How To Renovate Your Home Like You’re on HGTV

How To Renovate Your Home Like You’re on HGTV

Have you been considering a home makeover? Maybe you’ve been binging interior home renovation shows to get ideas from the pros. If you’ve seen an episode of Fixer-Upper or Property Brothers, you’ve likely seen an old or run-down home go from scary to beautiful and are ready to make a similar scale renovation to your home. Well put down your remote, get off the couch, and get ready to apply these tips in your interior home renovation for a great result. This article will discuss the basics of an entire interior home renovation, including financing, general knowledge, and tips from your favorite home renovation pros.

Financing an interior home renovation

You may be considering a simple room renovation or even just a first floor remodel. However, 35% of interior home renovation projects involve the entire home. Regardless of how large or small scale your project is, you will likely have to prepare for further financing to finish your project. A small, simple makeover may be possible with what you have saved or a credit card, but a larger project that involves changes such as flooring, new appliances, or plumbing changes will need more financial help.

There are a few options when it comes to financing a home renovation project. You may consider a home loan or a personal loan. However, one of the more popular options for a large scale project is to apply for a home equity line of credit. A home equity line of credit is like a credit card, but it’s secured by your home. You can withdraw money up to the credit limit, payback that credit, and then continue to use it, just like a credit card. However, unlike a credit card, there is a specific period of time that money can be drawn from a home equity line of credit, called a draw period. Once that draw period is over, the remaining balance must be paid in full or have a set repayment schedule.

Home equity lines of credit have pros and cons, just like any other financing option:

Pros

  • Tap into equity as needed
  • Can make interest only payments
  • Generally lower interest rates than credit cards or loans
  • Interest can be tax deductible when used from an interior home renovation project

Cons

  • Rates are adjustable so monthly payments may end up higher
  • Limited amount of time to use the line, draw period
  • May have closeout fees
  • You could lose your home if you default

As you prepare to start an interior home renovation project on your home, make sure to check with your home insurance company to see what kind of coverage you’ll have for accidents. While you will be preparing finances for the project, you will want to make sure that you’re covered for any accidents that could occur. If your insurance doesn’t cover accidents during home renovations, you will need to alter your plans and be much more careful during the renovation process.

The Basics

Before you get into the more exciting aesthetic changes for your interior home renovation, you will want to look at some of the basics. This includes plumbing, HVAC, and other entire home systems you may have in your home such as security or solar power.

It’s important to check the major systems in your home before you start renovations because often if you need to replace or fix a part of the system, it requires cutting parts of walls or other alterations. It would be frustrating to renovate a room, paint the walls, and then have to cut into those new walls to access a wire or pipe.

It’s also important to start with these basics because they can be the most expensive part of a renovation. Your heating and air conditioning system is necessary for you to be comfortable in your home, but will also be the biggest price tag in your renovation. You want to ensure that you have the money in your budget for the necessities before you start on the design elements.

Design Tips From The Pros

After you’ve figured out the financial and necessary parts of your interior home renovation, it’s time for the exciting part; the actual design. As you plan out your home renovation, here are some tips to remember from the home renovation pros.

The Property Brothers

The Property Brothers, Drew and Jonathan Scott, are twin brothers who are quite the home renovation duo. Their show showcases them helping families transform their homes to not only look great but also be a great real-estate asset if they ever decide to sell. There are a few key lessons that can be learned from their impressive home transformations.

One of the most recurring themes you’ll see if you watch an episode of property brothers is that classic style that lasts is the key to a good renovation that will yield a high return on investment. While there are likely modern styles that may be popular at the time you do your interior home renovation, be careful with the risky choices you make. For example, you may love the color yellow. While painting a wall in your living room bright yellow may be your ideal, future home buyers may not share that same joy. Make choices that fit your style but will also be classic and long-lasting.

Another key renovation tip that is popular with the Property brother is making the most of small spaces. Just because your guest bathroom is small doesn’t mean it has to be basic. Using basic options such as a bold lighting fixture or a patterned wallpaper for an accent wall can do a lot to make a big impact in your little space. If you’re renovating a bathroom, take advantage of the small space to make exciting choices. If there’s a wallpaper or paint color you love that’s more expensive, a smaller space is a great way to use it and have a smaller price tag. Just remember, as you renovate your bathroom as have fun with the aesthetics, don’t forget to look at the important basics, such as replacing your tub or getting a plumbing service for old pipes.

