New is beautiful, but old will always be gold! As Indians, we all understand the heartwarming importance of old ancestral homes passed down through generations. But, as we move with the times, so should our homes. At Livspace, we not only design brand new houses but also renovate timeless homes into modern masterpieces! So check out some of our favourite old house renovations from different cities.
Before the grand transformationTransformed into a bright and cosy space
Why do we love renovations so much? Well, maybe because they are the best of both worlds — old and new! Shweta and Arpit’s 7-year old Mumbai home needed a drastic revamp! They wanted their dark and cluttered apartment to get a fresh, bright and spacious makeover. Be it the use of white to highlight the oodles of natural light flowing in, the traditional jhula in the living room, or the warm wooden furniture, Livspace designer Rukmani Dialani ensured that the house got a contemporary look rooted in traditional design.
PRO Tip: While renovating, retain some of the old furniture and use those as a focal point in the design.
Before: A dark and dingy roomAfter: A spacious and vibrant living room for entertaining guests
At first glance, could you guess that this home is 25 years old?! Dr Pallavi and Dr Aashish’s 4BHK in Gurgaon was quite dark and unwelcoming. They wanted a warm and happy vibe in their home along with ample storage and easy-to-maintain interiors. With the help of some extensive civil work, designer Nilisha Keshri created the doctor couple’s dream home! A cute indoor garden near the main entrance, tons of closed cabinetry in the kitchen, a walk-in closet and a balcony converted into a study — this old house renovation surpasses imagination!
PRO Tip: The carved out niches in the living room wall with spotlights help to focus on decor items and awards.
A dark and cluttered kitchenModern and sleek with oodles of storage
Even your kitchen deserves some TLC! Nitya and Kamlesh Tejwani wanted their 20-year old kitchen to look sleek, clutter-free and contemporary. But, there were two challenges for our designer Ashwini Gokhale — the tricky trapezium shape of the kitchen and the Tejwanis’ requirement for plenty of storage without compromising on a light look. The final result is such a masterpiece! From the elegant monochromatic colour palette to the huge variety of storage modules, every aspect of this kitchen is stunning!
PRO Tip: Use pullout storage units in a kitchen to save space and avoid a bulky look.
This room needs a makeover!And it got a vintage makeover!
What’s better than old house renovations? An old home renovation that has been done up in a vintage theme! The owner of this 15-year old home in Chennai, Kamal Ram Mohan wanted a yesteryear abode done up in a mix of modern and classic Indian styles. Designer Padmavathi used a vast collection of timeless vintage furniture and traditional artefacts to create a rich and desi look. The traditional, intricately carved jhula, the colourful artwork, the vintage crockery cabinet — all combine to create such a classy look! Also, the use of a single colour scheme and simple false ceiling gives a modern and understated look.
PRO Tip: For a vintage look, use wooden furniture.
This Pune kitchen was stuck in the 90s!And we brought it to the digital era!
A 20-year old kitchen that needs a complete overhaul — sounds tricky, doesn’t it? That’s how we felt when we saw Rohini Karkera’s kitchen in Pune! Her kitchen is quite small, at just 100 sq. ft, and she wanted a clean, spacious and modern look. And that’s what designer Aparna Ganesh gave her! The first thing Aparna did was break the RCC lofts to create more space and remove the existing L-shaped counters to add a more spacious C-shaped one. A swanky black and white colour combination, high-end marble-like tiles and sleek cabinets in acrylic and membrane ensured that Rohini’s kitchen came out of the 90s and joined the modern world!
PRO Tip: LED lights under cabinetry can lighten up a kitchen that does not receive much natural light.
Old house renovations are always very special as they show how design expertise can make a space go from blah to wah while retaining its timeless charm!
Love renovation stories? Check out how this 15-year old Noida home got a massive makeover!
Everyone deserves their dream home at a price they can afford. But can you really renovate a home on a shoestring budget?
Home renovation doesn’t have to be costly. Think strategically about the materials, design, and timing of your renovation project. To stick to a tight budget, do simple tasks yourself, collaborate with a contractor, and be on the lookout for sales.
Tips to Save on Home Renovation Cost in the Philippines
1. Set a Budget and Stick to It
Start with a well-defined budget that covers all home renovation costs. This ensures you will not overspend on renovating your house.
Take stock of all the things you need to pay for, such as labor, materials, tools and equipment, permits, and cleanup service. Also, set aside a contingency fund—around 10% to 20% of your total budget—for unforeseen expenses.
Put your home renovation cost breakdown in a spreadsheet that will also serve as your house renovation checklist[1]. Refer to this file from time to time to check if your spending is on track with your budget.
2. Start the Planning Early on
By leaving everything at the last minute, you risk overspending on mundane things. To stay within your budget, start lurking the aisles at various home improvement centers and hardware stores, so you can compare prices of various appliances and fixtures.
3. Find the Right Home Renovation Loan
Ideally, you have cash savings to pay for all the costs of remodeling your space. However, the home renovation cost in the Philippines is never cheap—you’ll be spending hundreds of thousands of pesos for renovating an entire house.
Your savings might be just enough to cover small projects such as a new paint job or installing a new gate. But for larger projects, an easy way to finance your renovation is to get a home loan.
Save more on your home renovation cost with a home loan whose monthly repayments you can afford. How much a loan will cost you depends on factors such as the lender, its interest rate, your income, and your chosen loan term.
Work with an online mortgage broker like Nook that can help you easily find the best home loan and get approved for it. This way, you can save both time and money. Instead of wasting time talking to different lenders, you can focus on your home renovation project instead.
4. Know Where to Shop for Affordable Home Decors
Be extra cautious when buying home decors, as it’s tempting to splurge on beautiful items you fall in love with.
To keep your home decor costs to a minimum, do your shopping at tiangges and surplus shops where items are sold for cheap. You can order from the online shop of Dapitan Arcade, the most popular place for affordable homewares and decors in the Philippines.
