Mortgage broker transforms unused garage into his local boozer, saving over £3,000!

Davey Pearson, 46, a pub-lover, originally from Sussex, moved to Spalding in Lincolnshire around three years ago and in the back garden of their new home was an 18ft x 9ft empty derelict garage. Missing the London pubs, Davey decided it was a perfect space for his own pub and set out to do the transformation himself.

Before:

The project took three months and cost around £3,000 for the transformation. 

Talking to My Local Toolbox about the design, Davey said he got his inspiration from his ‘love of London pubs, especially Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese in Fleet Street, with a slight modern twist’.

The walls are plasterboard with taped seams, and he used GoodHome Hamilton Matt Emulsion from B&Q to paint the walls, giving a traditional cosy pub feel. A unit was placed on the wall behind the bar to store the bottles of alcohol and glasses and Davey used B&Q Spectric single- colour LED strip lights stuck to the inside top of the unit to create a warm ambience in the evening.

For the flooring, Davey used Wickes general purpose-oriented strand boards with wood effect vinyl laid on top. 

After:

The pub even has a name – ‘The Shire Inn’, which was inspired by Davey’s move to the Shire, and has its own beer garden, which he transformed by clearing the overgrown weeds and trees and putting down a weed membrane with gravel on top and a timber border to finish.

Fancy a pub in your garden? When asked what advice he would give to anyone who was thinking of transforming their garage, Davey said, ‘Keep focused on the end goal’.

If Davey had employed a tradesperson to convert this garage into a pub, it would have set him back around £6 – 8,000. However, as Davey did all the labour himself, this cosy, quirky little pub cost him £3,000, resulting in a massive saving of £3 – 5,000!

Davey and his dad enjoying the pub 😉