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Money Saving Reno Tips With Michelle of 4 Men, 1 Lady

Something we love about the home-slash-DIY blogosphere is that no matter someone’s renovation budget, there almost always seems to be some great story of money saving. Whether it’s salvaging existing materials, shopping for steals, negotiating a deal, or simply doing it yourself, there are some great stories of frugality and ingenuity out there. So in that spirit we thought we’d periodically share some cash-monay saving tips from some of our favorite bloggers. And maybe we’ll sneak in some eye candy along the way. Sound good?

First up is Michelle from the blog 4 Men, 1 Lady, who has always wowed us with her jaw-dropping transformations. But I should let Michelle take over so you can hear it from the lady herself:

Michelle Bio Pic

We took a 1970’s rambler complete with gold formica counter tops and rust color carpet and did a complete remodel. We had a good game plan what we wanted to do pre-remodel but once took a sledgehammer to the place we started to see the real potential and the list grew. Thus our estimated 4 month remodel took 9 months. People kept telling us that projects always cost more and take longer than you anticipate and unfortunately, we were no exception to that rule. Seeing the budget quickly go south I knew I had to be really careful about how the money was spent. I made it my goal to shave anything I could off the budget. Here’s what I did.

Michelle Kitchen Before

Michelle Kitchen After

Cabinets: We exhausted Facebook and asked everyone we knew if they had any good references. Instead of paying a premium price we found a very talented cabinet maker who just quit at a major cabinet company and was starting his own business in his garage. We were able to get inset, custom cabinets for the same price we were quoted at IKEA. Savings: $2,500.

Michelle Cabinets

Appliances: I shopped around and found a package deal on high end appliances…”Buy two get one free!” Savings: $1,500. I also was able to buy a floor model hood and the salesman also threw in the family discount. Savings: $700.

Michelle Appliances

Lighting, tile, misc accessories: Home Depot has great prices to begin with but I learned that if you spend over a certain amount you may qualify for contractor pricing. So I made a huge list of everything we needed from doors, lumber, tile, lighting, etc and made one gigantic purchase. Savings: ? $600.

Michelle Shower Before

Michlle Shower After

Closet: Every gal knows how important a great closet is. I received several quotes from closet companies which were outrageous. In the end, we used the Ikea Pax system which was really customizable and for a fraction of the cost. Savings: $1,000

Michelle Closet Before

Michlle Closet After

Michlle Closet Detail

Tile labor: Our plan was to tackle installing the tile ourselves. After doing a whole house we ran out of steam and patience. Unfortunately, labor costs more than the product itself…ouch. All the quotes of the tile people were pretty comparable. We asked the sub contractor that we chose if he could come down on his price. We asked 25%, he countered with 15%. We knew very well 25% was wishful thinking but if we would have said 15%, he would have said 5%. (I also talked more about hiring the right sub-contractor in a post here). Savings: $600.

Michelle Front Door Before

Michelle Front Door After

Michelle Front Door Detail

Hardware and misc items: Many stores will have an annual “Friends and Family” month with up to a 25% discount on everything. I waited patiently (or rather impatiently) for these to hit then I made my purchases. Savings: $300.

Michelle Main Bath Before

Michelle Main Bath After

Thanks for sharing your moneys saving tips with us, Michelle! If any of you want to read (and see!) more about the makeovers shown in this post, check out Michelle’s posts on her Kitchen & Living & Dining Area, Main Bath & Closet, Entryway and Main Bath. She has tons of great photos and full source lists as well.

We’ve already got some other bloggers in mind to tap for some more budget-salvaging tips, but if you’ve got anyone you think would be great to feature, please let us know in the comments and I’ll drop them a line beg.

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As a little Friday bonus, here are four fun projects, chats, or questions going on over on the Forums. We also announced this week’s giveaway winners, so you can click here (and scroll down to the Rafflecopter box) to see if it’s you.

ForumFoursome
Forum Closet Doors Forum Blog Photo Tips Forum Sharpie Makeover Forum White Walls Trim
by WifeInProgress by GilitC by The_Makerista by juliejm
ForumFourFooter

Comments

  1. katalina says

    on her site does she give more details– floor in kitchen is that the tile product?

    love penny tile on the floors and her wood floor too

    Reply

  2. Christina says

    If you are purchasing online check out fatwallet.com – quick to set up an account – and you get cash back in the form of a check through many major retailers – sears, lowe’s (1.5%)home depot (3%), joss and main (3%). Etc. Just the shop now button through there site and then score your killer deal + cash back.

    Reply

  4. Brooke says

    What an amazing & complete renovation…love it all! Just wondering how much you have to spend at Home Depot to get the contractor discount…and any clue what that discount is? THANKS! I’m about to do some major renovations myself and this would be nice to know in the planning/budgeting stages!

    Reply

    • mp says

      Brooke, when I got my discounts in 2006 & 2007, I made purchases of around $800 each, before any other discounts. The cashier called over the manager and he granted them without any inquiry from me (I didn’t know about them when I made the first purchase; I asked before ringing up the second time). Late in 2007, I hit up Lowe’s to buy the same cash amount of material for a few outdoor projects, and I asked for the contractor discount at checkout. The manager was called over and told me, politely, that that service wasn’t offered to non-contractor customers. I told him what HD had done for me, but he wasn’t swayed. That has definitely affected my perception of Lowe’s and inclination to shop there.

