How to Maximize Your Remodeling Budget

You’ve probably heard stories from friends and relatives who signed up for a remodeling project and nearly collapsed when they learned how much it was going to cost. In fact, this experience is so common you might think that it’s the only way.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. You can get the solutions you need and the design you want without doubling your remodeling budget. It’s a goal that you can achieve with the right contractor and the right knowledge before starting your project. Here are a few ways you can maximize your remodeling budget.

Invest Time & Energy Into Thoughtful Design and Planning Processes

If you’re making or addingsignificant changes to a keyspace in your home, the design and planning processes can (and should) take multiple weeks or months to complete. During this time you are clarifying your goals and expectations, visualizing your new space using 3-D modeling software, making material selections, and much more. These are not steps you want to overlook.

How does spending extra time in the design and planning processes help maximize your budget? It’s much more time and cost-effective to change the direction of your project before construction begins. You don’t want to be halfway through construction, thousands of dollars already spent, and realize your new kitchen layout isn’t quite what you expected. Save yourself time, money, and a headache, and make sure you’re confident in your project before construction begins.

Solidify & Discuss Your Budget Before the Design Process

Often customers hesitate to reveal their remodeling budget. Instead, they tell us about their goals and ask how much we think it will cost. This is smart when you’re talking to multiple contractors or you’re in the early planning stages looking for a general ballpark estimate. After you’ve decided to work with a contractor, however, the more upfront and transparent you can be about your budget the more you’ll be able to maximize that budget.

How does solidifying/discussing your budget before the design process help maximize your remodeling budget? In the words of our very own architectural designer, Harmony Morris, “Once a client has a firm understanding of their budget, it makes the design process much more focused and aids the design team in offering solutions that suit the needs of the client, as well as their style.”

When we are crafting the design with your budget in mind, we have a vested interest in creating a design that can be built within that budget. We would be wasting our time and yours by creating an unrealistic design that will never get built.

Make a List of Needs and Wants

When you bought your home, you probably made a list of things you absolutely had to have and things that were great but not a necessity. To help you stick to your remodeling budget, it’s a smart idea to start with a similar list. There are several things that your renovation will need for the function of the room, but you can have a lot of influence on the flow of the space and the finishes.

Be sure to get everyone’s input, especially the people who will be using the space the most. For example, if you’re adding a second story addition so that your spouse finally has the home office of their dreams, their opinions may take precedence. If you have some disagreements, it might work to make several lists and figure out how to combine them, so you can get the solution that works best for everyone.

Your contractor and designer are great resources to understand where to splurge and where to make the necessary trade-offs. For example, you might think you need more kitchen space (a costly endeavor), but in reality, you just need a fresh set of eyes to rearrange the space. This could allow you to reallocate your budget towards higher-end finishes and other “wants”.

Start Planning Before You Think You Should

If you want the best possible results for your project, you shouldn’t be in a big hurry to get it done. Starting early, as much as a year in advance, gives you all kinds of benefits:

  • Allows you the biggest selection of available contractors
  • Gets you on the schedule at a time that works for you
  • Maximizes time for the perfect design
  • Gives you time to get ready for the project
  • No rush before big life changes, like a graduation or in-laws moving in

The amount of time you need before starting depends on the project. Whole-home remodeling and major additions can take several months, not including the design process. The longer you can give yourself before you need the project finished, the better the final result will be.

Find and Choose a Partner You Can Trust

You’re hiring a professional to do your remodeling project for a reason. They have knowledge of the process and experience that will give you a better long-term result than the work you could do on your own. It makes sense that you should choose a contractor that you can trust.

A contractor who listens to your questions, answers them to your satisfaction and gives you a clear and fair estimate is much more likely to help you maximize your remodeling budget.

Want to Learn More?

If you’re ready for more information about getting started on your remodeling project, we’d love to talk with you. Schedule a consultation today.