Davey Pearson (left) and his father in the garage after conversion into a backyard boozer. PHOTO BY DAVEY PEARSON/SWNS
Davey Pearson (left) and his father in the garage after conversion into a backyard boozer.
A man spent three months transforming his derelict garage into a PUB – because he missed his favorite London boozers when he moved house.
Davey Pearson, 46, saved himself more than £5,000 by building his DIY man cave The Shire Inn, which is inspired by the pubs along the capital’s Fleet Street.
He decided to construct the backyard boozer after he moved to Spalding, Lincs., from Sussex and realized how much he missed the bars he used to prop up.
The venue at the 18×19 foot former garage now comes complete with a fully-stocked bar, pumps, a fireplace and even a piano.
It also has its own beer garden, which Davey transformed by clearing the overgrown weeds and trees and putting down gravel on top with a timber border.
Mortgage broker Davey spent around £3,000 (nearly $4,000) on his labor of love and reckons it would have cost him £8,000 if he had used a tradesperson.
He said: “We previously had a home bar before moving to the new house. It was Covid lockdown driven.
“It was inspired by my love of London pubs, especially Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese in Fleet Street, but with a slight modern twist.
“If I had any advice to anyone thinking of doing the same, I’d say just keep focused on the end goal.
“We moved from Sussex to Lincolnshire so all our friends and family say we moved to the Shire. So it kind of made sense to call it The Shire Inn.”
Talking to My Local Toolbox about the design, Davey said the walls are plasterboard with taped seams.
He used GoodHome Hamilton Matt Emulsion from B&Q to paint the walls, giving a traditional cozy pub feel.
A unit was placed on the wall behind the bar to store the bottles of alcohol and glasses.
Davey used B&Q Spectric single-colour LED strip lights stuck to the inside top of the unit to create a warm ambiance in the evening.
And for the flooring, Wickes general purpose-oriented strand boards with wood effect vinyl laid on top were used.
Produced in association with SWNS Talker
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