Upgrade Your Home Without Breaking the Bank

Upgrade Your Home Without Breaking the Bank

If your home is starting to show some wear and tear because you’ve lived in it for a few years, you may want to consider doing some renovating. However, if you do not have unlimited funds, can you actually make effective changes on a budget? Here are some great tips on how to remodel your home economically.

Determine Your Budget

Before you start knocking out walls or ordering carpet installation, you need to be realistic about your budget. If you don’t have a lot of cash on hand, you will need to make some decisions on how to go about financing your renovation project. You have to decide which areas are must-haves and which are on the wish list. Once you have determined what your costs will be for what you really have to get done, you will see how much you have left for what you’d like to do. This will help you understand how much you may need to finance or purchase on credit.

Make Priority Lists

Renovating your home can be a big project. You need to budget time as well as money when you commit to something of this magnitude. Making lists of your top priorities and all the steps they entail will help you as you project the costs as well as when you are doing the work. You need to look at each area of the home and decide what needs to be done in them. If some of the same things need to be done in multiple areas, it will help you organize your list so you can work more efficiently. Also, make sure on your list to have the budget to hire a garbage collection company such as dumpster rental centerport to help you empty all the trash when the project is complete

You can check off each item as you do it and you can revamp the list and you work through things. You may find that your original list was at the 30,000-foot level and you need to drill down to the nitty-gritty before you are through.

For instance, if you want to paint a wall, you can’t just buy the paint and a brush and start. You need to prep it first. If there is trim on that wall, will you need to remove it or replace it? Are there holes in the wall that need patching? Do you want to switch things up and do a shiplap or board and batten look? Does the light switch need to be moved or replaced? All of these questions need to be considered and put in order on your list for each area you plan to work on.

Decide Whether You Need Outside Help

If your project is large and entails an addition to the home or moving existing walls, you may need to consult an expert. Whether you work with an architect or a contractor, you can shop around for one who is willing to work with you and help you know what you can do yourself and what really needs to be completed by someone else. In the long run, this will save you money. Doing it right in the first place is much preferred to having to repair or replace something that was done completely wrong.

Furthermore, this is why investing in a home warranty plan is so important. Repairs and maintenance can be expensive, but a home warranty plan can help you to cover these costs. Above all, whether you live in California, Tennessee, or Florida, a home warranty plan can help to safeguard your property and appliances. If you would like further information about home warranty plans you can find some helpful resources on the First American website here: https://homewarranty.firstam.com/homeowner/home-warranty/florida

Figure Out What You Can Do Yourself

One of the easiest ways to save money during your renovation is to do as much of the work yourself as possible. Whether you enlist the help of friends or family members, this can help keep your costs down. Tap into the skills your friends have and learn from them as you go. Be sure to include this on your list so you are keeping track of everything.

Consider Your Paint

One of the fastest and least expensive ways to update your home is with paint, especially if you do the work yourself. However, you really want to weigh the benefits of painting all the walls the same color or using different colors in some of the rooms. Remember that you can usually purchase a 5-gallon bucket of paint for less than five individual gallon cans of paint. Sticking with one color or maybe two, if you want to do some accent walls, can help streamline your paint budget. Going with a neutral color can help tie your furnishings and décor together.

When at the paint store, get some good advice on color. They should have a large wheel of paint chips that can help you see the range of colors. You want to be aware of whether the color leans more to the yellows or the blues. That can make a big difference in how your house looks, because the paint will interact with the lighting. If you like warm lighting, then your gray may look greener if it is in the yellow zone of grays. To make sure you are happy with the color, you may want to purchase a small sample of the paint you can brush on a board and put in the different rooms of your house at different times of day to make sure you are happy with the color.

Improving the Kitchen and Bath

If you don’t need to install new fixtures in your kitchen or bathroom, you can update the look with some paint. For instance, if you have golden oak cabinets, consider using white paint to update them. It is amazing how much difference painting those cabinets will make to the overall look and feel of the room.

The bottom line is that no matter which areas of your home you plan to improve, you can do it on a budget and come out with a beautiful, home that looks and feels like new.