A savvy husband has turned an unused, dull patch of grass in his back garden into a ‘dream’ salon for his hairdresser wife for £6,000 – and it only took two weeks.
Mobile hairstylist Stephanie Sutherland, 34, had always dreamed of a fully-functioning salon at her Edinburgh home, but joiner husband Wayne, 35, never had the time to build one due to work commitments.
As a result of the enforced lockdown, Wayne has been unable to work, so instead he’s used his newfound free time to build the incredible structure.
Wayne utilised a tiny, awkward corner area of ‘dead space’ in the couple’s small garden to create Stephanie’s Tardis-like salon – complete with professional washbasin, spotlights and large mirrors.
A savvy husband has turned an unused, dull patch of grass in his back garden into a ‘dream’ salon for his hairdresser wife (pictured together) for £6,000 – and it only took two weeks
While her husband took care of the construction and fittings, Stephanie Sutherland picked out ther interior, opting for a grey and white colour scheme
Mobile hairstylist Stephanie Sutherland, 34, had always dreamed of a fully functional salon at her Edinburgh home but joiner husband Wayne, 35, never had the time due to work commitments. Pictured: Wayne starting the build
Stephanie said: ‘The salon really is a dream come true, I absolutely love it and I can’t wait to use it. In a way, it’s worked out well because this would never have got done usually, lockdown has helped us to get it done.
‘I’ve wanted the salon for about a year. I’ve been doing a lot of mobile hairdressing, which has been difficult having to move from one client’s home to another because the traffic in Edinburgh isn’t great.
‘We’d always thought that we didn’t have enough space in the garden for the salon, but after we measured it out we realised we could actually. It seemed really small at first, but now that it’s almost finished it’s perfect.
‘I’m used to the cramped spaces in clients’ kitchens but I’ve actually got a lot more space and better utilities now which is great. Some of my clients are quite vulnerable and so having the salon will also help them out.
‘Hopefully I’ll be able to put some more time into doing more courses so I can offer more services for clients. I’m all about improving and getting better, and this will really help.’
As a result of the enforced lockdown, Wayne has been unable to work so instead used his newfound free time to build the incredible structure (pictured, the inside)
Wayne utilized a tiny, awkward corner area of ‘dead space’ in the couple’s small garden to create Stephanie’s Tardis-like salon – complete with professional washbasin, spotlights and large mirrors (pictured)
Father-of-three Wayne, who has been a joiner for 19 years, says he had been planning to build the salon (pictured) and yet due to work pressures, was never able to get started
Stephanie (pictured with Wayne) said: ‘The salon really is a dream come true, I absolutely love it and I can’t wait to use it.’
Father-of-three Wayne, who has been a joiner for 19 years, said he had been planning to build the salon and yet due to work pressures, was never able to get started.
He said: ‘I’m really chuffed with it and my wife is too. We had a dead space in our garden, which is where we’ve built the salon, and now it’s a really cool space.
‘I would often come home and there would be people in my kitchen getting their hair done, so I thought to myself it would be good to put something like this in.
‘We’ve talked about it in the past. I’ve always said that I’d do it, but the timing hasn’t been great and I’ve been busy with my own work.
‘Now that lockdown is in place and I no longer have my own work, I thought that this would be a great time to build it for her.
Stephanie used to cut people’s hair in her kitchen (left) but now has more room thanks to the new salon (pictured right)
Despite the salon (pictured) looking complete, Wayne admitted he’s a perfectionist and would like to add a few finishing touches
Wayne explained: ‘We’re still waiting for the shops to open because the type of paint we want for the outside is like goldust and so a lot of the suppliers have sold out of it.
‘I’ve worked in the business since I was 16-years-old and so I know how to work things out. This has kept me sane and my mind ticking over, it’s been a great help to get stuck into something.
‘It’s really soul-destroying sitting around doing nothing and so I’ve enjoyed building this. I’ve been quite happy working away on the salon and have even enjoyed working on weekends.
‘Stephanie helped with some bits as well, she picked the interior out so I can’t take all of the credit. I finished it in good time and the weather has helped quite a lot. It’s a good deed done and my brownie points are now through the roof.’
Wayne later posted his results to social media, through his Facebook account for his work Wayne Sutherland Joinery, and has received more than 16,000 shares and 3,000 comments.
Wayne later posted snaps of the salon (pictured) to social media and has received more than 16,000 shares and 3,000 comments
Wayne said: ‘I can’t believe how much attention the salon (pictured) has had – it’s been a bit crazy. I’ve had people from Texas and Minnesota messaging me about it, It’s mind-boggling’
Wayne said: ‘I can’t believe how much attention it’s had – it’s been a bit crazy. I’ve had people from Texas and Minnesota messaging me about it, It’s mind-boggling.
‘It’s also inspired people to see what they can do with similar spaces in their gardens which is great to see. The phone hasn’t stopped ringing and I woke up this morning and had so many messages.
‘I was just hoping it would generate a bit of business for me. I’m a bit of a perfectionist with the work I do. I take care of what I’m doing and I always put my all into a job I’m working on.
‘With me being in lockdown, it’s been a struggle for me to get the materials for the salon but I managed to get a lot of what I needed. The salon is about 95 per cent finished, it just needs the finishing touches added to it.
Wayne said: ‘Once it’s properly finished we’ll have a few more photos taken I think and once it’s open and everything is back to normal, we might even have a glass of champagne to celebrate!’ Pictured: The build before it was finished
The project pictured when only the outer frame was completed and part of the doors had been added to the build
‘We’re still waiting for the shops to open because the type of paint we want for the outside is like goldust, and so a lot of the suppliers have sold out of it.
‘I had the sliding doors as spare from a job I worked on a few months back but I had to order in a lot of the stuff for it.
‘Our garden goes to a funny shape, I measured everything out to get the floor size and made a list of the materials I’d need and then took it from there. Once you’ve got that, everything else just falls into place.
‘I didn’t want it to take up too much of the garden as well because we have a bit of decking out for when we have BBQs. It just shows you what you can do with dead space in the garden.
‘Once it’s properly finished we’ll have a few more photos taken I think and once it’s open and everything is back to normal, we might even have a glass of champagne to celebrate.’