All of Your Renovation Questions Answered

When I first purchased my home I knew exactly the area of the house that I was going to be pouring a little bit of money into right away- and that was the bathroom. I was really lucky, honestly. My kitchen is relatively renovated and the reason I say relatively is because there are still some areas of the kitchen that are not up to date, primarily the cabinets. Cabinetry is a HUGE and EXPENSIVE project to take on if you want it done right. My cabinets are the original ones from when the home was built, but what makes them look so new is the fresh coat of white paint on them (and also the hardware, which I changed myself). Boom- easy fix… for now. The counters, backsplash and floors were all new and although, I would like to totally change them up someday they are good for now. So instead of making any major kitchen changes, I went for the bathroom, which needed some major TLC. Everything was just… blue and a bit stuck in the 60s. The bathroom was also VERY small for my liking so we decided (and when I saw ‘we’ I mean my support system that really made this all happen the way that I dreamt of it happening- my mom, my brother, my aunt and my uncle). My uncle and my brother knocked down the left wall and expanded the bathroom 18 inches into the room next to it then totally demoed the entire layout, put up new plaster and installed everything. Between the construction, electrical, plumbing, hardware costs, I definitely feel like I splurged a bit compared to any other new homeowner at my age, but it is the bathroom of my dreams and I wanted it done right (very virgo of me, I know.) Here are some of your questions I received through Instagram and my answers:

Top Budget Renovation Tips:

• PAINT EVERYTHING YOURSELF

  • Oh please, just paint everything yourself! Hiring painters is just another cost that you’re going to kick yourself for if you are on a tight budget like I was. I find painting to be so therapeutic and my mom and I made so many wonderful memories together when we were painting every room in my house. Too much wine may have been consumed and there were definitely a few eff ups here and there, but the amount of laughs we shared and the amount of songs we belted at the top of our lungs while jamming out when we were painting will always cherish.

• ELIMINATE UNNECESSARY NEEDS

  • This one makes me laugh because I REALLY wanted heated floors in my bathroom, but honestly, I cannot STAND being hot anyway so why would I pay an additional $500-$1,000; that was just me having my MTV cribs moment wanting to be cool, when in reality… just totally unnecessary.

• DESIGNER DOES NOT MEAN QUALITY

  • This is a big one, guys. If you can afford everything from Restoration Hardware, by all means, go for it! However, if you are on a budget there are always budget friendly alternatives; you just need to be willing to do the research to find those sweet deals, which really can be exhausting, but your wallet will thank you. I can’t even begin to tell you how many kitchen pendant chandeliers I saved to my phone that ranged from $150 - $1,000. But guess what? The one I fell in love with was a no-name pendant that cost me under $250 and the quality is simply amazing.

• DON’T IMPULSE BUY

  • Think about your purchases before you put that credit card down. Did you check every other website that carries the same piece? Do they price match? Is it an open box product? Can you return it if it’s an open box product? Will it fit the space or do you have to make the space fit the piece? You want to have all of your answers to your lingering questions about whatever you’re choosing to do in your renovation. Sometimes there are happy accidents in the renovation process, but it’s safe to play all your cards right first before you decide to make the move.

How expensive is it to renovate?

This is definitely a question that has a large range of answers. However, I’ll apply it to what I had to do to my space. Having family that works in interior design and construction played a huge part in my renovation costs because I was gifted some things as birthday gifts and house warming gifts. This is not the case for everyone so I feel like this is definitely a hard question for me to answer. All in all, I paid around $12k for my renovations around my house. I also had extra costs like changing every light switch in my house to a dimmer (I don’t like bright lights haha), I also had 6 separate light fixtures installed, a ton of plumbing since I moved my toilet to a different spot in the bathroom from where it originally was. I wanted a custom shower so I picked the wall tile, floor tile, shower doors, bathroom fixtures, etc. The most expensive part of my renovations was definitely the shower. You learn a lot about how much things cost- I was shocked that toilets are so cheap for being SOOO heavy lol.

How did I budget for a renovation?

I’ve worked my freaking BUTT OFF since I was 14 and I’ve tried my best to simply save, save, save. However, simple things like choosing to not go out to eat, not to buy that dress, not to buy a coffee every day, not to say yes to every plan offered to me that involved spending money can really make a huge difference. I put down most of what I had saved in my initial down deposit on my house and I also had saved money in bonds since I was a baby (you wouldn’t believe how much bonds can grow over the course of 26 years). Not being able to really go out or do many things during the height of the pandemic encouraged me to keep my wallet shut as well, which definitely worked in my favor when it came to budgeting. However, this was my personal experience with budgeting for a renovation and I know it’s not the same for everyone.

How did you decide on counters, hardware, flooring, etc.?

The simple answer to this question is having my mom’s opinion. We have pretty much the same taste and I know she will always give me her honest opinion. There was not one thing I purchased or decided to do without getting her perspective on it. Having someone you trust during the process is imperative. When it comes to the design of my house, I knew I wanted to do white, black, neutrals, with a feminine twist and I think we accomplished just that!