Great Home renovation ideas

Home renovations have become increasingly popular in recent years. With the downturn in the economy, many homeowners are forced to stay in their homes for longer periods of time because the property value has decreased below their purchase price. Others are simply choosing to stay in their current home and want to update it without having an extravagant budget. Here are some great tips to maximize your home renovations.
Work With What You Have
While you may be tempted to wipe the slate clean and completely redo your kitchen or bathroom, it will cost much more to rearrange the placement of sinks and plumbing, thanks mostly to the electrical work required. Draw up home building plans that work with the current layout within a particular room; you can create impressive results while saving a lot of money.
Update Instead of Replace
We live in a throwaway society that encourages us to buy everything new. However, new isn’t always better; the kitchen cabinets that you toss in the dumpster may be higher quality than the ones you replace them with. Consider refinishing or repainting cabinets instead. You can also replace just the cabinet doors and hardware to give the appearance of a complete remodel and save money that way. Sometimes it’s amazing what even a fresh coat of paint can do for a room!
Remove Clutter
Most of us are guilty of holding onto more than what we need, causing even large rooms to feel constrained. Take a few minutes to evaluate what should stay and what you can get rid of in each room. Removing the clutter can significantly impact the atmosphere of any room without costing you anything. In fact, you can pick up a few extra dollars by having a garage sale to get rid of the excess.
Do Your Research
Before you commit to renovating, do some thorough research on the project. Not only will you want to get quotes from different local contractors to determine the best price, but you should also look into options like federal tax credits towards approved renovations. It’s not uncommon for up to half of the renovation costs to be covered by the government as long as your renovation meets their minimum requirements for costs and building materials, and is completed by a certain date. This is especially true with green building projects like installing solar panels, a solar water heater or energy efficient insulation and windows.
Following one or more of these steps can greatly improve the look and feel of your home while keeping more dollars in your pocket.