Things That Make Your House A Home Without Spending A Dollar
Determining Budget And Scope
It is entirely possible to effect total home refurbishment without spending a dime; but that’s easier to conceive than achieve, as the saying goes. Certainly, there are situations where you can get used materials from job sites where contractors have run out of use for certain items. Sometimes you’ll be able to get freebies in terms of paint or other materials.
For example, if you’re looking to refurbish the exterior of your home, and it needs a paint job, you might be able to find mixed paints that weren’t the right color for a previous buyer. Well, seldom do two exact shades match buyer proclivities. Accordingly, the paint seller must either throw that paint out or sell it at a discount. Sometimes they’ll even give it to you.
However, it’s no good saving all the money you’ve got for refurbishing if the result is a patchwork of mismatched ugly colors and furniture options. There’s a better way, and that’s substituting immediate cost for future value. You’ve got to budget. So say you spend $10k on refurbishment, and you increase property value by $15k. Though you’ve spent $10k, you’ve made $5k.
So immediate expenses have resulted in future profits. This is a better way to think of home refurbishment, as it allows you to get what you want how you want without reducing the value of your assets, but rather enhancing them. With that in mind, we’ll cover tips that follow this paradigm of remodeling and refurbishment. That said, some of these things will be free.
Utilize A DIY Approach
Labor is usually a third of your overall remodel expenses; sometimes more. Contractors are expensive, and they charge by the hour in many cases. But the things they do often don’t require the strict level of professionalism one expects of a contractor. For example, consider replacing the siding on a trailer.
The sheets are about four feet by eight feet, the old ones need to be ripped off, and the new ones need to be installed. Well, you can rip off all the old ones with some hands and a hammer, which you likely already have in your possession. The new sheets are probably $15 to $40 per 8’ X 4’ sheet; though if they’ve been pre-painted the wrong color, you could get them free or at a discount.
Now you’ve simply got to install them. This requires cleaning the premises, using a nail gun to attach them, and repainting them when all is said and done. The biggest difficulty will come around windows, and you’ve got to be careful of electrical lines. That said, you see the point: if you can do things DIY, you’re a lot more likely to save money.
The job may take longer, and if it doesn’t work out how you intend, you’ve only got yourself to blame. Still, it’s possible to do a lot of refurbishment free this way. Maybe you’ve got to knock out a wall or install a granite countertop. If you get materials free, the job can be done at no cost except your time.
Refurbish In Cost-Effective Ways From The Start
Finish that basement, and clean out that attic. Make friends with contractors to get excess materials free. Oftentimes they’ll just throw out what they don’t need or can’t use, and if you don’t have a budget, you can put their trash to work for you. Sometimes all you’ve got to do is clean an area, throw down a few rugs, add some wallpaper, and change a lightbulb.
Especially if you’re about to sell a property, a few simple steps like this can be “aces” toward a sale. And again, you can refurbish without losing any money if you spend resources upfront which produces greater value on the back-end, overcoming your initial investment. RTA (Ready To Assemble) cabinetry makes a lot of sense here.
With RTA options you can measure necessary dimensions, order the cabinets you like online, and have them shipped to your location where you assemble them in a DIY fashion. This site, Best Online Cabinets, allows you to find RTA options, traditional White Shaker cabinets, and all kinds of solutions matching unique housing needs.
The Little Touches
Of course, you don’t have to refurbish or remodel anything to make your house feel like a home without spending a dollar. Rearranging furniture, acquiring furniture items from discount outlets or charity auctions, and other similar tactics can make a property comfortable at a much-reduced expense.
It all depends on what moves you, and the budget you’re working with. Maybe you like more space and a room feels cloying. Bring in some of your mirrors, add a new coat of paint or new wallpaper, rearrange the furniture—think outside the box, and don’t be afraid to try things.
Between going the DIY route, refurbishing cost-effectively from the outset, trying new things, and planning for the cost of refurbishment to be less than the value such refurbishment brings, not only can you make your house feel like a home without spending a dollar, in the process, you can expand its overall value.