How to Budget for Home Renovations

Home renovations help you put your own stamp on a new place, or they can help you refresh and brighten up your existing apartment. Good home improvements add value to your home and make you feel good on the inside.

With this in mind let’s look at how you should budget for your home renovation.

Assign a Cost to Each Aspect

When you put your budget together you should itemise each aspect. It is a good idea to do this by room.  This will also allow you to get started in one room once you have made all the purchases you need. While you’re working in one room, or while somebody else is, your budget has a chance to replenish.

Aspects to cost out will include:

• Professional tradesman fees
• Materials costs such as kitchen worktops for example
• Fixtures and fittings such as staircases and kitchen cupboards
• Paint, wallpaper, tiles, plaster, and related tools
• Furnishings and appliances

Once you have worked out your budget for a room you can then move on to the next aspect of budgeting; shopping around.

Shop Around

Shopping around not only lets you identify the best price for what you need, but it gives you a better idea of prices which is useful down the line as your home renovation moves from room to room.

When shopping around Google is your friend. Searches for winder staircase online or freestanding shelves online for example often reveal some great hidden away companies that provide quality products. Where possible try and find at least three companies that provide good quality products that fall within your budget.

If you have something particularly expensive you may want to consider second hand. Good deals can be found on sites that specialise in this kind of thing, and house clearances often reveal hidden gems.

Specialist online stores such as Fontanot Shop often provide good products at a reasonable price together with ideas for your home improvement project.

Tradesman should be sourced on recommendations. If you do not know anyone who has used a tradesman, you can look at online reviews and often on UK local council websites, you can find a list of tradesmen who are trusted. Get quotes from a few tradesmen to get the best price.

Once you have shopped around you should revise your budget accordingly. Hopefully, you’ll have more money to play with.

Assign a Schedule

Once you have your budget you should assign a schedule for the work needed. This will give you clarity on how long your project is going to take, as well as providing an opportunity to prioritise the work by the task.  It is a good idea to assign a few extra days for the more expensive aspects of your project especially if tradesmen are involved. Often, hidden unforeseen circumstances occur which delay projects of this kind.

From here all that is left to do is to start your home improvement project. The sooner you start it the sooner you can enjoy your newly refurbished home. Make sure you have a bottle of champagne on ice to celebrate once complete.