Some budgets are simply not unlimited, regardless of the scale of the renovations required. Home improvement professionals then face real challenges in meeting their clients’ expectations, making the right choices while also using tips and tricks to keep renovation costs down. We’ve compiled several of their tips and ideas, gathered from our various reports, to inspire you.
Studio Prunel
1. Avoid relocating utilities.
Relocating utilities involves major construction work, and therefore a significant budget. One of the first things to do to limit the costs of a project is to modify them as little as possible. This is precisely the technique used by Capucine Mougel to renovate this 22 m² Parisian apartment , for a total budget of €33,000. She relied on the existing water and electricity networks to define the new spaces.
2. Minimize changes to the layout.
Similarly, minimizing changes to the original layout of the apartment is a good way to save money when renovating. Interior designer Isabelle Le Rest managed to completely transform this Parisian studio for €20,000 without altering the room layout, but by maximizing the functionality of every nook and cranny. The kitchen retained its original position while gaining storage space, and the old chimney flue was repurposed to define the headboard area and separate the sleeping space from the rest of the room.
3. Renovate before replacing.
Interior designer Camille Basse generally tries to preserve existing elements rather than replace them. Regarding the renovation of this two-room apartment in Lyon , which she transformed for €30,000, for example, she told us: “To limit costs, we preferred renovation to replacement. So we installed vinyl roll flooring with a cement tile pattern. ”
4. Reusing Existing Elements
Even if existing elements cannot be preserved in their original state or location, architect Nicolas Bossard of Bossard Architecture still considers reusing them. He explained this to us when describing the transformation of this 50 m² Parisian apartment , completed for €50,000: “My client wanted to get rid of the beams because he was looking for a contemporary and bright interior. They must have been salvaged from a historical partition and reinstalled there: essentially, the ancestor of screens. I advised him to try sandblasting them, and seeing the beautiful lightening, almost like driftwood, we decided to reinstall them as a partition to separate the kitchen and living room. I wasn’t in favor of yet another workshop-style glass partition. I’m careful to preserve the historical character whenever possible. ”
5. Choose inexpensive materials
. It’s often impossible to avoid buying new materials. However, if done well, this can be cost-effective. To stay within her clients’ limited budget of around €4,500 for the renovation of this suburban Parisian entryway and living room , interior designer Virginie Durieux of Mon œil dans la déco (My Eye for Decor ) made the furniture out of wood so it wouldn’t represent too significant an investment. ” The couple liked light-colored woods, so I suggested pine, an inexpensive material with a nice finish. I could also have opted for oak, but the cost would have been far too high for their budget , ” she explained.
Prisca Pellerin Architecture & Interior
6. Avoid using too many materials.
The fewer materials used in a project, the better the costs are controlled and the less waste is minimized. This is precisely the technique favored by architect Prisca Pellerin of Signature Architectes for renovating this attic apartment in Neuilly-sur-Seine , with a total budget of €47,000. The bathroom floor is the same as the kitchen floor, and the countertop and white subway tiles are also found in the toilet. “To keep costs down and ensure harmony throughout the apartment, we didn’t want to diversify the materials too much ,” the architect explained.
Bän Architecture
7. Reusing Offcuts
Following the same logic, and to reduce waste from unused materials on construction sites, architect Cyrielle Benaïm of Bän Architecture likes to reuse offcuts to create new furnishings. In this Buttes-Chaumont apartment, renovated for €60,000 , for example, she decided to make the bedside tables in the master bedroom from leftover wood from the kitchen countertop. “Whenever I can reuse materials to add something, I do. The owners thus gained two custom-made bedside tables that cost them nothing ,” she told us.