Couple find secret room hidden behind wall and turn it into dream bar for £45

A couple built their own dream bar area after discovering a hidden room behind a wall in their home.

Sarah King, 32, and her husband Toby came across the find when they decided to give their home in Brighton a fresh lick of paint.

When they noticed a faint outline of a doorway, the pair were left amazed when it turned out to be a hidden room.

She said: "We knew there was a void there, from the plans.

"The other houses along the road have got a cupboard there but we had thought ours was completely bricked up.

"We were prepping and sanding the walls of the dining room, ready to paint.

"We took off some lining paper and sanded, which revealed a very faint outline of a doorway."

Sarah, who recently launched her own interior design business, added: "Once we had seen the outline, we couldn't not know."

As she was furloughed from her job and Toby works as a technical support engineer, Sarah had some time on her hands.

She said: "He went to work one day and I started chipping away the surface to see if there was any way of finding out what was there.

"I just did a tiny bit then sent a photo to Toby – he was replying and happy for me to discover more.

"As I uncovered the lintel, I realised that it was not resting on the breeze blocks that were blocking the door."

Throughout the process, Sarah was sending updates to Toby, who was excited to see what she would find.

She managed to chip through the wall where she knew there was a room there, but waited until Toby came home to finish it off.

Sarah added: "I waited until Toby was home to smash down the breeze blocks – in case something was staring back at me!

"It was a tiny room with just a pull-out shelf/desk, some knee pads and a car battery.

"It had electricity to it and believe it or not, hardly any cobwebs and thankfully no spiders."

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Once they discovered the room, the couple decided it was the perfect space for a bar area as it sits off their dining room.

Sarah said: "The most obvious thing would have been a cupboard but we already had storage for everything.

"It's off the dining room and by the breakfast bar. It was the ideal to have a little bar and make the area special when hosting guests."

Sarah and Toby managed to complete the mini-project for £45 by mainly using materials they already had.

The pair had just started work on their dining room transformation and decided to use the same paint in the bar.

Sarah said: "We made the cupboard from two that were either end under the breakfast bar before.

"We cut back the breakfast bar which made the space more usable and created an entrance to the bar.

"We hung the cupboards on the wall together in the bar, primed them and painted the same colour as the walls.

"Then made a top from wood off cuts we had and wrapped with marble effect vinyl we had to make it look like a marble top.

"We bought some new handles for the doors to finish off."

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She concluded: "The mirrored back of the bar area were mirror stickers we bought as we wanted a mottled glass look.

"The glass shelves we got free on Facebook Marketplace from someone ripping out an old bathroom."

Now the work is finished, the couple are glad they investigated the secret space and are enjoying using their new bar.

Sarah added: "We love it! We are so pleased with it and we love the story behind it of uncovering the space."

Cost breakdown:

Paint – Valspar at B&Q – they already had it
Marble effect vinyl wrap – from B&Q but they already had some leftover from their breakfast bar
Mirror tiles – Amazon £15
Door handles – Amazon £10
Bar sign – Drift Room £20