How To Renovate Your Home Without Breaking The Bank

Renovations can be costly, especially if you’re hiring a professional, or a team of professionals to come in and do the work for you. From the plumbers to the builders to the interior designers, a renovation job on just one area of the house can fall into the tens of thousands of dollars very easily.

For those of you who have a limited budget, though, there are a number of ways to renovate your house on-the-cheap and still get very lovely results. Here are five tips on how to renovate without breaking the bank. 

Source second-hand furniture

If you’ve decided to replace the furniture in your home, this tip is for you. It may seem counterintuitive to the term “renovate”, but it is definitely an option for those on lower budgets who can’t afford to buy that brand new couch set for $1200, or that brand new marble coffee table from IKEA, the solution for you is to source your new furniture second-hand. 

Don’t be afraid to shop on all varieties of online sites, rather than sticking to your traditional second-hand one-stop-shops such as Facebook’s Marketplace. Another good place to shop for used furniture is brick-and-mortar furniture refurbishment shops. This may be a step-up in the budget, but the quality of the furniture will be assured. 

Paint for a fresh new look

For those who look to give their rooms a fresh new look, but perhaps don’t want to touch their existing furniture, there is the humble paintbrush. This tool will perform visual miracles and for not much money, you can give your space a makeover. Your first step will be to plan out what colors you want to go for. 

Check out color palettes that are in-style this year. If you’re still unsure, consult with an interior designer who can help you map out your space and give you tips based on your existing ‘hardware’, that is, furniture that you either don’t want to replace or furniture which is more difficult/expensive to replace. A bit of paint can go a long way in giving new life into an old house, plus make sure that the color matches with your blinds and curtains. 

Pay attention to the small details 

The devil is, often, in the details and it is in these details that you can save money. Start by looking at the small things in your home. The door knobs for drawers and doors, the knife block full of old, dull knives, maybe the decades-old picture frames containing precious family heirlooms however you choose to assess the space, it’s important to pay attention to the small details. A three-dollar doorknob for a bathroom closet or a set of them for a kitchen cabinet, or a ten-dollar picture frame to replace the old, aging one, will go a long way to giving a bit of pizzazz to an aging kitchen or an untouched-for-decades wall or mantlepiece. 

Do as much yourself as possible – and take advantage of tax breaks

It goes without saying that the most effective way to save money at, well, just about everything is to do it yourself. You’ll find as you go through the process of renovating that a lot of the things that most people would hire a professional to do, they can do themselves for much less. Whether you have to read an instruction manual or simply watch instructional videos on YouTube, doing as much of the renovations as you can, will save time and money. 

Remember too that any home improvement projects you undertake to add value to your home are eligible for a tax deduction. Renovations such as new roofing and even home security systems all qualify for tax deductions which will save you money.

Dress up the wood 

One often-overlooked element of our homes is our wooden accents or even our mainstays made of wood. The humble kitchen table often makes it through many a year of abuse at our hands. Whether that’s coffee stains every other day, chips missing due to it getting into a knife-fight with an unruly toddler, or simply regular-old wear and tear — your kitchen table and likely other wooden accents in your home need a bit of a redux.