SITTING down to our favourite ITV dating show most of us can only dream of spending a summer in the Love Island villa.
But for supermarket staffer Paul Brooks, 30, the dream has become a reality after he transformed his basic four bedroom new build house into his own take on the Mallorcan destination.
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And while Paul from Derby (@paul.and.lees.home) is thrilled with his homage to TV’s most famous holiday home cruel trolls aren’t quite as convinced, labelling his hard work ‘tacky’.
But Paul and his long term partner of 11 years Lee Gainey, 34, a supermarket manager, aren’t bothered by haters because their Love Island-style fire pits, hot tubs and dining area have actually added hundreds of thousands of pounds to the value of their home.
Here Paul tells Fabulous why he’ll never let cruel comments get the better of him…
“Flicking on the back garden light switch after a long day at work, I watch as our backyard transforms from pitch black into a copy of the million pound Love Island Villa set.
Our house isn’t on the Balearic coast though it’s a new build in Derby.
It may be thousands of miles away from the set of the TV show but it’s like stepping right into the Love Island Villa and our renovation is dead posh and classy.
We’ve poured our hearts and soul into creating our forever home from a basic new build and shared the stunning results on Instagram and TikTok.
Just like the Mediterranean villa, my garden is a riot of colour and I’ve created different zones including a kitchen with a super shiny floor trolls moan about, a pink guest bedroom and a luxury grey and white master suite.
But unlike the villa, mine did not cost a million as I’ve used B&M products, items from The Range, eBay, Amazon and even Poundland and it looks every bit as convincing.
The people who claim it’s tacky have clearly no taste and are just mean bullies hiding behind fake profiles and are jealous.
In the past my videos got about ten thousand views but the moment I shared our Love Island garden and kitchen makeover it went viral with over half a million views.
People are shocked when they discover our home is a new build as others are convinced it’s a million pound mansion.
But for every positive comment we got there were a dozen trolls eager to sink their teeth in.
One lady labels our £20,000 makeover ‘tacky’ another troll chimes in, “Imagine coming to someone’s house and it looks like this, I would leave.”
Even more shockingly another declares: “Yes you can’t polish a turd. Lighting and plants can’t hide the corners that have been cut.”
Another faceless troll even claimed that the site of our home made them ‘seasick’.
But I pay the trolls no attention as fans have been full of praise for our Love Island dream house especially considering the hard work we’ve put in.
The decoration and renovation to transform the faceless new build to a sparkling TV style set home has taken almost three years.
We didn’t have an ITV budget so we saved up the £20,000 needed to create the garden of our dreams.
In one section there is a glass canopy covered with an all weather hot tub costing £4,000.
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I even nabbed my very own ex-display fire pit from a local garden centre for £2,000 saving more than 50 per cent.
It has created a glamorous space you can imagine Love Island stars snogging by or dishing the dirt on each other.
Like the vibrant coloured Love Island set we’ve also put down our own astro-turf.
We spent £2,000 on the low maintenance fake grass and it will last for more than a decade. That’s one area we didn’t scrimp on. It means no weeds and you can enjoy perfection all year round without having to mow it.
We wanted the garden to always look new so instead of wood tiering and decking that would rot we took the lead from Love Island and used a composite wood grain panelled lookalike deck.
I put faux palm trees like they have on the show near the hot tub as I worried the chlorine and steam would affect real plants.
I don’t care that trolls label the makeover tacky
Paul Brooks
The outside dining area is lit with warm glow electric lights creating the perfect romantic atmosphere for me and my own Love Island hunk.
I don’t care that trolls label the makeover tacky or claim it looks like B&M car crash.
Clearly they have no taste and are jealous.
We’re huge Love Island fans and our home is heavenly. Thousands of followers agree saying ‘it’s the house of their dreams’ and a ‘garden paradise’.
They tell the trolls to back off and actively defend me. They also love my clap backs and the way I call out the haters in TikTok videos.
The £20,000 garden revamp has been an investment as a top property valuer said just that alone has added £100,000 to the value of our house.
We bought our home for a little more than £300,000 in 2018 and now it’s valued at well over half a million now thanks to our so-called ‘tacky B&M’ makeover and I keep getting messages from people asking if I’d sell to them.
It’s our forever home and we have spent £50,000 on the total re-decoration. We’ve saved and worked hard spending every penny we have on our dream house.
The trolls might be whining but we are winning!”
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