Over the last several weeks I've been discussing a potential renovation in my house and talking back and forth over the merits of the cost and what potential changes I'd make if I decide to go ahead. It's an important discussion for me as I'm not one to spend the sort of money it'll eventually cost just because I want to; there needs to be a valid reason, distinct benefit from a use-perspective and from a future value perspective as well.
One of the areas I'm talking about is the kitchen, usually a reasonably costly area to renovate and, because it's often considered the hub of the house, a critical area to get right.
I'm not a chef so don't need a chef's kitchen, however I like to cook and most of our meals are prepared at home which means I need my kitchen to be functional with plenty of bench space and storage. I also have things I specifically want like a double-wide fridge space, larger and deeper sink areas, feature benchtops, 900mm wide cook top and oven and enough bench space to use one end as a breakfast bar.
I'm only in the early phase of planning currently but want to do things a little differently than last time, the very first house I bought. I did the kitchen, dining and loungeroom all at once and that meant having no kitchen for about six months...it sounds good, eating BBQ's and take-away food every day but trust me, one gets over that quite quickly.
With this one I'm going to be more strategic about it. I'll probably end up buying one of those stainless steel outdoor kitchen/BBQ's and install it outside in my alfresco area; I've been wanting one for a long time anyway, one with a plumbed in sink and refrigerator as well, which will serve as my kitchen throughout the renovation and then it'll become my outdoor entertaining kitchen later. Admittedly, last time it was all done on a tight budget as I was so young and this time there'll be no real budgetary constraints so I'll project manage it and make sure I'm not waiting on the supply of anything: Stone bench tops, appliances and so on, which will help expedite the process.
If I do it though I want to do most of it myself which will save me a lot of money - that'll mean a lot of careful planning.
all herself.House renovations can be extremely enjoyable, and extremely frustrating, just ask @eveuncovered who is doing a legit job on her own place currently,
Like her, I'm not a professional house renovator but have the desire to add personal value to the renovation through doing it myself; she'll attest to the enjoyment that comes from standing back and saying, yep, I did that, as anyone who has renovated a house, or anything else, will also say I guess.
Have you ever renovated a house, or a room in your house personally?
Maybe you didn't do everything yourself, but possibly you did the plumbing, or painting, worked on the interior design or decor yourself...if so, let me know how it went and what went right or wrong. Maybe you've had to do running repairs to keep your house in good condition and if so please also feel free to comment on it. You may also like to share how work you performed yourself added value to your potential sale value...whatever it is, if you want to comment then go ahead.
Design and create your ideal life, tomorrow isn't promised - galenkp
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Yay for having less budget constraints!
we need to do our kitchen and the second bathroom as well but expensive and we have a lot of budget constraints basically to the point of it's not happening
Doing it not all at once sounds like a good plan XD
There's always budgetary constraints but the last house renovation (house I lived in) was done a long time ago and I was young...if I have those budgetary constraints still, all these years later, I would know I'd done something monumentally wrong in life. Lucky that's not the case.
I want to work out an acceptable budget for this and then weigh it against the benefits, how long we may stay here and what we may gain in sale price...and then work out how much I can do myself. There's some really cool kitchen places where they design and create the kitchen in kit-form and the buyer does it themselves or pays a carpenter...I think that's how I'll go although I want to do most of it myself.
You mention your kitchen and second bathroom...always costly areas to renovate, sometimes cost-preventative especially if it's still operating as needed. I'm investigating the option of retaining the frame of the kitchen cupboards and replacing the doors only, and also looking into using the same doors but having them recoated in 2-pac glossy paint...it looks pretty good and is way cheaper. It'll all come together at some stage I guess.
Our budgetary constraints are the kids, and we had the kids before we bought the house, so in our case we have literally the same budgetary constraints XD
not sure that was monumentally wrong though, or was it?! XD
Though hopefully that will ease up a bit when the big two are earning enough to be paying board.
eldest didn't look as he was focused on adjusting from homeschooling to tertiary (seems like the only adjustment was having hard and fast deadlines), middle child has a job but it doesn't pay nearly enough for her to be paying board, and youngest has been doing his damnedest but not having any luck
J is thinking gut and redos with both and the bathroom will probably need it as we're changing the layout (it's a utility bathroom that we only use as storage and laundry). The kitchen I played around with layout ideas and said to J that I don't think we can change it much as it's a bit of an interesting space to work in (and currently the only alternate method we have of cooking is a Weber). We're going to look into kit things from IKEA and Bunnings and some place sibling dearest was telling me about but have yet to look up as she couldn't remember the name of it and see if the cost savings is worth how long those materials will last.
