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| Photo from our vacation at Jekyll Island Georgia |
I have been bitten by the remodeling bug. This bug visits our home every so often and causes my husband grief. He’s the designated handyman and would be happy to squash the bug if given the opportunity, but even he agreed having a new office in our home would be an advantage if we could complete the project on a budget. No problem, I agreed, because I really wanted a new office and because I have thrifty genes that cause me to abhor spending large amounts of cash for something I could get for less. Over the years I’ve learned some tips to help curb costs while still getting the look we want.
1. Do It Yourself.
Many stores offer advice and/or classes to help with projects around the house. My advice is to start small and work up to bigger projects. We’ve replaced faucets and light fixtures to totally change the look of a room. After we experienced success with easy projects we have tried more and more complicated projects. When we remodeled our bathroom I took a free class on installing tile and retiled our tub myself. It looks great and the only mishap I experienced during installation was not securing one tile that fell off onto my head.
2. Buy gently used furniture.
When we talked about furnishings for our office, I suggested adding a daybed. We could use it as a sofa as well as a guest bed when we had company. I began pricing daybeds and discovered the wooden bed I wanted was pricey. I began comparison shopping and asking friends and relatives for suggestions on where I could find a reasonably priced bed. During my quest a relative, who had the exact bed I wanted, told me she was selling hers to replace it with a full sized bed. Score! It turned out to be a mutually beneficial arrangement.
3. Shop Online.
With the abundance of online stores that offer free shipping sometimes this is the cheapest option. The addition of coupon codes makes the deal sweeter. . Hey, anything that saves me extra money is good with me! One tip: Be sure to check and see if the items must be shipped to the store for pickup or can be sent directly to your home.
4. Reuse Items You Already Have.
I made a list of items I wanted in our office and then searched around our house and in our storage building to see if I had anything that could be moved into the room. With the addition of several pieces of furniture, pictures, and items I had in other areas of the home, I only had two items that needed to be purchased. Remember, items can be repurposed too.
What are your best tips for saving money when remodeling?
How I wish to have the money to remodel my kitchen. It is so old and outdated and the drawers do not close all the way. Thanks for the tips and for letting me dream.
Those are fabulous tips! I need to bookmark this!
Hmmm, my best tip? I like all yours. I also check out Freecycle.org to see what people are just giving away! Can’t beat free!
Great post; I’m always in the remodel mood bu my wallet most of the time isn’t…lol.. thanks for sharing your tips; Loved them
I like to redecorate too and enjoyed your tips.
Wish we had the funds to remodel- so many things to do! Great tips, will certainly keep them in mind for when we do.
These are great tips. I like to see what discounted paint choices are available at Lowe’s. There is usually some that people have ordered and not picked up or they did not like the color that was mixed. Sometimes they even have enough of a very nice color to do a whole room!
Totally agree about DIY! I just redid my bathroom, and it was all me and my dad 🙂 I totally saved money that way.
We really use the DIY tip – we’ve been slowly redoing our house and thankfully my hubby can do most of it himself – it’s a huge money saver!
We’re doing all of the above with our remodels! We love to reuse wood. My fiance will break down old bedframes/shelving and rebuild them or use them in other projects.
Those are great tips! We wen started fixing up our house when we moved in, we’ve been able to save a lot because my husband has some construction experience and we’ve been able to fix things on our own. Instead of paying a professional to come in a do it. He’s installed new light fixtures, fans, and carpet! we also repainted the entire inside of the house ourselves.
Fantastic tips Pam! Thanks 🙂