(Collaborative post) Renovating your home on a budget is no easy feat, but it can be made a lot easier if you stick to a clear budget. So, how can you create your dream home without splashing the cash? Find out here…
Getting on the property ladder these days is never easy. Investing in a fixer-upper might be just the ticket onto the first step. Considering they’re can be cheaper than finished properties on the market, it seems like a no-brainer!
Having said that, there’s more to it than just the cheaper price. For starters, your conveyancer in Spalding, Rye, Burford, Stamford, Whitby, or wherever you live in the UK, can get the ball rolling, alongside a hired surveyor. They’ll be sure to search the property to ensure it has good bones, and nothing unforeseen crops up.
After that, it’s time to get renovating your home on a budget! So, how can you do up your new property without spending an absolute fortune? These top tips should help you to do just that…
Pre-Plan
Who doesn’t love a good excel spreadsheet? This will be your saving grace when it comes to budgeting for your home renovation. All you need to do is list everything you definitely need as part of the renovation putting prices next to each item.
Once you’ve totalled this up, you can start planning in the more luxurious interior costs. By planning all this out before you’ve spent a penny, you’ll know what to expect and can make adjustments where required.
Spend the Bulk of the Money on the Practical Stuff
If you’re renovating a house with no experience, you might go into it thinking you can DIY most of the work. Whether it be rewiring, plastering, or new gas pipes, a bit of YouTube researching won’t steer you wrong, right?
The truth is, some things are not that easily done. Sometimes doing it yourself can end up far more costly in the long run than getting in a professional from the get-go. So, before budgeting for any of the interior design stuff – which is the fun part – the more practical things should be to prioritised.
DIY Where You Can
Although it’s good to spend money on the practical stuff, that’s not to say you can’t DIY on some areas. For example, you might want to buy a pre-packed kitchen. You can install these yourself with a bit of hard graft. You’ll find a good range of prepacked kitchens at Wicks (one of my husband’s favourite stores). You can also get away with painting the house and retiling the floors.
Whatever it may be, as long as it’s not structural, and you can afford to take your time over it. Saving a few pounds this way is the smart thing to do; just don’t overwork or stretch yourself. It helps to know your limitations.
Shop Around
You’re likely to be very excited to have the house finished and ready to live in, so you might want to cut corners where you can. This is certainly worth doing for small aspects of the house. However, when it comes to hiring a contractor to deal with the practical side of things, don’t settle. When Renovating Your Home on a Budget you need to also be sensible in your choices.
Shopping around your local area to find someone who does good quality work for a lower price is the smart thing to do. If you settle for the first contractor you meet, you may live to regret it.
Be the Project Manager
Everyone needs a little push here or there to get the job done. This can’t be done without a project manager. Without this person to keep everything on schedule, and fix any problems as they arise, it’s unlikely the renovation will complete on time. So, what better person to do the job than the person who’ll be living there?
Buy Second Hand
In our modern world, it’s now so simple to buy anything and everything online, but many people are still so set on buying from companies they know! High-street stores, like Next, John Lewis, and House of Fraser certainly have pretty things, but they also cost a bomb.
Instead of spending a small fortune on your furniture, why not buy second-hand? You’ll find a number of second-hand shops like AFTERNOAH have sprung up. These can have some great items and it’s nice to know you are helping the little guys. Each purchase from places like these helps small business owners look after their families and provide jobs for local communities so are always a great option. It’s also a wonderful way to be eco-friendly and reduce environmental waste.
Consider an Unfinished Look
You might think that you have a clear idea of your interior design style, but something which can look really cosy and authentic is an unfinished look. Something a bit rough around the edges definitely gives a home that “lived in” feel. So, why not think about some of the following to help you achieve this:
A stair runner and rugs instead of carpets
Rustic wooden fixtures
Keeping the original wooden flooring, rather than redoing it
Unpainted walls
Minimalistic interiors
Make Your Wall Art Personal
Buying art for your walls is a really lovely thing to be able to afford. If you have a favourite artist, this is something you might be dying to invest in. That said, it might not be in the budget if you’ve just bought a new home. Consider cheaper options such as canvases and posters for the time being.
If your budget is really tight buy cheap or second-hand photo frames for those family photos you never got around to displaying. Alternatively, get creative yourself and make your own. It’ll be much more personal than your average designer painting.
Live on the Building Site
If it’s possible, make the effort to move out of any rented accommodation you’re living in now to live on the building site. This could save you thousands of pounds a month; valuable money which you can put towards your renovation.
To do this, the best course of action is to prioritise your kitchen, bathroom and bedroom as the first rooms to complete. This way, you can be sure you have a place to sleep and prepare food, and the rest of the house can come second.
Bring in Natural Light
Knocking holes into the walls of your home is very likely to cost a lot of money. So, instead of spending money on placing new windows where they weren’t before, there are ways to make a room naturally light. Some ideas include:
Painting the walls lighter colours
Framing the existing windows with curtains
Furnishing the room with lighter-coloured furniture
Hanging mirrors
Add colour with accessories
Cut Costs on Materials Where Possible
As well as hunting for a cheap, quality contractor, do the same with building materials! Be it bricks, flooring, paint, or wallpaper, shop around for different styles and vendors, and find something which fits your design and budget. Sometimes people buy more than they need and then sell off surplus for cheap. Lookout for such opportunities.
Invest in Insulation
Thinking about insulation is also a key element of your home. Whether it be purchasing new windows throughout the house, or filling the walls with insulation, this is essential.
Although this might seem like a large upfront cost, it will save you money in the long-run. This way, you won’t be spending a fortune on heating costs when you finally move in.
