Your Trusted Handywoman & Gardener

Hi, I'm Mel, your local Handy Duchess

I am a friendly, reliable handywoman offering small home improvement services and gardening help for homeowners who need an extra pair of hands.

Whether it's putting up shelves, assembling flat-pack furniture, painting a room, repairing a fence, mowing the lawn, or tidying an overgrown garden, I'm here to help with those jobs that can be difficult to find the time, tools, or confidence to tackle yourself.

I take pride in being approachable, trustworthy, and hardworking, always treating your home and garden with care and respect.

DBS checked for your peace of mind.

Why Choose Me?

  • Friendly and reliable

  • DBS checked

  • Honest and dependable

  • No job too small

  • Practical help for your home and garden

  • Attention to detail

  • Free, no-obligation quotes

My aim is simple: to help keep your home and garden looking their best while making life a little easier for you.

Contact Me

My Handy Duchess Services

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Home Maintenance

Keeping on top of home maintenance can be challenging when life gets busy. I offer reliable help with a variety of small household tasks and repairs, helping you keep your home safe, functional, and looking its best. From fitting shelves and hanging pictures to minor repairs and general upkeep, I provide practical solutions for those jobs that never seem to get done.

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Flat-Pack Furniture Assembly

Flat-pack furniture can be time-consuming and frustrating to assemble, especially when instructions are unclear or parts seem endless. I can take the stress out of the process by assembling your furniture efficiently and carefully, ensuring everything is secure and built correctly. From wardrobes and bookcases to desks, beds, and garden furniture, I'm happy to help.

Blue paint being rolled onto an empty white wall with an extended paint roller

Painting & Decorating

A fresh coat of paint can completely transform a room, brighten tired spaces, and give your home a new lease of life. Whether you're looking to refresh a single room, paint walls and ceilings, or tackle smaller decorating projects, I provide a neat and tidy service with attention to detail. My goal is to help create spaces that feel fresh, clean, and welcoming.

black wheelbarrow near tree during daytime

Gardening

A well-maintained garden can make a huge difference to the appearance and enjoyment of your home. Whether you need regular garden maintenance, lawn mowing, hedge trimming, weeding, planting, or a seasonal tidy-up, I can help keep your outdoor space neat, healthy, and welcoming throughout the year. No matter the size of your garden, I take pride in helping it look its best.

Reviews

"Melanie was recommended by a mum from school, we have used her service regularly these past few years. Affordable pricing, jobs include cleaning, gardening, painting and fixing things around the house. Detailed after reports with pictures that list out items done and make suggestions or provide quotations, as it is a rent out property that we don't live there. Leaving this review as we have ended our working relationship recently, appreciate all the help over the years despite they are only small jobs. Recommended to others around the Bristol area."

Anne

"The Handy Duchess Mel has completed a range of different projects for us. She is very friendly, reliable, trustworthy, kind and caring, with an amazing sense of humour. She is very enabling, positive, professional, and very good at explaining everything and answering questions. My partner and I are both completely blind, and we have found Mel to be very reliable, safe, trustworthy and very encouraging and enabling. She always creates a warm, friendly, cheerful and positive atmosphere. Thank you so much."

Elina

"Mel has done various handy jobs for us over the last couple of years; everything from putting up towel rails, shelves, hooks, to even boarding our loft! I highly recommend her for any odd jobs you need doing. Mel is kind and considerate, and very good at listening to what needs to be done and completing work to a high standard. She’s a really good laugh too! Thank you so much!"

Tim

"Mel spent a couple of days with us last week undertaking a variety of much needed repair work in our garden. This included fixing two leaky and broken shed roofs and doors, levelling a patio and fitting a decorative fence panel. This work was not without its difficulties but Mel dealt with all problems very positively and thought out solutions quickly. We were very impressed with the quality of her work and her total professionalism throughout. We would not hesitate to recommend her to others and she will definitely be our ‘go to’ person in the future. Thanks again Mel"

John

"Mel put up fencing - sometimes in difficult circumstances - and did a great job. Our dog now has lots of garden to explore. Mel is excellent at problem-solving, and finding ways around a problem - she is also a thoroughly nice person, which makes all the difference. She is excellent at communicating, too. She will be returning to help transform the garden, and I look forward to it. I am happy to recommend her wholeheartedly!"

David

"I can't recommend Mel highly enough. She helped with several jobs around my home, including painting a fence, cementing in some slabs, clearing gutters, assembling furniture, putting up shelves, and giving my garden a much-needed tidy-up. From the moment she arrived, she was friendly, professional, and incredibly hardworking. Every job was completed to a high standard, and she took great care to make sure everything was exactly how I wanted it. It's such a relief to find someone reliable, trustworthy, and skilled who can help with both home maintenance and gardening. The difference she's made to my home and garden is amazing. I'll d"

Simon
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