First Person: Remodeling My Home on a Budget

When I remodeled my last home I was confronted with more options than I ever thought existed. There were hundreds of options for cabinet handles alone. I was trying to balance between what I wanted, what I could afford and what would provide me the best return on my money. Thankfully the contractor was a friend of mine who gave me the tip to make my home liveable for me first and worry about potential resale later; after all, I had no intention at the time of ever selling.

Styles change and with it the best return on your remodeling money changes. To that end I made some changes that saved me a great deal of money at the time and when I did sell ended up giving me a great return on my investment.

I chose a walk-in pantry over wall cabinets. Cabinets are incredible expensive. While I am tall I'm not tall enough to reach the back of the top cabinet height in my kitchen. Plus I had 3 external walls. I choose windows for the walls and lower cabinets. A walk in pantry is much more accessible, keeps everything more organized and in thousands less expensive to build.

I frequently take 2 showers a day, especially in summer. I generally only take a bath in winter and then only now and then. A shower is simply faster; I can be in and out in the time it takes the tub to fill. So when I remodeled the bathroom I opted for a large walk-in shower instead of a tub. There is another bathroom with a tub so the house still has one.

I added windows to the office. Well the previous owners used the room as a dining room, but with the size of the kitchen and the informality of my life, I used the former dining room for an office. The only problem was that it had only one very small window. It also had a great view of the front garden. So I had a huge picture window installed and the only 30inch window taken out. I flanked the new window with built in bookshelves and the room looked great. I went from needing 2 lights on during the day to work to being able to leave the light off until sunset. It was great.

The single most important decision I made was not to spend money I didn't have. I didn't have the cash for granite countertops so I didn't get them. I saw no reason to go into debt to remodel. I paid cash for all of it. When the job was complete I was able to enjoy the house without worrying about my credit card balance. I had budgeted $25,000 for the renovations, $15,000 for the kitchen and $10,000 for the bathroom. The kitchen ended up costing me $18,000 and the bathroom cost $8,000. I was able to have the window in the office expanded for $3,000. This project wouldn't have been done at the time if it hadn't been for the savings on the other projects. Overall I added $50,000 value to my house. Not a bad return on my investment.

When you remodel your home make sure your first priority is it's suitability for you and your family and not some mythical potential buyer from the future. If you find that the cost of your remodel exceeds more than 50% of your home's current market value you might want to consider the advice my father gave me for that situation: move!

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First Person: Remodeling My Home on a Budget