Renovating a home involves a range of tasks, including demolishing, cleaning, and adding the finishing touches. Although professional assistance is required for major tasks like electrical works or new fixture installations, you can save money by doing some simple tasks yourself.
Don’t be afraid to DIY! You can do moderate DIY tasks such as painting your walls or building a headboard. For learning DIY home renovation, YouTube is your friend.
6. Compare Quotes from Different Contractors
Even if you’ll DIY your home renovation, the more sophisticated tasks will have to be handled by a professional, so you won’t waste money re-doing things.
Ask for referrals from people you know. Contact the recommended contractors, interview them, and get at least three quotes. Compare not just the cost estimates but also their track record and relevant experience in the type of job you need to get done.
Offering the cheapest rate doesn’t necessarily mean a contractor is the best one for the job. If there’s a contractor who’s competent and whom you’re comfortable with but is charging a higher price, ask for possible ways to cut costs (like changing the specs or completing the work in stages).
Simply communicating your budget restraints with your contractor will help you save on home renovation costs. It allows the contractor to collaborate with you on the house remodeling project and come up with cost-saving ideas to help you stick to your budget.
For instance, flooring often costs a big chunk of money. Your contractor can make a few calls and see if there are any leftover tiles and flooring options from previous projects that you can buy at a cheaper price or even get for free.
Home Renovation Ideas on a Budget
1. Refresh Your Home with a New Paint Job
A fresh coat of paint might just be the only thing you need to give your home a whole new look. Repainting is a lot cheaper and easier to do than tearing up your walls and changing the structure of your house. And it works wonders in enhancing the ambiance of your space without having to buy furniture and decors.
To save on home renovation costs, do the paint job yourself or with the help of family or friends. If you’ll repaint the entire house, choose a suitable color[2] that will evoke your desired mood for each room.
Working on a tighter budget? Just repaint your doors, window casings, and cabinets. This will instantly give your home a makeover while saving significantly on paint.
2. Let in More Natural Light to Illuminate Your Home
Is lighting your biggest concern? Do you wish to brighten up a dull hallway?
Instead of splurging on fancy light fixtures or new windows, simply add light pipes to the area. Adding a window requires you to create a hole in an existing wall and install the frames, which can be quite costly. Light pipes cost three times less than a window and distribute the natural light beautifully in the space.
3. Find Cheaper Alternatives
Buying expensive furniture will blast a hole right in your budget. These days, high-quality furniture made of alternative materials is available at a fraction of the price.
Instead of buying a pricey mahogany chest, for example, a particleboard drawer will serve the same purpose for much less. But if you have a particular design in mind, approach a local carpenter and have them make affordable custom versions of the expensive furniture you want.
Consider getting second-hand instead of brand-new furniture. It’s a perfect idea if you’re aiming for a vintage vibe for your remodeled home. You can score great bargain finds in ukay-ukay and Japan surplus stores[3] as well as online marketplaces.
4. Maximize Existing Spaces
Want more space in your home? Expanding a home, such as building an additional room/loft or extending an existing room, requires a huge budget.
Instead of burning your money on an expensive house expansion project, create more space in your home by getting rid of all the clutter. Sell your old stuff and add your earnings to your home renovation budget.
Adding storage in each room helps organize things and maximizes your space. Set up overhead shelves, floating shelves, under-the-bed storage space, and built-in cabinets where appropriate.
Another trick is to install mirrors that create an illusion of a bigger space in a room.
5. Retain Your Existing Furnishings
If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. A home renovation shouldn’t mean a complete design overhaul. Unless your home was built decades ago, there’s no need to tear apart all existing furnishings and change every room’s layout.
Need to update your old, worn-out flooring? You don’t have to remove your existing floors. Peel-and-stick vinyl floor tiles can make a huge difference to a room’s look at less the cost of expensive flooring.
If your current plumbing and electrical fittings are working fine, you’ll be saving money if you keep them in the same location.
6. Use Recycled Materials
To cut down on your renovation expenses, use as many recycled materials as possible. Repurpose any old but usable stuff at home and hand-me-downs from family and friends.
For instance, a vlogger spent only PHP 5,000 for renovating her room[4]. Her secret? She DIY-ed pretty much everything with recycled materials and inexpensive items bought on sale.
7. Decorate Your Home with Plants
Display indoor plants such as snake plants, peace lilies, or aloe vera instead of pricey home decors. Houseplants don’t just add a homey vibe to a room, but they also keep the air fresh. Also, taking care of plants can be therapeutic, so go ahead and bring out your inner #plantita or #plantito!
Final Thoughts
If you’re thinking about renovating your home and your biggest concern is getting everything you want in a very tight budget, these simple home renovation tips and ideas should help you refurbish your old space without breaking the bank. Also, consider applying for a home renovation loan if you plan to do a major overhaul on your space. Plan your finances and compare your loan options.
If you’re a home remodeling junky like we are, you likely spend a great deal of your free time glued to television shows on DIY networks. Shows that provide tips on creating your perfect living environment, sometimes on a dime, and sometimes extravagantly. Both are good.
Trust us… we know the feeling. We love decorating and remodeling, too. We love exploring the ins and outs of how to make a bathroom more functional; ways to create a comfy, cozy den; and paints, colors, and accessories to make any room pop.
In this post, we’ll give you 5 decorating ideas to help you create your dream home. So sit back, grab a pen and paper, and read on!
1. Open Floor Plans: They aren’t the right fit for every home, but an open floor plan touches many people right in their hearts. An open floor plan is perfect for entertaining, decorating, designing, and experimenting with colors, contrast, and contentment. We recommend looking into an open floor if your home allows for it.