I do also want to replace the outer cladding on the extensions as it turns out they're asbestos (something we didn't know when we bought the house) but that one I also don't want to think about that one x_x
Your idea for just sprucing up the existing kitchen cabinets is pretty good too :D
Yes I get that, it's a big commitment and some sacrifices (maybe adjustments) are required. Not monumentally wrong at all, just the situation. I come from a family with five children and my parents gave up a lot for us...if asked they would have said they'd change nothing.
We paid board from the moment we started working, I was thirteen, it wasn't a lot, 35% of my meagre after-school income at the supermarket, but I learned some lessons and I know those funds did some good. I'm glad to hear you're will have the same responsibility.
Those IKEA and Bunnings systems are pretty good, I've rarely heard much negativity about them, but there's some fitment issues, it just takes patience and care to get it spot on, I reckon it's a good option. Good luck with the asbestos too...Best that's gotten rid of but that needs to be done right, as you would know I guess. Happy renovating...or sprucing.
There's definitely a few things I would have changed in my own behaviour had I known then what I know now (especially financially) and I think J would be the same, but yeh the kids would definitely have been had again if we had a do over XD
Good to know about the IKEA and Bunnings systems! I have some confidence and also soe reservations with IKEA, I guess it depends on what you get, like we got some cupboards from there and the one we built into our bedroom (the house is really old and has pretty much no built in storage) is amazing, the two we got for the big two's bedrooms (which have since been repurposed for other things) are both still in pretty good nick but the three smaller ones we got as linen closets are trying to lose shelves (for whatever reason the pegs keep flying off). Guess everything has to roll a 1 sometimes xD
I think IKEA stuff rebels against being moved once it's put together, that's my experience., although it makes it easy to pull apart and discard when the tome comes. 😆
Best of luck to you! My wife and I are pretty lucky that my best friend is a licensed and insured handyman. If he can pull himself away from his business long enough, he is always ready and willing to help us out. Right now funds are definitely and issue for us and we are running into the fact that we have so many things we want to renovate that it might just be smarter to buy a new house.
Mates rates are better than retail, so that's handy. I have a few friends so I'll be calling in favours, putting on a few BBQ's after the work is done and all. We have a healthy barter system going really, and are also just willing to help each other. It's what's making me want to do the renovation myself...the fact I have expertise at hand and will learn some new things along the way.
Funds man...always an issue and I'm always mindful. I guess I don't want to over-expose myself financially as there's plans for the present and future that still need to happen. It's a balancing act I guess.
I think it's always a balancing act at least until you get to a certain point of being wealth. I'm not sure I would ever want to be at that point. It keeps you honest! I have grilled more than a few steaks for my friend as payment for his help!
Steak payments...the best ever as one gets to partake also. 🙂
Absolutely!
I wrote a post this week about renovating our kitchen, or part of it, this week. It's been a bit of a headfuck, because as you know, we always do things ourselves and we don't like spending money. IT came about because both our induction cooktop and our oven broke and we had to get new ones, so whilst we were at it .... oh dear.
Anyway you can do things a little cheaper if you can wield a screwdriver, which I know you can. Kaboodle (bunnings) and Ikea have some affordable options and you can go up in price for various fittings.
I love the black cupboards in the above picture which is what we're going for. I have similiar handles but I'm changing them as I always seem to hurt myself cleaning round them and they collect grime. I'm going for the more invisible handles - well not quite, - let me find a pic..
these ones (via google)
we are only doing about a third of it and the rest we'll do when we get back.
I like the look of the dark over light, it feels homely and warm, it'll look awesome.
I've seen some Kaboodle kitchens and my brother has had a couple of IKEA ones which he's made to work really well. There's others also so I'll be looking around and determining which will work the best. I want to approach this strategically so I'll not be rushing it. I have an open-plan house so the kitchen will need to tie-in with the rest of the living area, the lounge room and dining at least, so I'll take inspiration from there and tie certain elements in although I also want to make a statement with the kitchen, leave no mistake that even though it's open to the living areas it's a room in and of itself, which has it's own purpose and character.
Yeah that makes it tricky, we are doing the same with the open plan segue.
We're trying to find a balance between need and want and also the fact that we'll not be here forever, as in this property. I moved house pretty recently and there'll be another on the cards in the not too distant future. One must look at it from all angles right?
I don't think I've done home renovations myself. I don't trust myself in doing a good job of it, and I find it is better to trust those who know what they're doing. I have done some maintenance, like fixing a hand rail, working on leaks, and other smaller works. There is some sense of accomplishment when you fixed a problem. I hope you are able to make the kitchen of your dreams, and be able to build it by yourself.
Yeah, it can seem a little daunting.
I've done a lot of it, renovated many houses, but only once have I renovated the house I live in personally - I still have that house too, the original renovation I did still looks good. It was a lot of work though.
