Low Cost Home Makeovers - 11 handy tips - (1) Budget

I was recently invited to Grand Designs Live in Birmingham, to talk about home makeovers and how to keep costs down, whether you're selling your home or want to enjoy living in it.

To follow is a summary of the suggestions I made, with lots of 'Before' and 'After' photos as illustrations.

The first section is BUDGET. Others will follow shortly.
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BUDGET - how do you control this so that the total cost stays within your limit?
 •Agree a budget
•Keep 10% for contingency
•Use a spreadsheet before you start, allocating a planned cost for everything
•Keep the spreadsheet updated with real costs
If the makeover is for selling purposes...
•Balance the investment with the impact it will have on the sale of the house

 

Before - a modern kitchen, no budget required to improve the look

 

After - at no cost

 

Before - this kitchen had to be replaced

 

After, at minimal cost, using a spreadsheet to carefully control the budget

 

Before - a family bathroom that was part of a full house makeover

 

After -  it was vital to keep within a small budget so the other rooms could have some attention too

 Next - Existing Colours - how do you decide if you need to keep some of them when you're planning a makeover, or can you change the whole scheme?