How to Renovate Your Home and Save!
Want to freshen up your home, renovate for resale or turn that dull investment property into something spectacular?
Here are some simple ways to transform your property into a masterpiece without breaking the bank balance.
Before you start renovating, set up a renovating business plan incorporating what renovations you will be doing and what the estimated costs are going to be. Investigate pricing from your local hardware stores, auctions and online.
Make sure you do your research and investigate all of your options before making a final decision.
A coat of paint!
The cheapest, easiest way to transform your home into something clean, fresh and modern is to give it a coat of paint. Painting your home is cheap and easy to do yourself. Choose colours that suit your homes style. If your home is small with not a lot of natural light, use light colours to create a sense of space.
Add some feature walls for a modern look and dress up skirting boards with a fresh coat of paint. Painters tape is a great investment when painting feature walls and skirting boards to give that crisp, straight finish.
If your ceilings are already white and clean avoid painting them as this will save a lot of hassle and cost.
Useful tip: give your doors a fresh coat of paint and add some new door handles. Door handles are cheap and easy to install yourself.
Add a little light!
Rather than knocking down walls or installing extra windows, a skylight is a great way to add a little extra light into those dark, dreary areas at a fraction of the cost.
From the floor up!
Before replacing your carpet, check under your carpet to see whether floor boards already exist. If so, hire a sander from your local hardware store and spend a weekend giving the floors a sand and polish. Floor boards create a sense of openness and give a clean sleek finish.
Don’t have floor boards? Floating floors are a cost effective option and are simple to install yourself.
Too hard bathroom!
If you’re looking at your bathroom and saying “this one goes into the too hard basket”, think again.
Freshen up your tiles with a coat of tile paint. You can purchase a tile paint manufactured especially for wet areas saving you from ripping down those old dated tiles.
You can also purchase a similar paint that is specifically made for baths.
Change your taps and shower heads for a new look. Change your toilet roll holder and toilet seat to freshen up an old toilet.
Useful tip: To save costs when renovating your bathroom, don’t move anything connected to plumbing. Simply replace old fixtures with new ones in the same position.
Cooking up in the kitchen!
Renovating your kitchen can become quite expensive, especially if you’re replacing appliances and cupboards. To freshen up your kitchen, why not paint your existing cupboards and change the cupboard handles? If your kitchen tiles are clean but dated, give them a paint with a coat of tile paint.
You can even buy special paint for laminated cupboards.
Light up the house!
If you can’t afford to get an electrician out to install downlights, why not replace your existing light fittings with new fittings. There are many modern light fittings to choose from which are easy to install yourself and will save you heaps!
In the garden!
For a simple, low maintenance garden, plant some simple drought proof plants. Head to your local nursery and look for plants that suit your climate.
To jazz up your garden area why not install some solar garden lights. These are an inexpensive way for your garden to look a treat at night.
Useful tip: Add some shiny house numbers to the front of your property to add that finishing touch.
The final touch!
Remove any clutter from your home. Hire a skip bin for a day and give your home and garage a big clean out. If you haven’t used it in the past year, then chuck it!
As the saying goes, less is more!
August 2010