2. Utility Room Functionality: The utility room, or if you prefer, the laundry room, is just one of those rooms people often forget. Yet it serves a great purpose. We think that a functional space has the potential for coziness, while still being inviting. Consider that when you are redesigning your next room.
3. Guest Room of “Shoulds”: If you have a guest room, maybe it’s time to rethink its purpose, its design, and its feel. A guest room should be formal yet comfortable. It should have a great theme while exuding cleanliness. Similar to a hotel, a guest room should invite your guests in for the night, and relax their senses.
4. Lighting Everywhere: No one likes a drab or dull living area (or any area). Lighting in all the right places is illuminating for everyone who lives in your home. If you’re really looking to make an impact, consider installing skylights to let every inch of light possible in.
5. Bathroom Elegance: Bathrooms are sometimes small, but they are no less important. A well-designed bathroom is something of beauty. Marble countertops, muted eggshell colors, gold and silver fixtures, and various lighting choices for the user are all excellent ways of turning a normal bathroom into a magazine cover.
For more information on how we can help you create the home you’ve always dreamed of, please contact us at any time.
Home renovation costs can add up quickly. Here are a handful of ways you can plan for a cheaper remodel.
Busting the budget is everyone’s biggest fear when it comes to home remodels. And with good reason.
Even if you follow the essential advice we’ve been doling out for years—build in a 20 percent cushion to cover the nasty surprises, get contractor references and check them, banish the words “while you’re at it” from your vocabulary—it’s hard not to end up shelling out more than you want to.
With some strategic thinking about design, materials, and timing, you can cut costs without cutting corners. Below, we’ll show you the ways, from the big to something as small as choosing a wall sconce over a recessed light.
But another universal truth about home improvement is that every little thing adds up. So another important consideration to start with is to decide whether or not to demolish the whole house and start from scratch.
Is it Cheaper to Remodel or Build a New House?
“Most clients don’t want to hear those words,” says Paul Irwin, design director with Landis Construction, in the Washington, D.C., area, “but it really needs to be considered on major remodels. “In one case, for example, plans for a 1,300-square-foot addition revealed that the house’s existing foundation wasn’t up to code and would have to be replaced—a $30,000 proposition.
After crunching the numbers, the owners concluded that it would cost as much to update the house, a former summer cottage, as it would to reproduce it new. “For a relatively small additional cost,” says the owner, “we get all the benefits of new construction while preserving the character and feel of our old house.”
Cost to remodel: $570,000
Cost to replicate: $588,000
Saved: For $18,000, the owners gained as much as $60,000 worth of new living space, plus improved safety and energy efficiency.
If you’ve weighed your options, and have decided it’s better to remodel your home, here are our tips.
1. Increase Efficiency, Not Size
If you can reorganize and equip your kitchen for maximum utility, you may not need to blow out the walls to gain square footage. Start by replacing space-hogging shelves with cabinet-height pullout drawers 8 inches wide, containing racks for canned goods and other items.
“You’re getting three or more horizontal planes where you might otherwise get only one,” says Louis Smith Jr., an architect with Meier Group, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
You could easily shell out a few thousand to outfit cabinets with upgrades like dividers, pull-out pot trays, and lazy Susans, but you’ll save many times that amount by skipping the addition you thought you needed.
Cost to expand kitchen by 200 square feet: $48,000 to $95,000
Cost of super-efficient, custom-designed cabinets: $35,000
Saved: Up to $60,000
2. Bring in Natural Light Without Adding Windows
Before cutting a big hole in the side of your house and rearranging the framing, consider less invasive—and less expensive—ways of capturing light.
To brighten up a windowless bath or hallway, for instance, you can install a “light tube,” which slips between roof rafters and funnels sunshine down into the living space.
Cost to add a double-pane insulated window: $1,500
Cost for a light tube: $500
Saved: $1,000
3. Hit the Recycling Center
Do-it-yourselfers can reap big savings with recycled or lightly used fixtures and building materials. Habitat for Humanity operates about 400 ReStores nationwide, which offer salvaged materials at half off home-center prices.
One caveat: Many contractors won’t work with salvaged items, or homeowner-supplied materials in general, because they don’t want to assume the liability if something goes wrong.
That said, if you’re doing your own work, you can find anything from prehung doors to acrylic skylights to partial bundles of insulation. (To find a ReStore near you, visit habitat.org.)
Price of 4-by-5-foot insulated window in a home center: $600
Price at ReStore: $300
Saved: $300
4. Donate your Trash
Before you begin a remodeling job, invite the local Habitat for Humanity chapter to remove materials and fixtures for later resale. “About 85 percent of a house is reusable,” says B.J. Perkins, Habitat’s ReUse program manager, in Austin, Texas. “We can do a total takedown, or do a cherry-pick job and take the cabinets, the tub, the sink, and so on.”
You save space in the landfill, collect a charitable tax credit for the donation, and help a good cause. Visit Habitat to find an affiliate near you.
Cost to trash a suite of bathroom fixtures: $50 to $75
Cost to donate: Nothing, plus you get a tax deduction
Saved: Space in the landfill (and a little bit of your soul)
5. Do Your Own Demo
Knocking down your home down may not be as costly as rebuilding, you can still shave dollars by doing some of the demolition yourself—as long as you proceed with care.
“If a homeowner wants to demo a deck, well, I am sure they can handle that,” says Michael Winn, owner of Winn Design, in Virginia. “But when it comes to interior spaces, I would dissuade them from doing it unless they have done it before.”
The reason: A reckless wrecker might unwittingly take out a load-bearing wall or, worse still, plunge a reciprocating saw into live wiring or pressurized plumbing.
