1. Go for efficiency rather than size
Kitchen too small?
Instead of spending tens of thousands of dollars blowing out the walls to increase its size, maybe some reorganization is in order.
For example, add 8-inch wide, cabinet height pull-out drawers with racks for canned goods and other items to minimize the need for so many bulky cabinets.
You can also add space-saving racks in cabinets to maximize the vertical space in your existing cabinets that are often wasted.
Features such as lazy-susans, pull-out trays for pots, and drawer dividers can maximize your existing space very easily and for much less than a kitchen expansion.
2. Add natural light without adding a window
Dark hallway or bathroom?
Instead of cutting a hole in the side of your house for a window, install a “light tube” between the rafters of your roof and into the room where you need more light.
It’s a less expensive and very effective way to add natural light to nearly any space in your home.
3. Use recycled materials
Using salvaged materials in your home renovation instead of new can save thousands of dollars.
Habitat for Humanity has many ReStores where they offer salvaged building materials at about half the cost of what you’d pay at a typical home-center store.
Craigslist and other free classified sites are other good sources for “lightly used” materials.
Keep in mind, however, that most contractors won’t typically work with salvaged materials because of the potential for liability in the event something goes wrong so you may end up doing some of the work yourself.
4. Donate your materials
The part of home renovating that people often overlook is that of tearing down the existing features.
A good bit of what you tear out could find a new home somewhere instead of getting tossed in a landfill somewhere.
Habitat for Humanity will often remove materials and fixtures that they can then resell in their stores, so it’s worth a call to see if they can use what you have.
Often, they can either take down everything or pick out what they can use, which will save you on trash collection costs and the hassle of dealing with some of the clean-up.
Donating salvaged materials for a charitable cause such as Habitat for Humanity may also help you save on your taxes.
5. Do your own teardown
While it’s not as costly as the building portion of a renovation, you can save some money by doing the demolition work yourself.
However, only go this route if you’re confident that you won’t accidentally destroy plumbing or electrical systems in your home.
6. Think of the long term benefits
Instead of going for the cheapest option, consider the maintenance costs that could be incurred down the road.
For example, if you’re installing clapboard siding on your home, opt for the pre-primed and pre-painted boards because the finishes last much longer.
Why?
Because they’re made in an environmentally controlled facility so the materials bond much more tightly than they do outside where the variable elements can interfere with adhesion.
7. Leverage your contractor’s contacts
Finally, ask your contractor if he has any leftover materials from other jobs.
It’s possible that you can obtain materials that would have otherwise been discarded that you can use in your own home renovation.
