of £50 was blown by £22.99 but let's be honest, I'd probably spend this in one trip to Boots on unnecessary purchases!

So with a table and cushion (naughty Hannah) in hand I headed back to the house to style things up...



How pretty does our patio area look now? The brightly coloured lanterns I've had since our days in the flat and I know these will create a sweet atmosphere along with my butterfly shaped tea light holder which my brother and his fiancee bought for my birthday. I'd love to tell you the Roberts radio was mine but sadly it's not, my mum and dad haven't been using it for a while so have let us borrow it, will they get it back? Now that's a question! Our bunting is from a shop called Charisma near where we live although I'm debating changing this for my home-made bunting. Finishing touches come in the shape of Barry the Bulldog, our ever practical door stop and my huge Alice in Wonderland-esque clock which I was gifted on my twenty first birthday where I had an Alice in Wonderland themed party.


With the boy suitably impressed with my simple yet very us home improvements (and a little amazed that I managed to achieve all this with just £50 - it'll be our little secret) we decided to celebrate with an impromptu afternoon tea sesh so out came the big guns - I'm talking M&S carrot cake, macaroons and Twinings tea. Let's just hope all my home improvements are so successful, fingers crossed eh?

What do you think of my new patio area? What part of your home would you improve with £50?