Whilst looking through last week’s Newton News I noticed an article on garden makeovers during lockdown.

Above are before and after images of my patio. The base is hand stencilled, cost £50 in paint and sealant; and the new sofa cost £350. The project took me two days from start to finish and we absolutely love it.

I am a part time art teacher, so it was nice to get my hands dirty and create some art for us to enjoy over the weekends of lockdown and in the future.

We got prices, all of which we considered, but, with extra time on our hands, we decided to be thrifty. In the money we saved we have now been able to afford the materials needed for our new fence. Which was out of reach originally. We used masonry paint, a laser cut stencil, which we made ourselves and got to work.

Wasn’t easy going on the knees, but worth it, now it’s done. We bought this house two years ago, and I’ve always felt the need to apologise to people when they visit, for the state of the garden, as we hadn’t got round to doing it. But now it’s going to be the place I take people first. Hopefully our two young labradors don’t destroy it in the mean time.

Sabrina Brett

ED: Send your lockdown project details to paul@newtonnews.co.uk