Cost to demo a 200-square-foot deck yourself: $450 (Dumpster rental and parking permit)
Cost for a pro: $1,000
Saved: $550
6. Consider Long-Term Costs, Not Just Short-Term Gains
If your addition calls for clapboard siding, for instance, you can save more in the long run by ponying up now for the preprimed and prepainted variety. It costs an extra 10 to 20 cents per foot, but “you’ll wind up paying for half as many paint jobs down the road,” says Paul Eldrenkamp, owner of Byggmeister, a design-build remodeling firm in Newton, Massachusetts.
The reason? Factory finishes are applied on dry wood under controlled conditions—no rain, no harsh sun. “I used prefinished claps on my house about ten years ago and the only flaw in the finish is the occasional mildew spot, easily washed off,” Eldrenkamp says. “The paint looks as if it’ll be good for another ten years, easily.”
Cost of unfinished siding for a 10-by-40-foot addition, plus two paint jobs: $5,000
Cost for pre-finished claps and one coat of paint at installation: $3,750
Saved: $1,250
7. Tap Your Contractor’s Sources
When it comes to things like flooring, ask your subcontractor if he has odds-and-ends stock left over from other jobs. While renovating a Civil War-era bed-and-breakfast in New Jersey some years back, contractor Bill Asdal needed wood flooring.
He made a few phone calls and came up with hundreds of square feet of hardwood, in various lengths and widths, that otherwise would have gone into the trash on other job sites. Just by planing it to uniform thickness, then sanding and refinishing it, he saved his client almost $9,000 in materials costs.
Cost of new flooring: $19,200
Cost to use someone else’s discards: $10,500
Saved: $8,700
8. Consult an Architect
Depending on the scale of your project, you might not need a full-on architectural commission, which involves extensive meetings, multiple job-site visits, and several sets of construction drawings, to the tune of about 8 percent of a project’s construction budget. You might be able to tap an architect’s design savvy by having him undertake a one-time design consultation.
For example, for a $400 flat fee, Baton Rouge architect Kevin Harris will meet with a homeowner, examine the problem, and sketch out a few solutions that could be as simple as opening up a partition wall or moving a door. The homeowner can then give the sketch to a builder or take it to a drafting service, which will charge about $1 to $1.50 a square foot to crank out formal construction drawings.
Architect’s fee to design a 300-square-foot home office: $2,250
Fee for design consultation only and plans: $580
Saved: $1,670
9. Partner With a Contractor
Though the practice is controversial among the trades, some contractors will offer consulting and mentoring services to skilled do-it-yourselfers on an hourly basis.
Chicago-area builder Ted Welch charges $150 per hour for such coaching, with a two-hour minimum commitment. “The most satisfied clients tend to be those who have good manual dexterity, who realize that skills need to be practiced in order to be perfected, and who are willing to risk making a few mistakes and then learn from them,” he says.
Cost to drywall one room: $1,000
Cost with DIY consultation: $300 (2 hours of coaching), plus materials
Saved: $700
10. Make Sweat Equity Count
Unless you’ve got loads of time (and expertise) to spend on your project, the best way to add sweat equity is upfront, by handling your own demolition, or at the back end, by doing some of the finished work yourself.
“If you want to save money, dig in and start helping out,” says Tom Silva. “You can insulate, you can paint, you can sand.” Or better still, he says, help with cleanup every day. “Instead of paying someone to pick up sawdust off the floor, put your money into the time it takes to trim the window properly,” he advises.
Cost for construction crew to handle cleanup: $200 per day
Cost to do it yourself: $0
Saved: About 3 to 5 percent of the overall job cost
11. Do Your Own Schlepping
If you’re doing your own project, slash your materials-delivery fees by picking up goods yourself. No pickup truck? For about $400, you can purchase a nearly new single-axle utility trailer online, which you can tow behind your SUV. Get one just big enough to carry 4-by-8 sheet goods flat. Use it for a half-dozen trips, and it’s paid for itself. Find trailers for sale near you via eBay Motors, or try your local classifieds.
Cost of 10 deliveries: $750
Cost to buy a used trailer: $400
Saved: $350, plus you get to keep (or sell) the trailer
12. Don’t Overspend on Wall Prep
If your walls are in such rough shape that it would take a painting contractor days of filling and sanding to make them ready for the roller, consider using materials such as Texturglas, from Deerfield Beach, Florida—based company Roos International.
A breathable, nontoxic wall covering made of fine glass filaments, Texturglas has a similar look and feel to the fiberglass matting used in auto-body work. It’s available in a variety of surface patterns, takes paint readily, and is designed to be installed right on top of existing surfaces, adding strength while covering up dings.
Cost to patch and paint a 15-by-20-foot room with heavily damaged walls: $1,525
Cost to install Texturglas: $1,050
Saved: $475
13. Consider Look-Alikes
Some imitations just make sense: Lumber giant Weyerhaeuser sells a fast-growing natural eucalyptus hybrid under the brand name Lyptus. Sustainably harvested in plantations in Brazil, the clear-grained hardwood looks and feels remarkably like mahogany. It’s sold as toungue-and-groove flooring and in planks and sheets for cabinetry and millwork.
Cost of 100 board feet of mohogany: $808
Cost of same quantity Lyptus: $395
Saved: $413
14. Wait Until Contractors Want Your Business
Don’t schedule your reno in the height of summer or between September, when the kids go back to school, and Christmas. “That’s premium time,” explains Lisa Stacholy, owner of LKS Architects, in Atlanta, Georgia. Suppliers tend to be busier, labor scarcer, and deliveries slower. One Virginia-based contractor offers discounts of between 4.5 and 5.5 percent (depending on the overall budget) on projects during his downtime, right after the new year.
Cost of a major bathroom remodel in peak season: $25,000
Cost in January: $23,625
Saved: $1,375
15. Skip the Foundation
If local code allows, you may be able to support a small addition on posts and beams, as you would a deck, explains contractor Dennis Gavin, of Gavin Design-Build, in Media, Pennsylvania.