Don’t Underestimate a Lick of Paint
Perhaps you’ve decided to revamp one of the rooms or cabinets, or to give a second-hand piece of furniture a new lease of life. Whatever it may be, don’t underestimate the power that a lick of paint can have. It’ll make everything look as good as new.
Get a Real Lawn
Your garden might be the last element of it all to piece together, leaving you with no budget leftover to make it special. That said, one thing which might surprise you to learn is that a real garden lawn is actually cheaper than a fake one!
Get a Loan
No one wants to owe money, however, sometimes a renovation can’t be done without a bit of extra help. Whether your parents loan you a little bit or cash, or a bank takes the hit, this should help you to get the job done swiftly. Then, once the stress of the renovation is out of the way, you can start to pay it all back each month.
Renovating Your Home on a Budget is Possible!
As you can see, although it might seem like a huge task, renovating your home on a budget is entirely possible. With a bit of planning, be sure to spend on the things that matter, and DIY it where you can will make it all possible.
Have you renovated your home, and have some further tips to add?
Be sure to leave these in the comments down below to help out your fellow homemakers.
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This is brilliant advice. We’ve just finished some major work that took almost a year.
We have other work to be done but are saving hard. I think we could really use some of this advice to help moving forward x
Good luck with the renovations. I hope you can get it all done soon x
These sound like some great ideas, it is amazing how doing small things to your home can actually make a huge difference to how it looks and feels.
Small things do sometimes make a big difference. It’s how we approach and execute them to have an impact.
We are hoping to move next year and there will ne a lot of renovations with the new house . Thanks for these tips 🙂
I hope it all goes well. You’ll find that these tips will help you make savings when you come to renovate.
These are really helpful tips – thank you 🙂 We’ve found by doing it ourselves we saved loads of money!
That’s great to hear. The savings can be amazing!!!
For us the biggest tips I have was plan, but also have a contingency budget for when things may not go right, but also do as much as you can yourself (as long as it’s within your abilities) as not having too many workmen saved us so much money x
It is important to plan and be prepared. You never know what might happen.
Some fab tips here Mel! I wish we owned this so I could renovate this house and make some big changes.
I’m sure you’ll get there. It takes a while to get onto the property ladder these days.
This is such a great post and full of fab tips! We are hoping to be able to get onto the property ladder by buying a home that needs lots of work so this post will definitely come in handy! We are hoping to DIY as much as possible and have some great friends we are hoping may be able to help too!
It can help you get onto the property ladder. I hope it all goes well.
With any luck some of your friends will have some skills in the areas you need. Good luck Jess.
When we bought our first house it was a real learning curve finding out just how much renovations cost.
It is a shock if you go into it unawares. I tend to research most things and my husband was in the trade so luckily had an idea.
This is a really useful post . I enjoyed reading all the tips and ideas on how to renovate on a budget. It’s surprising how many things you can do your self to save money.
It really is. Loads of things are easy to do if we put our minds to it. It’s just inexperience that puts many off.
Renovating on a budget can be fun. Some great tips here. Thanks
Thanks Laura. It really can be fun to do.
These are some good tips, we are doing up our house to sell at the moment as need somewhere bigger so need all the advice we can get
Hi Laura. I hope it all goes well. I’m glad you found this useful.
Now this post speaks to me! I love DIY and and love doing it on a budget. Who wants to spend a fortune on wood and paint…. not me. great tips
It can be so much fun can’t it. I agree, it’s great to save as you go.
I’m sure renovating your home is a HUGE project, but I bet it’s also a lot of fun too! I can’t wait to own my own home and DIY any renovations where possible, as that’s where my passion is, plus it’s always great to know that you’re saving money ☺️
I love a rustic look myself so will do that when my home owning time arrives. Definitely splurge on insulation in temperate climes;, good wiring and HVAC, and for me, modern kitchen and bathrooms. I love quality second hand too and don’t mind salvaged accessories for decor and furnishings.
I think you brought up good points. Save where you can but wisely (don’t buy cheap doors for example. they will die pretty fast) as well diy + second hand works wonders. When I was renovating I want for temporary unfinished spots for example I only got my working place after 3 months of living, I work on my kitchen before.
I agree that if you are renovating for the first time, it’s important to hire professionals for work such as electrical or plumbing. You can definitely buy secondhand! My sister and hubby bought beautiful cupboards for their kitchen from a couple on Kijiji.
Great tips on how to Renovating your home on a budget. You are right, redoing any part of your house is not easy but with proper planning and focus you can definitely upgrade on a budget. Love the idea of using old materials. We have several second hand stores here where they take parts of old houses that are still good and repurpose them for resale. So we often shop them to give our house a classic feel. Also, I recommend asking for help from your friends. I am not the best DIY-er but I have several friends who I trade services with and get them to showcase their talents in woodwork or other tasks to make my home better.
These are great tips. Also another one can be take your time or create a timeline that’s sensible for you.
So many great ideas in here. This has been the perfect year for home improvement projects, and we’ve definitely been trying to do some DIY. It’s so true what a little paint can do – we painted our fireplace white and it brightened the entire room and made it feel so much bigger!
Thank you for sharing these tips! We’re actually planning to do some minor renovations at home. Love the idea of bringing in natural light. Will definitely go for lighter wall colors.
Some great tips here, thanks for sharing. It’s worth noting that for some energy-efficiency renovations/improvements like wall insulation, there are government grants that can help reduce the cost at least a bit!
Wow, this is great, big thanks for sharing this! Very helpful and useful for those who plans to do renovation. I’ve been in the same situation and have encountered several tasks.