Being the new year (still, just), many people decide that it’s time to renovate their home in some way. However, it quite often turns out that this isn’t always as simple as possible and that’s usually because renovating your home can be a pricey business.
This doesn’t always have to be the case, though, and there are ways that you can do it on a budget. Here are some ideas:
Upcycling
For those unaware of what upcycling is, it involves turning something old into something new rather than just throwing it away and it’s a fantastic way of creating something useful for relatively nothing. This could involve turning jam jars into light fittings or bicycle wheels into pieces of art. It really is up to you what you do and really lets you be as creative as you like.
image via Shutterstock
Reupholstering your furniture
This is sort of extension of the previous upcycling point but is probably worthy of its own mention. If you have old furniture that has seen better days then you don’t have to replace it; instead you could reupholster it and turn into something that looks brand new. Alternatively, you could buy cheap second-hand furniture and save yourself some money on buying brand new. This is a great guide on how to reupholster a chair, for example.
Shop around
It very rarely pays to just buy something from the first place you find, and that includes on the Internet. By doing your homework you could save yourself a fair bit of cash which could be better spent elsewhere. If you go to a shop then you could pay through the nose, but shopping online could save you some money, even for rooms such as the bathroom.
You can even get stuff for free!
You might be slightly wary of anywhere that gives things away for free but it’s not always as sinister as it seems. Some people really do just want to get rid of stuff for free (if they’re moving house, for example) and will be happy for someone to come and take it off their hands. Check out websites such as Freecycle to see what’s going in your area. Some of it may be utter junk but you might just find a gem.
The Y part of DIY is important
DIY seems to be something that is dying out and more and more people are tempted to pick up the phone book and find someone to do it for them. However, you can save quite a lot of money by learning to do it yourself, and you get a huge sense of achievement too! Of course, you do need to be sensible on what it is you’re doing, so if you need some tricky plumbing doing then you probably stay away from doing that or you could end up spending more in the long run if it all goes wrong!