220-square-foot addition with poured foundation: $40,000
Same-size addition on posts and beams: $35,000
Saved: $5,000
16. Don’t Move the Kitchen Sink
Or the toilet, if you can avoid it. “That often becomes the biggest part of the plumbing-price increase,” says Richard Trethewey, This Old House plumbing and heating expert. If your new layout requires that you move the toilet, use the opportunity to upgrade the pipes at the same time. “That will save you money in the long run,” says Richard.
Cost to move toilet more than 3 feet: $500-$1,000
Cost to leave in existing location: $0
Saved: Up to $1,000
17. Plan with Stock Sizes in Mind
“Ask yourself, ‘Why am I building something 10 feet wide if plywood comes in 4-foot-wide sheets?'” says Lisa Stacholy, of LKS Architects, in Atlanta. The same applies to stock windows and doors: Use manufacturers’ off-the-shelf dimensions from the outset and you will save the premiums of custom fabrication.
Cost of custom doors: $1,500-$2,500
Cost of standard doors: $500-$800
Saved: Up to $2,000
18. Buy Building Supplies at Auction
Brian Peppel, a homeowner in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, attends one building-supply auction each month in nearby Lancaster County. His recent finds include two pallets of concrete block for $10 and a solid-wood prehung exterior door for $65.
“Their inventory is everything under the sun, a lot of scratch-and-dent, misordered custom items, or new overstock supplies,” reports Peppel. He once watched the auctioneer’s gavel fall on a large, custom-made triangular window with an original retail value that he pegs at several thousand dollars. The winning bid? $1.
Cost of solid-cherry wall cabinet at a home center: $300
Cost at building-supply auction: $10
Saved: $290
19. Make Decisions Early
Start prowling the aisles at the hardware store or home center way before the wrecking crew shows up. Get a good feeling for what you want in fixtures and appliances and what they cost.
If you aren’t absolutely specific upfront about what you want, you’ll have to rely on your contractor’s estimate, called an allowance, and his notion of what is acceptable may be quite different from yours. “Ninety-eight percent of the time, allowances are too low,” says Tom Silva. For instance, you may have had a glass-tile backsplash in mind, but your contractor’s bid was for ceramic.
Cost to plan ahead: $0
Cost of change orders midstream: The difference in the item price, but also time lost to project delays and communications glitches
Home renovation is a popular hobby for homeowners.
Remodeling can help increase the value of a home while also providing a newer, more pleasant aesthetic to an aging home. This makes it more appealing to continue living in an older home.
In an attempt to save money, here are nine creative home renovation tips for a tight budget.
1. Update any room with a fresh coat of paint
One of the most tried and true budget home renovations is a fresh coat of paint. This is an easy way to help to transform the feeling and ambiance of any room in the house without spending a fortune on extra furniture or add-ons. Paint is fairly inexpensive and is simple to apply. This ensures that money isn’t wasted hiring professionals to conduct renovations. A different color paint can help change any room without breaking the bank.
2. Install crown molding
Crown molding isn’t the most intuitive home renovation idea as not many homes utilize this design. Crown molding is essentially angled trim that lines where the ceiling and walls meet. This is a great way to add value to a home and increase the overall aesthetic appeal. The process is relatively simple and only requires some carefully cut angles and the patience of installation. There are also non-wood, crown molding options that are even more affordable.
3. Refinish kitchen cabinets
The kitchen is a popular area in the house to renovate. However, new cabinets and appliances can be quite expensive. Fortunately, there is another, more affordable remodeling trick. By sanding down the cabinets and applying a new finish, homeowners can achieve the look and feel of a completely new set without the purchase.
4. Install a stair runner
Stairs can be another costly renovation. However, adding a cheap stair runner can help give the space a different feel without a complete remodel. These runners can be purchased in a variety of designs to match any color of paint or atmosphere of the home. Homeowners should be able to find the right size for their homes quite easily.
5. Rearrange your furniture
While furniture contributes a lot to the overall feel of a room, it also tends to cost a lot of money. Most of the time, a tight budget won’t allow for the purchase of a new couch or dresser. For this reason, it is important to utilize the power of rearrangement. A room can feel completely different even with the same furniture when it has been moved around to different spots. You can do this with furniture from other rooms as well. This essentially costs nothing, yet can bring the feel of a complete remodel.
6. Replace cheaper household accessories
When considering a remodel, our attention typically turns towards the bigger ticket items. However, even swapping out smaller household accessories can help to shake things up. For example, pillows are littered throughout most homes on couches, beds, and chairs. Changing the smaller accessories throughout your home is a great way to renovate with a tight budget.
7. Hang up homemade art or photos
Many homeowners scratch their heads when considering what to do with a large area of empty wall. Instead of investing in expensive mirrors or other accessories, consider hanging some of your own work. This could come in the form of a personal painting or photograph. It’s a great way to make your rooms feel more personalized while also saving money in the long run.
8. Add minimalist storage ideas
Storage is an issue in most households. Not only do you have too many things to store, but storing them in a nice way is important as well. This is when investing in some minimalistic storage is a good idea. Small cubby holes and hanging racks are a few great ideas to make storing clothing and other smaller things a breeze. These storage devices can be added to closets and empty spaces throughout the house.
9. Install some new lighting
Lighting is another factor that contributes a lot to the ambiance of a room. Lucky for you, lighting is also a very affordable factor to change. You can opt for a brighter or dimmer setting depending on how you want the room to feel.
Colour is another option when it comes to changing the lighting in a room. Small colour accents can help give a room a cooler or warmer feel depending on the shade.
Wrap up
Renovating your home can be a great way to stay satisfied without having to spend money on moving. However, remodeling can cost money that a lot of homeowners simply don’t have. These nine creative home renovation tips will help you accomplish these goals on a budget.
