Couple refurbished entire house for £500 using Facebook Marketplace - saving £5,000

A couple have saved £6,000 by refurbishing their new home for just £500 -
after buying everything from Facebook Marketplace.

Becky Chorlton, 25, and Steff Roberts, 27, moved into their four-bedroom detached house in Lymm, Cheshire, in October last year.

As the pair are renting the £350,000 property, they decided to save money by buying all their furniture from Facebook Marketplace.

Since moving in, they've managed to fully decorate the living room, kitchen, games room, spare room and office.

And it's only cost them £500 altogether - which means they've saved a whopping £6,000.

Becky, who runs a vintage shop called Becky's Bazaar, said: "I wanted to get nearly everything from Facebook Marketplace.

"I did think we might have had to buy some essentials brand new but we are fortunate so could have borrowed things from my mum and dad.

"My whole working life is dedicated to shopping second hand and things like that, so I poured all my time into looking on Facebook.

"My boyfriend would be at work and I would ask him to collect things on his way back home.

"I was keen to get the majority of things from Facebook Marketplace really."

The biggest bargain Becky found on Facebook was a seven ft, farmhouse-style table with eight chairs and a bench.

The table retails brand new for around £1,000 to £1,500 but she managed to get it for just £150 from Facebook.

Becky said: "The biggest bargain was the dining room table, we have lights hanging down from the ceiling and because we're renting, we can't move them.

"If we didn't get a table that's a certain length, then people would have banged their head on the lights.

"We thought finding a seven ft, farmhouse style table was going to be ridiculously expensive and hard to find.

"We spent the longest amount of time looking for a table - we didn't have anywhere to eat for about two weeks.

"But it was worth the wait because we ended up finding the most perfect table that was around three hours away but it was £150 with all of the chairs and a bench.

"It's not super cheap but buying it brand new would cost around £1000 to £1,500.

"I absolutely love it, I'll keep it for life."

Becky also wanted to purchase a 'Mr Maria X Smiley' lamp, which is sold at Urban Outfitters for £129.

She was planning on buying it instore, but then found one for £30 on Facebook and now it's her 'favourite thing ever' because of how cheap it was.

Becky said: "We've got a smiley face lamp for the house - I was talking about it for ages.

"Me and mum went to the shop where they sell it and I was literally about two seconds away from buying it brand new, which was £130.

"It was just a bit too for me to pay as I wasn't sure I would get my use out of it.

"I kept checking every single day for one on Facebook Marketplace but they were even selling for about £80 on there, secondhand.

"One day, I ended up finding it for £30 and I was messaging the woman saying 'please, I can come and collect it now.'

"It's honestly my favourite thing ever, it makes me so happy looking at it because I know I got it for a bargain.

"Even on that lamp alone, we saved £100."

Steff and Becky plan to buy a house in the future together but Becky says she will '100%' buy furniture secondhand again.

She said: "I'll 100% do this again.

"If we move, then I might even sell some of the pieces like the couch, as it's not as comfy as what we wanted.

"I would then look for another one on Facebook.

"The furniture we have now might not work with the space and we might want to switch it up a bit."

Becky says she would recommend buying things on Facebook Marketplace to anyone but has advised that people 'check every day' if they want a certain item.

She's also advised people to hire a van as most sellers on the platform 'want to get rid of something that day.'

Becky, who has nearly 200,000 followers on TikTok, said: "I would tell people to check Facebook every day and use specific key words if your looking for something.

"I would also say if you're moving house in the space of a week or two weeks and you don't have a van, to rent a van for two weeks.

"Then you've got the flexibility to go and pick something up.

"Luckily my boyfriend had a van but if I know that if he didn't, then we would have struggled because people want to get rid of things that day.

"You'll probably miss out on things.

"I know it costs money to get a van but you will probably save money if you're willing to get all the furniture in those couple of weeks."