Home Remodel Tips: 19 Ways to Keep Costs Down

Updating a bathroom in your home is an easy way to boost its appeal if you’re looking to sell. Incorporate sleek surfaces that look great and are easy to clean. You could also add an additional half bath to a living room or hallway to increase the total value of your home.

We match contractors with your project based on location, budget, expertise, and experience with similar projects. We recommend you hire a good building inspector before you decide to renovate. They'll check the house for costly repairs, such as termite damage and structural issues.

You can add pattern and color with wallpaper in a snap, and it's totally fine to limit it to one stand-out wall . But if you're not ready to tackle proper wallpapering quite yet, try the temporary, peel-and-stick kind. You can easily take it off if you change your decor style, so you don't have to worry about giving a current design trend a shot. You can refinance your home for tax-free funds, apply for a construction loan or pay out-of-pocket. Exterior remodels can focus on the structural integrity or curb appeal of your home. For roof, siding and window replacements, you’ll spend an average of nearly $68,000.

Which means you’ll have a lot of things to consider, not least among them how to find a contractor, how to mitigate costs, and, no less important, how to translate your Pinterest ideas into reality. So whether you’re revamping a space to make it more functional or simply more beautiful, this handy guide is your one-stop shop for all things home renovation. The price tag for a typical home remodel can be in the tens of thousands of dollars, but rising home values have offered homeowners more opportunities to afford those costs.

Take a look at these commonly asked questions about home renovation costs. Typically, these are renovations for projects typical in second homes with mid-range products and materials. For instance, if you’re renovating your kitchen and you want to install a new sink or stove, and you’re not confident you can handle it, hire a contractor for just that job. You can handle the backsplash and wallpaper in the kitchen yourself. Find ways you can further utilize and reorganize your spaces so they have more utility and function. Instead of renovating your entire kitchen space and knocking down or adding walls, try replacing shelves that take up space with pullout drawers that contain racks for canned goods, for example.

You can even get the illusion of wainscoting by applying trim or lumber to an area of the wall as an outline, then use paint to tie the wall and trim together to imitate the real deal. Choose prefinished millwork to cut down on labor time, or finish it yourself to save even more Home Renovation on your renovation budget. The cost of remodeling is typically less than building a new home. Residential spend for purchasing new homes with upgraded kitchen and bathrooms typically exceeds that of remodels, their industries ticking $77 billion and $62 billion, respectively2.

This expanded storage wraps around the fridge and produces a clean, integrated look. Slide-out pantry shelves aid in reaching food items since refrigerator pantries tend to be very deep. Murray LampertWith the kitchen island converted to a sitting/eating breakfast bar, guests have a reason to congregate in the kitchen.

"You can always put more emphasis on the windows in the front of the house that face the street. That's one way to save on money, but do not skimp on quality," Nancy says. "Windows are really expensive, and a lot of people try to money on them, but that's not where you want to save your money," Jimmy says. Steve adds, "A roll of plastic will save you a lot of time and a lot of money, when it comes to wood and concrete. When it comes to tools and stuff like that, keep them inside."