How To Renovate On A Budget

    There's no doubt about it!  We all want to renovate our homes, buy new furniture or appliances but
     often times we think it's too expensive.  I've renovated two bathrooms for about 500.00 total, my
     diningroom renovations total will only cost me about 350.00.  My kitchen is going to be the most
     expensive and that's only because I have to replace a 13 yr old dishwasher and oven.  Here are
     some of my plans for my future renovations.  The best and biggest way to save money on your
     home projects is doing all the work yourself.  If I had to pay contractors to do any of the work in my
      house I wouldn't have had any of my renovations done yet.   If you don't know how to do the things
       you want done, read online, there are tons of do it yourself sites or take a class on it.

     Kitchen:
                      How do you make drab cabinets look like you replaced them?  Well if the cabinets are
                      decent all you have to do is add crown molding to the top of them and change out the
                      hardware (this is my plan exactly).
        Cabinets:
                      Q: What if the holes for your hardware don't line up with your new hardware?
                      A:  Easy.  You use a stainable wood fill, fill the holes, then stain them to match
                              your cabinet color , sand them (make sure you have time to stain them with
                              in a few mins of filling the holes).
                      Q: What if you have really old cabinets? 
                       A: That's easy too, with old cabinets you will have to paint them and add picture molding,
                              for a rich look I'd go with one of  these three colors, white, cream or black, then again change
                              out the hardware and put up crown molding on the cabinets.
          Counters:
                         I love the look of granite but I don't want to pay the price for granite slabs.  There are many
                         places you can take a tile class I found one locally that only charges $40.00 for the class.
                         If you use large granite tiles and put them as close as you can, your counters will appear
                          to be granite slabs.  (This is what I plan to do for my counters, I had an estimate done for slabs
                          they quoted me $2,000.00 I can do the work myself using 12x12 granite tiles for a total of about
                          $200.00)
           Appliances:
                          If your lucky and your appliances are fairly new or atleast work well but you want stainless
                          steel or you have white and want black or black and want white etc.  You can easily change the
                          look of your appliances.   There are new products out now called stainless steel film, it goes
                          on like contact paper and looks like the real thing.  If you want white or black appliances they
                          sell paint specifically for appliances (note be sure to get the high heat paint for your oven if
                          you plan to paint that).

    Bathrooms:
                          Paint or stain your vanity, if the doors are flat wood add picture molding.  Have a huge mirror
                          over the sink?  Not only is that a dated look, but you can change it for cheaper then you think,
                          often times it's cheap (for as little as $50.00)  to take that big mirror down and have a mirror & 
                          glass company cut it for you into two small mirrors.  Then you can just make a frame for them
                          and hang the smaller mirrors above each individual sink.  To buy two smaller mirrors and just
                          throwing the large mirror away is crazy, the price for two smaller mirrors can run you around
                          $400.00  Change out the hardware, faucet and light fixtures and paint the walls.  Most
                          bathrooms can be redone for under $300.00 even less if you use less expensive faucet and light
                          fixtures.  If you don't want to remove the one large mirror then get some wide molding and
                          make a picture frame that you can attach directly to the mirror (using adhesive) then  stain it or
                          paint it.  If you are handy then router out the backside of the molding that will touch the mirror
                          and leave about an inch overhang on the outer edges,  that way it will sit  flush on the wall.

Other ways I have saved money is watching for sales and selling things.  I had two sofas and a love seat that I no longer wanted nor did I have the room to keep them all.  So I sold them on Craigslist, I made enough money to purchase a brand new leather sofa......If you watch the sales you too can purchase one like I did for $499.00 I sold enough things on Craigslist to pay cash for this sofa.   I could have made more money on the sale of those three pieces had I taken the time to learn to reupholster. 

Which brings me to my next subject revamping things you already have.   I revamped a coffee table for $62.00 had I wanted to buy a new table that looked the same would have cost me triple that if not more.  I have a chair in my livingroom that I love but I am not crazy about the fabric.  The chair is in great condition, I love the shape and it is very comfortable.  This is where classes come in again, I found a class locally for $30.00 that will teach you to reupholster furniture.  I've thought of perhaps, making fitted slip covers (like the slip covers on some of the Pottery Barn furniture, the ones that you don't know they are slip covered - because I hate the look of lose slip covers) that way I can make a few different slip covers for two reasons, one so I can remove them and wash them and two so I can change the look of my livingroom with out breaking the bank!  I don't know how to do this that's why I borrowed a friends dvd's on how to make them!

Take a stroll on Craigslist or Ebay (Craigslist is usually better no shipping payment and the prices are more reasonable) check out what they have, if you can find the shape of a table you want on there it's worth buying and learning how to refinish or paint.  I purchased an antique table that I have in my bedroom for $25.00 off of ebay a few years ago, it was painted white and looked terrible.  I stripped it and stained it, it's back to it's original beauty.  Had I wanted to purchase that in the shape it's in now, it would have cost me at least $300.00. 

Have MDF furniture?  Don't panic.  Like a lot of people I do not like MDF furniture I prefer real solid wood, however, to my surprise I realized my coffee table was MDF after I started to sand it, if this is the case for you as well, just paint it.  If you want the look of stain you can use stain over paint.  Another problem you can run into with cheap furniture is not only MDF but having laminate over it, like the cheap headboards I purchased, you can still sand those, paint them or paint and then stain them.  Always go for the shape of furniture you want when working on a low budget, there are many ways to make something look better as long as your happy with the shape/style.

The lesson of this is to think outside the box, do as much work as you can yourself, if you don't know how to do something, learn it.  It will save you hundreds maybe  thousands down the line.  Revamp the things you have that look tired and worn out.  Stop throwing things away you will be amazed at what people buy on the craigs list, and there are no selling fees like ebay.  The feeling of accomplishment doing the work yourself or giving things a second life are worth more then having a contractor come in and put down granite slab counters or new kitchen cabinets!  Have fun and send us your before and after pics w/your success stories!