I love looking at an outdated space and reimagining the possibilities. The best deals on homes are always those that need work. Part of why Ethan got such a great deal on his house is because we could overlook the ugly factor. It can be overwhelming to look at a space that needs a lot of work. Where do I start? How do I choose? How much will is cost?

We budgeted about $20,000 for the renovations and only went slightly over (budget to go over budget). Here are the questions to ask yourself to get started:

• What bothers me the most about the house?

• What would be hardest to do later? What order should I do things?

• How much of the work am I capable of doing myself?

• How much time do I have to get things done?

• How much money do I have to spend?

Any time you are doing renovations, you need to balance your time and your budget and your expectations. You can save a lot of money if you have the time to spare. You can get things done a lot faster if you have more money to spare. Be honest with yourself. Here are the details on how Ethan and I made decisions on how to use our time and spend the budget.

FLOORING & PAINT

As you can tell from the pictures below, the flooring was mainly the original from the 80’s. It was badly in need of replacement. The house also felt very dark with no windows on the sides. It desperately needed lighter paint both for appearance and to cover the slight smell of smoke throughout the house. Painting the inside and replacing the flooring were clearly the top priorities. Getting both of these done before occupying the house would be easier and cheaper. Bonus if you can paint without having to worry about getting paint on the floor, so painting needed to come first.

With those two projects, Ethan had to honestly look at his skill level and his time. As a college student who works part time, Ethan had more time the month after he bought the house in early July. He also knew that he would have NO time once classes started. He had another college student who needed to move in pretty close to the beginning of August. This gave Ethan a little over 3 weeks from closing to get his house renovated. Although hard working, Ethan has no experience in any home renovations. We decided on LVP (Luxury Vinyl Plank) throughout the house. Durable, waterproof, and attractive, LVP is often put in high end new builds. It’s actually fairly easy to install yourself but would be very time consuming especially for someone with no experience. We chose to use The Home Depot to install the flooring. The total for his 1300 sq. foot house was $6400, and actually the one biggest expense in the whole renovation. Labor was well over half of that so if you have the time, you can save quite a bit by doing it yourself.

FLOORING TIMELINE

With the flooring decision made, we needed to deliberately think through the timeline to get the flooring done, get the house painted (which Ethan felt capable of) and also work on Ethan’s other two priorities - the kitchen and the bathrooms. You cannot go to a flooring store and expect installation soon after ordering your flooring. Rarely is everything in stock so you have to wait for the special order. Then it has to be delivered (another group of people’s schedule to work through). After delivery the flooring has to acclimate inside the home. Not only this, you also have to get on the installers schedule. Fortunately, we started the process about a week before closing. Even so, flooring wasn’t installed until 3 days before the move in date.

KITCHEN

Ethan loves to cook, so a nice kitchen was important to him. The original design didn’t make great use of the space plus the cabinets were cheap and strangely sticky. I helped Ethan reimagine the layout, making use of the sloping wall. We put the fridge in the adjacent laundry room after replacing the ancient hot water heater with a tankless one. Ethan really wanted a gas stove and added a dishwasher. I insisted on well made, real wood cabinets for durability but we only installed lower cabinets opting for open shelving next to the window. We kept the plumbing for the sink in the same place to save some money. Laminate countertops were another cost saver (only $400 instead of several thousand for granite). We got a furniture piece from Ikea to act as a pantry. I sourced the sink, hardware, and light from Amazon - a great way to save some money if you are willing to scroll through lots of options. Ethan and my husband Jim put the cabinets together and Jim installed the countertops and open shelving. I paid for the plumbing for the sink, dishwasher, and hot water heater. Even with Ethan paying for a gas line to be run to allow for a gas stove, the entire kitchen reno cost less than $6,000!

BATHROOMS

Bathrooms were the last priority before move in. Both had ugly wallpaper attached to the original drywall that Ethan painstakingly removed, Jim patched the damaged drywall, and then Ethan painted. Fortunately, neither bathroom needed a new shower and the downstairs toilet was new. With a new vanity from Home Depot, lights from Amazon, shower curtain and mirror from TJMaxx, the downstairs bathroom only cost $635 (including a discounted $150 for labor to install the vanity and lights). The upstairs bathroom was a little trickier to reimagine with its super tight space. I found an end table at Junk in the Trunk, a sink on Amazon, and Jim put the new vanity together. Including a new toilet, mirror, and light, with discounted labor costs at $150, the upstairs bathroom total was just over $500.

LIGHTING & FINISHINGS

There are little things to remember to budget for such as vent covers, switch and outlet covers, and door hardware. We spent about $250 on these. Lights make a huge impact on the look of a home. I almost exclusively get my lights from Amazon and we spent about $400. We went to Ikea for most of the kitchen accessories and got some incredible furniture deals for Ethan at Scott’s Antique Market. Both Ethan and his roommate had some older couches and bedroom stuff already. By move in day, between Ethan and I, fully furnished, we had spent around $24,000. There are still projects to be done - some light fixtures to be changed, carpet on the stairs replaced, doors and window trim painted and the family room to be decorated. But as any homeowner knows, there are always projects to be done. Ethan and his roommate are nicely settled, focusing on school and work. It might be next summer before more projects are tackled and that’s ok.

I get such great satisfaction in making a space pretty and useful, my own renovations and other people’s. Whether you are wondering what projects to tackle in your current home or need vision to imagine the possibilities during the house hunt, let me know your questions and I’ll be happy to help.

A FEW PHOTOS OF OUR EARLY PROJECTS

Figuring out how to add character to a new build repurposing antique windows