A mum-of-three has taken out her revenge on her cheating ex-husband through a means which will make record collectors up and down the country wince in agony.
Sonia Barton, 47, from Belper in Derbyshire, was keen to jazz up her lacklustre kitchen, adding a bit of colour and individuality to the design.
The children’s entertainer saw the perfect opportunity to transform her kitchen floor after eyeing up her ex-husband’s record collection, and took more than a bit of musical inspiration.
Sonia decided to make the vinyl records – which included Dire Straits, Jets Yazz, Hands Up, Showaddywaddy and Paper Lace – part of the floor, using them as striking decorating materials.
She has spent an estimated £2,500 on revamping her kitchen, transforming it into a colourful – and slightly vengeful – culinary wonderland. The most costly part of the decorating project apparently involved sourcing 5,000 miniature flower buttons that make up part of the floor.
Luckily, the time and money has paid off, with the revenge floor reportedly giving Sonia daily doses of joy:
Some of them are my ex-husband’s. It amuses me, it makes me laugh every time I walk in the kitchen and see them.
Each section is bordered by small tiles because I didn’t want to do it all in one go so I could still use my kitchen.
Sonia kicked the project off in October 2018 after opting for a complete overhaul to her kitchen, installing a new floor, worktops, doors, drawers, kick-board and architrave in the process.
Alongside other items, she chose to include some vinyl from her ex-husband’s collection, making each part of the floor in small stages so she could carry on using her kitchen.
According to Sonia:
I love DIY and I love colour so it just evolved. I originally wanted to do records on the floor when I was married but my husband at the time didn’t like the idea, so as soon as we split I decided to do it.
It’s been a labour of love for me. I started it over a year ago and spent evenings and weekends working on it.
Sonia added:
Most of my friends have seen it as it’s been coming along. Some people have seen photos of it and have said it’s a bit mad but they’ve said it works when they’ve come in and seen it. It’s bonkers and it reflects me.
It’s a hard-wearing kitchen so it should last forever. I feel happy just being in it. Stepping inside brings a smile to my face no matter how I’m feeling. It uplifts your soul.
I, for one, love it. If I wasn’t so terrified of getting on her bad side, I would love to hire Sonia as a painter decorator one day…
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.