When designers Reed and Delphine Krakoff purchased a circa-1917 Arts and Crafts residence on a historic 11-acre estate in East Hampton, New York—it was the childhood summer home of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis—the Manhattan-based couple chose to preserve its many period details instead of giving it a strictly contemporary overhaul. “I think we enjoy the process of bringing a house back to what it was more than the end product itself,” Delphine says. “We were very disciplined about getting rid of whatever wasn’t house-appropriate and bringing in things that were.” It’s a delicate balance that requires a sense of discovery, a discerning eye, and an inexhaustible spirit in the face of unexpected developments. Here are four things you should consider when renovating an old home.
Lay the groundwork. Before even thinking about doing anything aesthetically, have an inspector check the existing systems and structures. It’s easier to repair electrical work and plumbing—as the Krakoffs did when they updated their home’s antiquated pipes—as well as roofing and windows before you’ve added wallpaper and paint.
In Reed and Delphine Krakoff’s living room, a Queen Anne highboy and wing chairs, all from Bernard and S. Dean Levy, are grouped with a custom-made sofa.
Dig deeper. The living room was clad in an ornate Louis XVI–style boiserie, but the pair discovered a drawing of the room from the early 20th century and learned about the grid-pattern millwork that had originally been there. So they cut a hole into the paneling and found the preserved oak beneath it. The design element now figures prominently in the space.
Embrace patina. “One of the best moments was when Martha Stewart walked through the finished house and asked if we’d done anything,” Reed says. “That was the highest compliment.” A significant contributor to that effect: the Krakoff’s decision to use plaster with metal lath for walls in lieu of Sheetrock.
Decorate with new old things. The couple replaced damaged floorboards with reclaimed 200-year-old oak to retain “that old creaky feeling,” Delphine says. In the dining room, a midcentury Samuel Marx table sits beneath a pair of 1910 Tiffany pendant lamps. “What’s interesting to us is the mix,” she says. “We wanted the house to seem as if it had been furnished over time.”
You are renovating because you want your house to look more beautiful and feel more comfortable. Consider your home renovation plan as a business plan or as your special project you are starting from scratch.
If you hire an architecture he plan for you, but if you want to save money the first step is to take charge of the project and do it to yourself. In this article, we are sharing some DIY ideas on how to renovate your house on budget?
The key to renovating your house on budget yet beautifully is primarily to plan the entire process effectively. The following sections will demonstrate how you can divide your entire renovation plans into sub-plans, according to the space you have and renovate your home effectively. If you are looking to find out top 10 ways to renovate your house beautifully yet economically then read below:
Divide and Conquer
As mentioned earlier effective planning is the key to effective renovation. If you are renovating yourself then you need to focus on both the bigger picture and the smaller parts. You might have heard the phrase “whole is greater than the sum of its parts”, you can apply the same strategy to your home renovation project and devise a renovation plan for each area in your house. If you hire an architect for renovation, he will assess your requirements and then renovate accordingly. In this case since you’re in charge, you will brainstorm your requirements, write your end goal for each space in the house and decide the overall goal, and then move on to:
Budgeting
Since you want to renovate your house economically it is important for you to decide the total expenditure requirements/limit. It is important to remember in budgeting that you cannot overestimate your budget, keep your budget underestimated and then move on to researching for things you need.
Research
You will be surprised at the number of options you have once you start your research. The beautiful lamp that you liked at a high end store can be purchased at a lower price from elsewhere as well. So, when renovating your house on budget please remember that if you research to find the furniture you like, paint you want or the decorations you would like in your house, you are likely to find most of the supplies at an inexpensive price. Take advantage of online shopping, thrift stores and second hand furniture shops and see how far you will go. For step by step instructions on how you can decorate your house beautifully yet economically please read below:
The first impression of your house is your door. If you are unable to change the door completely and if your existing door is in a good condition then you should repaint your door. Your doors could also affect the lighting of your room, and you could benefit from this great technique interior designed Amy Lau uses, “When dealing with a dark room, whatever color is used on the walls, I paint the ceiling, trim, and doors the same color but 50 percent lighter. Too much of one shade can overpower a space.” So, when renovating on a budget if you are repainting your door try to use different shades according to the concentration of light in your house to optimize the lighting of your house the way you want to.
Paint Affects Lighting
As mentioned earlier painting affects lighting and when renovating your house you might opt for a new paint. In that case if you are already on a budget purchasing different colored pallets might seem counterintuitive. If you are on a tight budget then opt for a black and white palette, it will give your house a modern sophisticated look and you will have the guarantee that you can never go wrong with white or black.
Small Rooms don’t have to Look Small
If you are renovating to make a small house look bigger than an inexpensive and beautiful way of achieving that goal is to use mirrors. It’s an inexpensive technique but it’s used by one of the most famous architects of his time, Sir John Soane, who used mirrors in the breakfast room of his London house.
Kitchens and Storage
If you are decorating/renovating your house then you are probably trying to de-clutter and maximize your storage as well. Utilizing your kitchen to its maximum capacity can help you minimize your storage problems. In order to do this on a low budget you can either DIY kitchen cabinets or storages from recycled material at your house, or take advantage of thrift shops in your area.
No one knows your kitchen space better than you do and your storage needs building DIY storage kitchen cabinets will not only help you save money and reuse old materials at your house but it will also ensure that you’re building exactly what you need. If you already have cabinets which are enough for storage then you don’t need to replace them you can just repaint them to make your kitchen look as good as new.
Light Comes through the Windows
According to Marc Appleton, “half the experience of living indoors is seeing the outdoors” So when remodeling your house install large windows. However, you might not have the budget to change your windows in that case play around with paint and paint your windows a shade lighter than the rest of the room to maximize the light coming through the windows.
Bathroom Renovation
You would be surprised at the number of inexpensive yet quality products you can purchase to renovate your bathroom. If you are looking to install new toilet fixture you can check our Toto Toilet, and if you are not planning to install any new items, you can fix up your existing toilet by changing the paint, changing cabinet paints and by fixing the pressure of shower etc.