Fixer Upper

Chip and Joanna Gaines, the couple behind “Fixer Upper”, have built quite the home renovation and design empire. While Fixer Upper no longer has new episodes airing, the couple has continued to create a brand, Magnolia, that features home decor. They are also opening a hotel in Waco, TX alongside their restaurant and Magnolia shopping market. There is a lot to learn from their renovation and design expertise.

If you learn anything from watching an episode of “Fixer Upper”, it’s that kitchen renovations can be some of the most exciting to see. Chip and Joanna Gaines are pros at opening up small or strangely spaced kitchens and making them easily the most beautiful space in the house. If you are taking on a kitchen renovation, watching an episode of “Fixer Upper” will give you some great ideas for how to make your small space seem more open and bright. For example, even changing the hardware on your cupboards or your lighting fixture can greatly change the look of your space. Your local hardware shop should have plenty of options for new fixtures.

If you’ve watched an episode of “Fixer Upper”, you’ve likely seen Clint, the carpenter, who makes custom doors, kitchen islands, and tables for the homes the Gaines renovate. While custom furniture is generally much more expensive, investing in a valuable, long-lasting item such as a custom door or kitchen island can add a lot of value to a room and make a big change in the look.

A good lesson to learn from the projects Chip and Joanna take on in “Fixer Upper” is that you always need to be prepared for issues to pop up or for the project to cost more than you originally plan for. In almost every episode, the Gaines have to call their client to tell them about an element that is going to cost more money. For example, they may be planning to knock out a wall in a kitchen remodeling project but find that one of the beams is load-bearing and they need to readjust the plans. This is not unique to their situation. Home renovations usually cost more than a homeowner originally intends for. As long as you create a budget and stick to it as closely as possible, you should be able to plan accordingly, even for surprise issues.

Design On A Dime

Host of the HGTV show “Design On A Dime” Casey Noble teaches home renovators everywhere how to create an extreme transformation with a small budget. The premise of the show is her and her team working with a budget of $1000 to $2500 to completely redesign a room. While they aren’t redesigning an entire house or making massive alterations to structure, there is a lot that can be learned from their budget renovating.

As the title “Design On A Dime” suggests, this show will give viewers some great ideas for how to cut back on expenses during an interior home renovation project. The host finds great deals for her projects by thrifting furniture and creating DIY projects. DIY is a key way you can save money on your home renovation. While you shouldn’t plan to DIY some of the most important elements, such as electrical work, you can build furniture, change our hardware, or paint on your own to save money on paying a professional for labor.

The host, Casey Noble also shows viewers that reusing when you can is a great way to save money on a renovation project. For example, is you have leftover wood from knocking down a wall, you could consider using that wood for a DIY furniture project. Or if you have old baby bedding sets that you aren’t using anymore, you may consider using that fabric to create curtains for another room. Reusing materials will save you lots of money in your interior home renovation projects.

This Old House

“This Old House” is one of the original home renovation shows, as it started in the early 2000s before home renovation shows were as popular as they are now. The host, Bob Vila, and his team of carpenters, electricians, and contractors focus on renovating older vintage homes. While other home renovation shows may showcase design and aesthetics, “This Old House” shows the nitty-gritty work of bringing an old home up to modern-day standards, and can teach home renovators a lot about the most important home renovation projects.

The cast of “This Old House” has 30+ years of home renovation experience. There are tradesmen of all kinds on this team and they have a lot of knowledge to share in regards to home renovation projects. One of the key things that can be learned from this show is to leave the essentials up to the professionals. If a carpenter tried to do the electrical work, it would be a disaster. If a painter tried to preform dishwasher repair services, it likely wouldn’t turn out as it should. There is a lot to be said for a home renovator that knows where they can save money and when they should leave a project up to a professional.

In Conclusion

As you move forward with your home renovation, there are a lot of different things you’ll need to consider: finances, the bigger projects, aesthetics, time, and more. Some people may be tempted to jump right in without doing the proper research and planning. If you take the time to do your research and learn from the things that the pros have already experienced, not only will your home renovation go smoothly, but the transformation will end up looking as incredible as if you were featured on HGTV.

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