A clever woman has revealed how she transformed the empty space above her stairs into a tiny home office for £3,000.
Emily McAllister, from London, took to her TikTok account to document her first home renovations and many are impressed with the transformation of her home office.
Sharing a before and after shortenwhich garnered over a million views, Emily showed off her simple but effective design, with a platform over the stairs on the landing.
He previously had stairs that spiraled down to the front door, but they took up a large portion of his hallway, so he got builders to add a raised platform along his hallway.
Emily bought an £80 B&Q desk in natural oak, which had enough space for her keyboard and monitor.
She then bought an IKEA MULLFJÄLLET desk chair for £150, a cream rug from Tapi and used a natural green paint color from Frenchic Paint for the railing to finish the look.
She revealed in the comments that the project cost her between £2,800 and £3,000 with materials.
Emily wrote: ‘Swipe to build our home office. Obsessed with our small office!!! Proof that no space is too small to be useful.’
Emily McAllister, from London, transformed the empty space at the top of her stairs into a small home office for £3,000
People were surprised by the transformation and were quick to praise his space-saving idea.
One person wrote: ‘This is a very creative way to use wasted space! I love it.’ Another said: ‘£2,800-3,000 with materials!’
Meanwhile, someone else added: “This is gorgeous and a very innovative use of space.”
However, others were nervous about dropping items down stairs while working. One person wrote: “Knowing me, I would drop all my papers and pens down the stairs.”
Another said: “I would turn around when I’m angry about something and fly down the stairs.”
Someone else said: ‘Can you imagine knocking something over and falling down the stairs and having to go get it?’
To which Emily replied: ‘We’ve been working here for about 2/3 months and that hasn’t happened so I think we’re fine haha!’
It comes after another savvy remote worker revealed how he replaced his run-down shed with a luxury home office he built from scratch.
Sharing a before and after clip of the new DIY office, Emily showed off her simple yet effective design idea by building a platform over the stairs on the landing.
He previously had stairs that spiraled down to the front door, but they took up a large portion of his hallway, so he got builders to add a raised platform along his hallway.
People were surprised by the transformation and were quick to praise his space-saving idea.
However, others were nervous about dropping items down stairs when working.
Jonathan Bradley, 57, from Kent, who teaches online business seminars, spent three months building the impressive rear garden structure, which features built-in shelving and elegant glass doors.
He saved money by buying secondhand material and doing most of the work himself, despite his limited experience.
Jonathan was able to complete the project for £6,000, compared to the £15,000-£20,000 he estimates professionals would have charged for similar work.
“Up until the closure, my business was thriving,” Jonathan explained. ‘I was delivering workshops for business leaders around the world. Suddenly my business model wasn’t going to work and it was a shock.”
‘I had clients who were happy to do webinars and online stuff, but trying to work with barking dogs, teenagers and things like the postman at the door was difficult.
“I was in the garden looking at the old trashed shed that a cat couldn’t get in and I knew that wasn’t going to work.
There used to be a small shed at the back of Jonathan’s garden, as shown in the photo, but he removed it and cleared the surface to build his own larger shed. Jonathan explained that the original structure (above) was not “big enough to fit a cat in.”
The end result is impressive, with insulation in the walls, floor and ceiling making the garden office cozy even in winter. The businessman was able to design the space to meet his needs and added built-in shelving and a separate seating area.
“I started designing it on a sheet of paper and knew I couldn’t afford someone to come build it, so I had to do it myself.”
Although the father had some experience with basic DIY, he had never before built something from scratch or taken on a large project.
Jonathan started by creating a level area since the garden was at different heights. With limited tools, he turned to the kitchen for inspiration.
He said: ‘I got some cake tins and filled them with concrete to increase the height difference between each side. They were the removable ones where you can detach the sides. Once that was done, I laid down beams and then laid a large piece of fabric on top for the floor.
Although he had to purchase new materials like drywall and insulation, Jonathan was determined to use as much recycled material as possible to keep costs down.
He said: ‘I found things like doors and windows on Facebook Marketplace. Someone was knocking out the rear window and I bought it for £20.