THOSE looking to renovate or have just found a new property will know how expensive home decor can be.
But not if you're Annika, a crafty DIY whizz from the US who's managed to make a dupe for a stunning £360 velvet bench for a mere £23.
Whilst visiting one of her favourite furniture stores, Annika stumbled upon a tufted bench in deep navy – but although she immediately fell in love with it, the hefty price put her off.
Instead, the creative guru said, she decided to DIY it using cheap Dollar Tree bargains – a process she later shared on YouTube.
According to the video, Annika's first instinct was to grab a few pool noodles.
This is because she had seen a couple of people using them for headboards and thought they would make a great cushion.
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Trying to keep the costs as low as possible, the woman also visited The Home Depot, the largest home improvement retailer in the US, where she bagged some plywood pannels.
Here, she pointed out, it is important to keep the measurements around the length of the pool noodle – hers were 42 inches.
''If you get your pool noodles somewhere else, just make sure they are the same length.''
When shopping for the material, feel free to pick the one that would fit your style and room the best – but she did suggest going for a thicker fabric.
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In the tutorial video, she also demonstrated the tools she had used in the process – a staple gun, staples, scissors, wood glue, a drill, corner braces, as well as a wood crossbeam.
First, start off by putting together the wood panels – for this, simply use the corner braces and wood glue to create the base for the bench.
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As the screws that had come with the corner braces were too long for the DIY project and would peek through the bench, Annika used shorter ones – so make sure to have these ready at hand.
Whilst the glue is setting and drying, start working with the fabric you've picked.
Leaving roughly two or so inches to hang around each side, start by lining the underneath of the tufted bench – for Annika, the measurements were 20×60 inches.
Once you've arranged the fabric properly, use the staple gun to secure it in place.
''Make sure you're pulling the fabric completely tight so that there is no slack just to avoid any wrinkling.''
With the remaining fabric, staple it on one edge of the bench before grabbing a noodle and placing it across the top panel.
According to Annika, take the fabric, pull it over the noodle and then use staple gun to secure it properly.
The first one, she said, might be a bit of a struggle: ''Just be patient with it and take your time.''
Continue the same process with the remaining noodles whilst also ensuring each was pushed as close to the last one as close as possible.
''Just like the first noodle, the last one might give you some trouble too.
''But it just requires a little bit of pushing and pulling to make sure it doesn't hang over the edge at all.''
For the ends of the pool noodles, staple the fabric and use scissors to cut off the remaining bits.
Annika also reassured that the noodles wouldn't make any squeaky sounds and even jumped on the bench to demonstrate its stability.
''Overall, it's a very comfortable bench and I would compare it to the $474 (£360) bench.''
On both Instagram and YouTube where the whizz shared the step-by-step tutorial, viewers were amazed, with some claiming they weren't able to tell the difference between Annika's one and its twin in the shop.
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''I like yours way better then the store one [sic],'' one said.
''i thought it would look so bad but no it looks better then the original [sic],'' another agreed.
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