Tips for a Low-Cost Home Remodeling Project

If your home needs a makeover but you're on a tight budget, here are tips you can do to keep the cost of your remodeling project down.

Use second-hand materials

When your funds are limited and you need to buy construction materials, fixtures, and furnishings for a remodeling project, it can be tempting to opt for low, 'discount' supplies. However, the problem with these types of goods is that they tend to be rather generic-looking and low-quality. If you want the end result of your project to be visually interesting and durable, it's far wiser to purchase well-made second-hand supplies.

There are several ways to do this. Salvage yards are great places to pick up affordable construction materials and specialist period-property items, such as a wrought iron fireplace, for instance. You may want to bring along your remodeling contractor to help you during one of these trips, as their expertise will enable them to quickly spot the best bargains.

Beautiful pieces of vintage furniture, as well as things like cabinetry and light fixtures, can often be snapped up for just a few dollars at flea markets and auction houses. It may also be worth exploring your local op-shops for items that you need to use as finishing touches for your remodeling work, such as cushions and curtains. If you find items that you like but that isn't quite the right style or color, it may still be worth purchasing them if you're willing to do a little bit of DIY restoration work.

Paint first

Many people underestimate the difference a splash of paint can make to a room. Just a couple of tins of inexpensive paint can completely transform your home. Moreover, if you're willing to grab a brush and do the paintwork yourself, the entire process will cost you next to nothing. As such, before blowing half your remodeling budget on say, costly countertops or new flooring, add paint to the walls and then decide if you really need to make these other more expensive improvements.

For example, if you're unhappy that your living room doesn't have a visual focal point and are considering installing a costly fireplace to address this problem, you may want to try painting it first. You can easily create a focal point by adding a few coats of a rich, vibrant shade to one wall and using a neutral colour on the others. This will create the same aesthetic effect as a fireplace but at a fraction of the cost.

Likewise, if you're thinking about knocking through an internal wall to make a particular room look less cramped, it might be better to simply paint the walls a bright white or cream colour, as the introduction of lighter hues onto the walls can instantly 'open up' a room and make it seem more spacious.

Do the work in stages

If your funds are low, doing you remodel in stages can help to spread the cost and make the project a lot more affordable overall. You can do a bit of work, stop and save for a month or two, then start again with another task. The one danger with this approach is that you may end up choosing remodeling tasks at random, based on the amount of money you happen to have available at that point, instead of doing them in the correct order.

So for example, if you spot a low price stone benchtop and you have just enough money to cover the purchase price and installation, you might be tempted to snap it up and have it fitted straight away, and this might be smart if it's something you've wanted to do for a long time. But if you need to do some rewiring for your new kitchen's electrical supply a few months down the line, you may end up having to tear out the benchtop to get this done. As such, if you do decide to spread the cost of the project in this manner, it's crucial to plan ahead and decide on the order in which work needs to be done, before buying or fitting materials.

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