Creative grandma makes amazing radiator cover in lockdown - and it cost nothing
- Hellan Pearce, 56, found free pallets on Facebook
- She made radiator covers, garden display units and sun loungers
- Hellan is now starting her own business making the products
Even if you’ve never changed a lightbulb, you might have considered taking up DIY as a way to pass the time in lockdown.
And one grandma managed to create an amazing radiator cover for her home, as well as beautiful garden displays and a sun lounger, using pallets she picked up for free.
Hellan Pearce, 56, a mum of six and grandmother of three from Wiltshire, put a call-out on Facebook for the pallets and soon set to work building her DIY creations.
Hellan told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: "I've wanted a radiator cover for my doorway since being in my house and having searched the internet, I thought they were very expensive and annoyingly my radiators were too high for any I found.
"I was a payroll manager but I have just been made redundant. Being made redundant in the coronavirus pandemic brought me to thinking that I could probably make one easily enough and I had time on my hands. I like to keep busy as it's good for the mind.
"I put a post on Facebook asking friends for unwanted pallets that could be picked up following social distancing rules. I had lots of people reply saying they'd leave them on their drive.
"I took the measurements of my radiator and got to work. I cut the pallet down & reconfigured the size, cut the back at the bottom to fit over the skirting board with a jigsaw & painted it.
"I already had the paint leftover from another project. I mirror tiled the top and it was done - and it cost nothing! I also made a garden display and a sun lounger.
“I’m now starting my own business doing this kind of thing as people have asked me to make them!”
Hellan says she is over the moon with how the projects have turned out.
"Doing these projects was not only rewarding but took my mind off what was happening in the outside world for a moment,” she adds.
"Obviously the fact it cost nothing was great too!”
Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, comments: “Facebook Marketplace is an amazing place to pick up free materials just waiting to be upcycled.
“Who knew you could make so much with pallets? Hellan has really put her creativity to good use to transform everything in her home from her radiators to her garden with her fantastic upcycling skills!"
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