Derbyshire businesswoman discovers passion for DIY during lockdown

Tina Sheppard has discovered a passion for DIY during lockdown.

Tina’s latest project is to create a low table out of old crates to take pride of place at a garden party celebrating her 36th birthday in June.

"My husband and I love hosting dinner parties and barbecues,” she said. “We always have a theme for barbecues and this year it’s boho. We’ll have garden lanterns on shepherd’s crooks and floor cushions.”

Her first DIY project, in which she turned an old dining chair into a designer classic, fired her interest in upcycling.

Tina stripped the white paint off the chair which was bought at a car boot sale for 50p.

Tina and her husband bought the chair for 50p at a car boot sale at Colwick racecourse and it sat untouched in their garage for three years.

Lockdown gave Tina the opportunity to tackle tasks at home including transforming the chair by using paint stripper and wood treatment from Palace Chemicals, fabric from a cushion and a staple gun.

Tina said: “It didn’t take long, I probably spent more time watching the how-to video.”

Firstly, she removed the white paint using Palace Chemicals' eco-friendly LANGLOW Strip n Lift paint remover. To bring out the natural grain of the wood and replenish its oils she then used a timber treatment called LANGLOW Patina (also from Palace Chemicals).

Tina transformed the wreck into a beautiful retro dining seat that now takes pride of place in her mustard-and-grey-styled home.

The dining chair now has pride of place in her home where Tina is delighted with the fruits of her labour. “I love it,” she said.

Tina, who is managing director of Poppy PR and a former property editor of the Nottingham Post, said: “I’ve always been into interiors. My husband and I have got a barn in Castle Donington and we renovated that. It was dark, dingy and old-fashioned and we’ve completely transformed it which we did while I was heavily pregnant...people thought I was a bit crazy! We started on October 13 and finished on Christmas Eve the same year. In that time we redecorated every room, replaced all the carpets, we put in a new kitchen and even added an extra bedroom. We’re not scared of doing projects like this we’ve got a house in York that my husband renovated before we got together and a flat in Nottingham.”

Rooting out new cleaning hacks to keep her family home looking its best is another hobby of Tina’s.

Her husband Julian and their three-year-old daughter Arabella refuse to use coasters for their drinks and rather than buy a complete set of new furniture, Tina set to work to repair the damage.

She said: “I started trying to clean it with bleach and nail varnish remover and read that baking soda can help. Randomly we have baking soda toothpaste in the house and decided to try that and it worked.”

Laughing off the suggestion that she’s Derbyshire’s answer to the queen of the cleaning hacks Mrs Hinch, Tina said: “I really like cleaning, I find it therapeutic and believe in tidy house, tidy mind. I read that people who do well in business always make their bed in the morning so that’s something I always do.”

Tina shares her DIY projects and cleaning tips on an Instagram account, ExHackLifeHacks.

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