Tips for renovating on a budget
Renovation budgets can quickly spiral out of control. And no matter whether you’re doing a $10,000 renovation makeover or a $1 million dollar upgrade - my experience is that everyone is on a budget of some sort when they are renovating.
As a result people are always looking for ideas for how to make their money go further. So in this post I am sharing lots of different ideas for how you can save money on your next renovation project.
Tips for your budget
Create a budget and stick to it - plan out the entire renovation, line by line and allocate conservative estimates for each item. If you would like a renovation planning worksheet to help you with this process then check out my renovation template here.
Stick to a budget you are comfortable with - no project is every worth going in to extreme debt over, even if the house is beautiful in the end (I’m speaking from experience on this one!)
Think about your location and renovate accordingly. If you live in an affluent area then you will want higher end finishes. Don’t overspend if you won’t see a return on this investment down the track.
Wait for sales to purchase your larger ticket items like bathroom fixtures, tiles or larger pieces of furniture. You can save heaps by doing this.
Think about hidden costs and factor these in to your budget - e.g. asbestos removal, electrical and plumbing upgrades, rising damp, termites etc.
Remember to factor in your other costs like design fees, permits, council fees etc. in your budget.
Also remember that you will likely need to conduct reports and engage consultants with different parts of your build - so factor these in as well. For example; environmental reports, waste management reports, replacement of current waste system, bush fire reports, engineer reports, BASIX certificates etc.
Tips for planning
Plan, plan and plan! Make sure you know exactly what you want to do before you get started. Moving things once works have started costs much more than getting it right to start with (SketchUp is a great tool to help you with this planning phase!).
Don’t engage an architect or draftsperson before you know what you are doing. You will spend so much money going back and forth (and paying them by the hour to make changes for you) - so make sure you are really clear on what you want and need before you start working with a design professional. Again, SketchUp is a great tool to learn as you can play around with ideas yourself and then give the architect or designer those plans to work from when you are ready.
Keep plumbing in existing locations where possible (saves a lot of money that way)
Stick to cosmetic fixes - changing your fixtures, shower screen, paint, carpet, curtains and furniture/styling can make a massive impact for much less money than a full renovation.
Avoid structural changes - these are very costly and can blow the budget. If you can keep the existing footprint you’ll save a lot of money!
Sell as much as you can before demolition - you can sell old kitchens or bathroom fixtures on eBay or Facebook marketplace. Even if you can’t sell them just giving these away will save you on demo and rubbish removal.
Think about your future potential buyers - even if you aren’t planning on selling, always renovate like you might have to. You just never know what might happen down the track. So make sure you renovate with potential buyers in mind - keep the expensive things neutral and add your personality with easy to replace things like furnishings and paint.
Tips for the build
Get the correct trade for the job - scrimping on trades will likely end up in dodgy work that will inevitably cost more to fix down the track.
Install flat pack options (e.g. kitchen) and make these look more custom with different joinery handles or other hacks
Improve a tired kitchen with a new tap, new handles and perhaps even consider painting cabinet doors and replacing appliances. This is much cheaper than a full kitchen reno!
Mix a more expensive feature tile in the bathroom (e.g. on the floor) with inexpensive options like a subway or a 300x600mm satin rectified white tile on the wall (my favourite!)
Pack your skip bins properly. These are quite expensive and fill up quickly if you don’t think about how you fill them to avoid gaps :)
Do some of the demo yourself if you can. This is normally quite easy but time consuming. It’s a good way to save some money on trades.
Other tips
Make sure your house is properly insulated. This will save money on heating and cooling and is worth spending on up front.
Live on site if possible - you will save on having to rent elsewhere while the renovation takes place. Plus it’s a good opportunity to keep an eye on what is happening with the build!
Mix and match high end pieces with more cost effective options - spend more on things that are hard to replace and that you use every day - e.g. fixtures in the bathroom and appliances.
Think longer term - things like solar panels or LED lighting will cost you more upfront but over time will save you lots of money
Do you own landscaping - grass and planting is relatively cheap and for smaller areas is easy to do yourself.
Use masking tape or spray paint (outside!) to mark out spaces and make sure they work for you. This will help to make sure that your spaces flow well and are a good size for what you need.
Source products yourself - don’t fall in to the trap of getting builders or trades people to source products for you. With so many online suppliers around these days you can make significant savings by shopping around for products you like and buying them for yourself. Most suppliers are so desperate to make sales they will offer trade discounts directly to the public if they ask for it! So try and source your own fixtures and fittings, appliances or furniture and avoid the expensive margin that a builder will add on top of these.
But overall try and enjoy the process of renovating. It can be a stressful time but it doesn’t need to be. If you plan well, make good design choices that appeal to the widest group of people, source products yourself and stick to your budget then you’ll end up with a great result that will be amazing to live in and will improve the value of your home over the long term.
Online Renovation Resources
If you would like to save money and time in your renovation then check out my downloadable renovation resources. These are the templates, checklists and spreadsheets that I use with my interior design clients. The resources include templates for your PC list, tiling calculator and budget estimator plus supplier lists for where to shop. CLICK HERE to download your resources now.
Want to find out more about SketchUp?
And if you are interested in learning more about SketchUp (which I mentioned a few times in this post as a great way to plan out your renovation project) then check out the free information session I have all about SketchUp and what you can use this for.
Enjoy the rest of your day!
Clare x