Floor Renovation
If you are on a budget then floor renovation might seem expensive, and if you cannot find a flooring installation under your budget then you should invest in renovating everything else according to your floor design.
The key to renovating or redecorating your house beautifully yet inexpensively is to devise a goal for yourself, and paint an entire picture of what you want and then step by step renovate each part of your house like mentioned above.
For those about to attempt a kitchen renovation—or really any renovation—the “Kitchen Renovation 101: What You Need to Know” panel at our 2016 Architectural Digest Design Show was the place to be. Moderator George Oliphant of NBC’s George to the Rescue spoke to three kitchen design professionals, including Mike Daddio, principal at Design Development NYC, about how to create the kitchen of your dreams. Daddio shared ten questions that will make your life—and your contractor’s life—easier, and we’ve got them all here. “If you have these questions answered before you call the contractor, than we’ll be able to have a much more productive, streamlined conversation,” he says.
1. What is your objective? “Are you planning to sell your apartment in three years? Are you intending to spruce up for that sale? Or are you looking to have all the bells and whistles?”
2. How long do you plan to live in the home? “If you’re going to be living there for one or two years, you probably want to consider a different type of renovation, something that’s maybe not as costly or something that’s more timeless and traditional in the aesthetic that’s chosen by your design team,” says Daddio. “If you’re going to be living there a little bit longer, then naturally you’ll be spending a bit more and designing something that you really love.”
3. Do you have children? “If so, where are you going to store everything? Are you going to have a kitchen with a magnetic board; do you hang your children’s artworks?” Resilient, easy-to-clean materials, whether wood or stone, are also ideal for kid-friendly kitchens.
4. Do you have allergies and health issues to consider? If someone in your family suffers from asthma or other breathing issues, let your contractor know. “Things that are important to stay away from if you do have any of those concerns are high-gloss lacquers and urea and phenol formaldehydes, which are used in the adhesives of most plywoods.”
5. Will you be living in your home during the renovation? “It adds to the lead time and the construction duration, so that’s something that’s very important to know. It also adds to the level of protection and cleanliness that needs to be maintained in the renovation.”
6. What is your budget? “This question has to be something that’s first answered for yourself, so you understand what amount of money you want to spend, but it’s important to be honest with the people on your design team, and your contractors, about what that number is.” Once you have a number, add a 10 to 20 percent contingency.
7. What have people in similar homes accomplished, and what have been their limitations? “What I always encourage on first meetings, in New York City especially, is that you invite your building’s superintendent,” says Daddio. “Getting to the answer of ‘Can we do it?’ sooner rather than later is very, very helpful in the process.” Research local zoning laws, landmark preservation rules, and yard setbacks, too.
8. Can you remove that wall to open up the kitchen? “It’s very easy to ask the building’s superintendent or other people within the apartment that may have completed renovations. It’s also great to schedule walkthroughs with those people to see what they’ve done.”
9. What’s behind those walls? “Are there utility risers that limit the amount of wall that can be removed safely?”
10. When can we get started? “I always say that a well-planned project is a well-executed project,” says Daddio. “Take the time with the architecture and design team to properly plan everything that you’re doing. Source your long-lead materials and purchase them in advance.”
You are renovating because you want your house to look more beautiful and feel more comfortable. Consider your home renovation plan as a business plan or as your special project you are starting from scratch.
If you hire an architecture he plan for you, but if you want to save money the first step is to take charge of the project and do it to yourself. In this article we are sharing some DIY ideas on, how to renovate your house on budget?
The key to renovating your house on budget yet beautifully is primarily to plan the entire process effectively. The following sections will demonstrate how you can divide your entire renovation plans into sub-plans, according to the space you have and renovate your home effectively. If you are looking to find out top 10 ways to renovate your house beautifully yet economically then read below:
Divide and Conquer
As mentioned earlier effective planning is the key to effective renovation. If you are renovating yourself then you need to focus on both the bigger picture and the smaller parts. You might have heard the phrase “whole is greater than the sum of its parts”, you can apply the same strategy to your home renovation project and devise a renovation plan for each area in your house. If you hire an architect for renovation, he will assess your requirements and then renovate accordingly. In this case since you’re in charge, you will brainstorm your requirements, write your end goal for each space in the house and decide the overall goal, and then move on to:
Budgeting
Since you want to renovate your house economically it is important for you to decide the total expenditure requirements/limit. It is important to remember in budgeting that you cannot overestimate your budget, keep your budget underestimated and then move on to researching for things you need.
Research
You will be surprised at the number of options you have once you start your research. The beautiful lamp that you liked at a high end store can be purchased at a lower price from elsewhere as well. So, when renovating your house on budget please remember that if you research to find the furniture you like, paint you want or the decorations you would like in your house, you are likely to find most of the supplies at an inexpensive price. Take advantage of online shopping, thrift stores and second hand furniture shops and see how far you will go. For step by step instructions on how you can decorate your house beautifully yet economically please read below:
The first impression of your house is your door. If you are unable to change the door completely and if your existing door is in a good condition then you should repaint your door. Your doors could also affect the lighting of your room, and you could benefit from this great technique interior designed Amy Lau uses, “When dealing with a dark room, whatever color is used on the walls, I paint the ceiling, trim, and doors the same color but 50 percent lighter. Too much of one shade can overpower a space.” So, when renovating on a budget if you are repainting your door try to use different shades according to the concentration of light in your house to optimize the lighting of your house the way you want to.
Paint Affects Lighting
As mentioned earlier painting affects lighting and when renovating your house you might opt for a new paint. In that case if you are already on a budget purchasing different colored pallets might seem counterintuitive. If you are on a tight budget then opt for a black and white palette, it will give your house a modern sophisticated look and you will have the guarantee that you can never go wrong with white or black.
