Takeover Tuesday: Money Saving Tips On Redecorating and Renovating

So if you've been following me from the beginning of this blog journey, you'd know that Joey and I have been slowly and not-so surely fixing up our house.  We've done a few minor projects here and there (painting, furnishing, and other basic "prettyfying" projects) but the one big project we tried to tackle is STILL not finished.

I'm totally blaming Pinterest, HGTV, and the DIY Network for filling my head with insane ideas and goals for the failure of our kitchen project.  I had high hopes of re-tiling the countertops, re-facing the cabinets, and laying down some wood flooring up in that biznatch.

Unfortunately, because we're always so busy on the weekends with sports, parties, cleaning, etc., we've had to put off our project.  For almost 2 years.  Yeah.  And now that Joey's leg is broken...well...If slow and steady wins the race, we're totally winning right now.

 Raw concrete countertops and cabinets that have this leathery vinyl coating thingy - yeah, I don't know...

 Where the kitchen sink used to/should be.

 And a better view of the retro tiles we got going on up in here.  Don't stare too hard, you may get hypnotized.

So if you're into the whole 'no kitchen sink or countertops' thing, then do what I did.  Otherwise, read up on these tips first:

Saving Money Tips for Redecorating And Renovating Your Home

If you have considered giving your home that much needed makeover it is crying out for, you may have been put off by how much it might cost.  However, there are many clever ways to avoid putting yourself into debt and injecting new life into your home, often with even better results than if you spent more money.  Below are some hints and tips to help you cut the cost and give your house a new lease of life.

1.  DIY

Although there are some jobs you will need someone with relevant training and experience to cover for you such as plumbing and electrics, there are other jobs that you can do by yourself and save money.  Although the old saying about time being money is very true, someone else's time is probably going to be more expensive than your own.  So if you can find the time to paint, sand, insulate and even lay some flooring you could save a considerable amount of money.

2.  Consider Alternatives before Installing New Windows

In order to save some money and time, consider lightening up darker areas and rooms, by choosing a lighter shade of wallpaper or paint.  Another great solution is to hang mirrors in clever spaces to give the allusion of a room being bigger than it is.  If you can afford a little bit of building work being done, you might also want to look into using light tubes to help fill darker areas with more natural light.

3.  Consider Decorative Shutters

A great way to increase the value of your property is to purchase exterior shutters.  Not only are they inexpensive at as low as £50 for a pair, they also are very easy to install by yourself.  They can give the outside of your house an almost instant makeover and although the plastic ones are for show, they look like the wooden ones when painted and are much cheaper and lighter too.  As they are plastic, they are very cheap to keep looking good as they don't need to be repainted often, if at all.

4.  Search for Bargains

As well as saving money, searching in places such as antique stores, eBay, reclamation yards, auctions, junk and salvage yards for accessories and materials for your makeover work will help you find items that have character.  In these types of places you can expect to find anything from wooden beams, stonework, bricks, and complete staircases to ornaments and kitchen utensils.

5.  Consider the Bigger Picture

When it comes to redecorating and renovating work on a property there are many false economies that may seem like they are saving you money, but in the end the saving is not as much as you had hoped.  Always factor in the on-going costs and savings of anything you do to your home.  Take insulation for instance - buying thick, good quality insulation may cost a lot of money in the beginning.  In the long run however, you will save far more money over the course of 10 to 20 years on your electricity bill, which is always on the rise.  Another great example of this is solar energy panels that cost thousands of pounds to install.  However, over the course of time they could save you anything from 7% to 14% a year.  You should also factor in the amount of time you plan on living in that house, some long term money savers may not be worth it, and it is also wise to consider the effects changes you make to your property will have on the resale value you of your home.

Author bio: This post was brought to you by Anthony Bendel who blogs about a number of topics including plastering courses and finance.

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Definitely could have used these tips BEFORE I tried to take on something bigger than myself.

Oh, well.  If anyone knows an awesome contractor who'd like to finish the job for me, I'm all ears!

As long as they work for free.

♥ Duckie.