If you’re looking at renovating anytime soon, there’s a high chance you’re trying to think of some ways to save money. Renovations can be expensive, and costs can add up quicker than you’d expect. Knowing smart ways to save, and what aspects of the renovation to save your money on, is key to not blowing past your budget in the end result. To help you along the process, we have put together our top three tips to saving money in your renovation.
While you may be looking for direct tips that impact the physical renovation, you would be surprised at how much writing down a priority list can help in sticking to your budget. Watching your house transform, and your dream come true is wonderful, but we can often get carried away. Most people have a million and one different ideas when they start the renovation process. When you have so many ideas, it can be hard to see what you really need, and what fits more into the “want” category.
When you are in the planning stages of your renovation, write down all of your ideas and dream inclusions. From here, list them in numerical order in order of priority. This will allow you to see what parts of your renovation are a must, and what parts you could potentially leave off if they don’t fit in your budget. This will also give you a vision of what areas of the home you should be prioritising more money into. If dream kitchen is number one, you might knock one or two things off the bottom of the list to make this dream kitchen a reality.
This is one of the biggest ways to reduce cost in your renovation. While it can be tempting to complete gut and remake your home, it isn’t always necessary. A good quality designer, draftsperson, and builder can still transform a home while maintaining its current structures. If you are very set on changing the layout of your home, try to work out what small changes will yield the biggest outcome. As an example, removing one or two walls to create an open-plan living and dining area can make your home feel new, without changing all the existing structural walls.
To give you an idea of the cost of removing a structural wall, it can range anywhere from $500 to $5000, depending on the complexity and whether it is a load-bearing wall or not. Keep in mind, if you are wanting to make major changes to structural walls and load-bearing walls, it may not be possible while maintaining the structural integrity of the home.
Moving any plumbing fixtures can majorly blow out your renovation budget. If you are remodelling your kitchen and bathrooms, you can save yourself thousands of dollars by maintaining the original fixtures. Your bathroom or kitchen can still receive a face lift by replacing lighting, counters, cabinets, and other cosmetic changes. If you were considering moving plumbing around to create more counter space, you can look into creating a kitchen island or investing in a large kitchen table to account for this lack of prep space. If you’ve found that your kitchen is not large enough, there are a few changes you can make that don’t require you to move the plumbing. One of the main changes is installing larger or extra cabinets. Overhead cabinets are fantastic for storage of glass and dishes, while smart shelving or drawers on lower levels will make a huge difference. One of the biggest things you should consider if how you currently store your kitchen items. If you find that any drawers you have are jam-packed, cabinets could provide you with a larger and easier storage space.