Small Rooms don’t have to Look Small
If you are renovating to make a small house look bigger than an inexpensive and beautiful way of achieving that goal is to use mirrors. It’s an inexpensive technique but it’s used by one of the most famous architects of his time, Sir John Soane, who used mirrors in the breakfast room of his London house.
Kitchens and Storage
If you are decorating/renovating your house then you are probably trying to de-clutter and maximize your storage as well. Utilizing your kitchen to its maximum capacity can help you minimize your storage problems. In order to do this on a low budget you can either DIY kitchen cabinets or storages from recycled material at your house, or take advantage of thrift shops in your area.
No one knows your kitchen space better than you do and your storage needs building DIY storage kitchen cabinets will not only help you save money and reuse old materials at your house but it will also ensure that you’re building exactly what you need. If you already have cabinets which are enough for storage then you don’t need to replace them you can just repaint them to make your kitchen look as good as new.
Light Comes through the Windows
According to Marc Appleton, “half the experience of living indoors is seeing the outdoors” So when remodeling your house install large windows. However, you might not have the budget to change your windows in that case play around with paint and paint your windows a shade lighter than the rest of the room to maximize the light coming through the windows.
Bathroom Renovation
You would be surprised at the number of inexpensive yet quality products you can purchase to renovate your bathroom. If you are looking to install new toilet fixture you can check our Toto Toilet, and if you are not planning to install any new items, you can fix up your existing toilet by changing the paint, changing cabinet paints and by fixing the pressure of shower etc.
Floor Renovation
If you are on a budget then floor renovation might seem expensive, and if you cannot find a flooring installation under your budget then you should invest in renovating everything else according to your floor design.
The key to renovating or redecorating your house beautifully yet inexpensively is to devise a goal for yourself, and paint an entire picture of what you want and then step by step renovate each part of your house like mentioned above.
Professional installation by an experienced crew is now so inexpensive and quick that it’s hard to justify doing this work yourself. Carpeting is now often sold with installation costs included since so few consumers want to go through the headache of DIY installation.
The Truth About “Free” Installation
It is true that carpeting that is advertised as “free installation” is not really free, since the cost is actually slightly inflated to cover the labor of the team who will come to install it. You can, therefore, save some money by specifying that you want to buy carpeting without installation labor. But by the time you buy or rent the specialty tools, padding, seaming tape, and other supplies necessary, the extra $1 to $1.50 per-square-foot cost for pro installation starts to seem like a bargain. If you’ve ever gone through the headache of trying to install carpeting yourself, you are unlikely to want to go through the ordeal again. Many installation teams will move furniture, remove and dispose of old carpet, install padding and new carpet, and move the furniture back in place—all within a few hours.
Still, there may be instances where your budget is so tight that saving on installation costs is critical. Or perhaps you are carpeting many rooms at the same time, or have many irregular shapes or stairways that mean your cost savings will be more substantial if you install the carpeting yourself. If so, here are six tips to make DIY carpet installation go more smoothly.
Rent Special Tools
Some DIYers make the mistake of thinking that they can install carpeting just by cutting pieces with an ordinary utility knife and rolling out the pieces over the floor. This is a disaster waiting to happen. While carpet installation will require many standard home-shop tools—such as a hammer, utility stapler, tin-snips, chalk-line, and utility knife—there will be several carpet-specific tools you will need in order to do the work correctly. These tools, available for lease at tool rental centers and home centers, include a seam iron, power-stretcher, and knee kicker. These are expensive tools and it is much more economical to rent these tools rather than buy them unless you expect to install carpeting often.
Learn How to Use a Carpet Stretcher
While it is possible to install carpeting without a stretcher, the results will look terrible, with wrinkles and lumps quickly forming. Two types of stretchers are essential to a good carpet installation: a long power stretcher that will brace against the walls to stretch the carpeting taut across the entire room, and a knee kicker that will help you push the edges into corners and over the tack strips around the perimeter of the room. Proper stretching is 90 percent of good carpet installation, and if you’re not prepared to learn this skill, it’s best to hire pros.
Install Tack Strips With a Gap Between the Wall
Tack strips are strips of wood with sharp-pointed tacks. They are attached to the subfloor around the perimeter of the room to provide the anchor point for the edges of the carpeting to be gripped. For novice DIYers, the temptation is to shove the carpet tack strips (sometimes called “tackless strips”) all the way against the wall or baseboard. Don’t do this. You will need the extra space in order to tuck the edges of the carpet over the strips. The gap between the tack strips should be just a hair less than the thickness of the carpeting so that the tucked portion remains tightly wedged in place.
For Patterned Carpet, Buy an Extra 5 Percent
You will experience more waste with patterned carpet than with non-patterned carpet since cutting and seaming pieces requires you to match the pattern. Most experts recommend adding 5 percent overage for waste on a non-patterned carpet, and you should add another 5 percent, for a total of 10 percent overage, for patterned carpeting. The larger the pattern, the more waste you will have.
Do Not Attach Padding Over the Tack Strips
This is a standard rule of carpet installation: Do not lay the padding over the tackless strips. Keep the padding within the inner perimeter formed by the strips. Padding should touch the edge of the tackless strips but should not overlap them. If the padding overlaps, then you’ll have a fat lump around the edge of your carpet—not very attractive. It is also a good idea to make sure your padding is of very good quality. Even cheap carpeting will perform much better if the underlying padding is of good quality, such as high-density memory foam.
Consider Carpet Pile Direction When Seaming
Obviously, if your carpet has a pattern, seaming two pieces requires careful attention to matching the pattern between adjoining pieces. But even for non-patterned carpeting, you can detect the direction of the carpet’s pile by looking at it from different directions in strong light. Keep carpet pile consistent from piece to piece. Even professional installation teams have been known to get this wrong.
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