You're right about that sense of accomplishment, for me it's more about that than reducing the cost by doing it myself although both are a good win.
Funnily enough we had a kitchen discussion aswell yesterday! Counter space is very important... there's a fine line between too much and too little!
Tricky thing! Enjoy the renovating! I like that part!
It's usually a costly area to do and I guess that's why many leave it longer than they probably should. I like the planning phase though, working out what's possible and what I'd like then tying it all in to the available space and adjoining areas so it's all matching....it's the paying for it part that hurts the most! :)
Surely with the planning power you have, the kitchen is going to be super beautiful! I don't doubt that for a moment.
In my case, I rent now, but when I was in Argentina I had my own house, it was a very big house, from my maternal grandparents, which is more than 70 years old and since my grandfather passed away in 1985 it had not been possible to maintain it. In 2002 my grandmother died and from then on, with my brother, we rebuilt it ourselves, all the labour was ours, except for the plastering of the walls for which we called a bricklayer.
The changes of water and electricity pipes, repair of the gas pipes, gutters, repair of the roof, we did everything between the two of us. We also did the complete kitchen between the two of us.
I put all the ceramics in the kitchen and the bathroom by myself, painted the whole house, house of 140 mts2.
It took us from 2003 until 2018, which was the year I came to Spain.
Do you think you'll buy another house and if you do would you go through a renovation again? I know people who did it and hared it and would never renovate again.
Yes I would, without hesitation! It would be my home. And although the previous one took a lot of work it was worth it.
Hi Galen, I have only once participated in the work on a house I own and I was only in charge of putting muscle, i.e. knocking down walls and such. This year I put in new windows in my house and had a whole team of professionals do it, but I'm not really writing to tell you these things, but to wish you a great year 2024. Best regards
Knocking down walls...I've had some of the best fun with a sledge hammer doing exactly that!
I hope you have a great 2024, I'm in day one of it already and so far...it's been good!
I am a DIY aficionado and completely replaced our kitchen along with my husband.
I used IKEA for the materials and used their website to help plan and design the renovation. I even changed my mind twice during the project which was only possible by using IKEA products.
The great thing about it was that we could do the work in stages so we could still have a functional if somewhat wacky looking kitchen until project completion. This really helped with the budget as well.
I hope your project goes well and I am sure it will look great
IKEA tend to do a good job with their design concepts although it can be tough to get it all together perfectly. I'll probably look at their products but there's a few similar, Australian made*, products that I'd prefer to use over an imported brand.
It's great that you and your husband do stuff like this yourselves, a great sense of achievement comes from it I think.
Thanks for your comment and all the best for the new year.
I haven't done renovation or anything like this because I'm not good at it or I totally do not have any idea how to do this. But other small things like repairing some electric objects instead of bringing them to market, to save expenses. Yup I have done that and still I do that.
I'm sure as time passes you'll start to acquire some skills; that's how it's usually done.
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When we completely renovated our apartment (we were evicted for a few months, we were lucky), I hired plumbers, ceramics, parquetry, window replacement, painters... And I took it upon myself to make most of the built-in furniture. the biggest challenge was this wall-to-wall closet, which even after 8 years looks like the first day. I made it myself, from taking measurements, designing, ordering materials to assembly.
In addition to the closet, I made a complete mini kitchen, a shoe cabinet, a chest of drawers in the hallway... the reason why i did it alone? overpriced craftsmen for making wardrobes, a kitchen in which elements of universal dimensions cannot fit, as well as the possibility to implement some of my ideas.
Impressive...did you just volunteer to come and help me do mine?! 😁
I bet you got a nice feeling of achievement when you were done having done some of it yourself. Did you manage to save a lot of money too?
It was 2015 when the prices were much lower than today, but I still remember the savings.
I went to one of the project bureaus and for a 3.5m x 2.35m x 0.65m built-in closet, they asked 1200e, with the fact that they would only prepare for installation, and I would assemble it myself.
I didn't want to accept that, because if I assemble it myself, I will also design it myself and give measurements for cutting...
Material came out 650e...
Is that I worked a little hard, since I brought all the material and assembled it myself, but the savings were so great that I could also build a kitchen with the rest of the money.
It's a bit busy in the kitchen now, but I'll take a picture anyway, so you can understand why it had to be custom made. It's a tiny space...
PS. I would be happy to help you, but considering that it is already getting dark in your place and you are about to open the champagne, I think you are far from Europe, the plane ticket is expensive...
That's a pretty good saving I think, and the reward of having done it yourself is solid too.
my kitchen, made to measure... I designed it myself, ordered it to be cut, put it together...
as well as these two pieces in the hallway, a chest of drawers and a shoe cabinet...
Too bad I don't have pictures when I made it, that would be a great DIY post :-)
That settles it, you're coming here to help with mine! 😏