Considering improving your home life style? Of course you do! The choice on deciding which area to improve can be overwhelming. There are so many: renovating a kitchen, a bathroom, undertaking major alterations such as extending the family-room, or building a new extension. Everything revolves around the budget that you have allocated.
In my case, my budget was somewhat limited. The two bathrooms needed serious uplift changes and the kitchen, besides all the efforts made along all these years to make it look a little prettier and more functional were exhausted. But my decision was taken.
It is a well-known fact that these areas are the most expensive to renovate. For the bathrooms: new sanitary and bathroom fittings, ceramic tiles and the dreaded plumbing bill. If you plan to add some fancy features such as a Jacuzzi and an under floor heating system, electrical outlets will have to be added. Lately, I went onto a website which will make you dream, have a look: http://www.getdecorating.com/theme.cfm?theme=14&browse=int
(I have no affiliation with them).
As far as the kitchen is concerned, bringing in a kitchen company to do the complete job can be an expensive exercise. Besides the wooden cabinets, cupboards and granite tops –I've pushed my luck here- new kitchen, sanitary and cooking appliances will usually be needed to be integrated into the new scheme. Far gone are the days that linoleum was rolled down and stuck with some glue. Today's trend is to use ceramic tiles or wood or a combination of both.
Considering that labour costs are more expensive than materials, these are the steps I had to take to save some money:
1.I went out on constructions sites making contact with tradesmen such as plumbers, electricians, tillers and fitters.
2.I was basically trying to entice them to come and work at my home after hours or on weekends. Obviously some were keen to make some extra money and some were not. Eventually deals were struck with some of these players.
3.I organized and made the arrangements with the tradesmen to find the most convenient time to carry on the different jobs.
4.For the materials and fittings, some research was done which helped to find and pay the lowest prices without compromising on quality.
While doing my investigations, I found a very interesting thing. Most of the kitchen companies seldom have their own manufacturing plant. They usually subcontract to companies who do. Spending a bit of time tracing them could save you quite a lot, something like 40%, not negligible. The one I got in touch with was kind enough to produce a 3D computer generated graphic with the dimensions I gave them, in a matter of minutes.