  5. youandmeandwalliemakethree.com says

    Wow, thank you so much for sharing this! I’ll be moving into a house in January. After 4 years living in rental studios, I’m itching to both have more space and to make a place my very own. Hubs and I will be doing some reno so we are so grateful for the tips!

    Reply

  7. mp says

    AAAIEEEE!!! I love this!!!

    When The Banshe (my late husband) and I bought this house, we added a wheelchair-friendly bathroom for him — the existing one couldn’t be remodeled to accommodate him, so we bought a lot of high-dollar supplies. Not only did we get the contractor discount at Home Depot (the South Hill store, our nearest, had just opened with bargains galore), but we had a boatload of 10% off coupons, so we were saving $$$ right and left. The then-president of HD, Bob Nardelli, was in a lot of trouble for not knowing how to manage a retail firm (he was, and is again, a car-company executive), and I joked that he was asking “Who’s that woman in Virginia costing me so much profit?!?”

    I’ll be renovating my kitchen in a year or two — it needs a total gut, as the existing “custom” job is both rickety and out-of-plumb — and a classmate in my accounting class is married to a master carpenter and cabinet-maker. After taking a look at my layout, he’s already given me an estimate that, when you factor in having to rent a truck to transport IKEA cabinets from Northern Virginia to Southern Virginia — a four-hour drive on a good day — beats theirs to smithereens. And the one decent thing about my kitchen — the old laminate is layered over an incredibly solid piece of inch-thick plywood, something you’d pay a dear price for nowadays — is going to be painted a light gray and polyurethaned, which will save me a bundle on a countertop! (Unfortunately, it’s not pretty enough to just seal … otherwise I’d do that.)

    I also agree with Dino, Lindsay & Lynne about the cheap-at-all-costs nature of IKEA and other big-box stores. It cheers me to no end that I’ll be employing a local guy who’s been laid off several times (along with his wife, which is why we’re in a class together), and he’ll be using my favorite local hardware store (shoutout to Kenbridge Supply Company!) as his source.

    Reply

  8. Marissa says

    Great tips!

    Here is my humble money-saving tip… I’ve had a hard time comparison shopping on sites like Joss and Main where vendors and brands are not listed. Sometimes, I just want more details about the piece (like more views of a chair, or reviews from customers). So I installed the Google Chrome image search extension. Basically, I just right click on the image of the merchandise, and click on “search Google for this image” (the extension adds this option when you right click), and then voila! A new tab opens that shows all the stores that sell the same piece. Joss and Main prices are usually pretty good, but I always like to read reviews– especially given their no returns policy. You can download the extension here: http://www.google.com/insidesearch/features/images/searchbyimage.html
    It’s the “right click an image on the web” option. It’s also extremely helpful for finding orphan Pinterest images.

    Reply

  10. Michelle says

    House renos definitely can be costly. While we haven’t done anything quite you all have, we have done our fair share. Sales. We watch for a lot of sales. I haven’t had the best of luck finding good deals on things through craigslist either. Though when we built this place, we were in the lighting store choosing our lighting. The sales rep there saw my hubby’s baseball cap with the emblem for his work (he works for an elect. wholesale house). The rep told him he has had great experience dealing with my hubby’s place of employment and if we were willing to pay for our lights up front, he would give us a much better deal than the discount the building was offering.

    Shopping for a new dishwasher recently. Not wanting to pay what they are charging and going for a model they were phasing out, I searched only at this discount appliance place. I had hubby call them. Their price for the dishwasher in the store was more than what it was online. They honored the online price.. good deals there!! :)

    Reply

  11. Sylvia says

    I didn’t read through all the comments as it’s late in the day and there are so many, so forgive me if someone mentioned these already but would love to hear from Dawn of Inspired Living or ThriftyDecorChick (her name is escaping my mind right now lol)

    Great post – I am in love with the tiled entryway!

    Reply

  13. Allison says

    Just wanted to share my kitchen in the house we built. I don’t know of anyone who has beat my price. Our kitchen was $2500 for EVERYTHING (cabinets, appliances, counter, faucet, lighting, shelving).

    http://mattandallisonkelly.blogspot.com/2012/03/kitchen-budget-breakdown.html

    We were starting from scratch with new construction, so there was no re-using anything. We got some amazing deals on new cabinets, craigslist appliances, Ikea light fixtures, and DIYed countertops and shelves.

    When we build our next house, it won’t be nearly as cheap. Those cabinets were a once in a lifetime deal. And the daily function of DIY concrete counters is not so good, so we’ll go solid surface next time.

    Reply

  16. Jen says

    Hey guys, I’m seeing ad blocks that I don’t remember being there before above and below the 2013 Paint Color Picks box on the side bar. One ad block says “Advertising by ARA Lifestyle.” If you intend for that stuff to be there, that’s fine, but since you’ve mentioned before that unwanted ads sometimes creep in I thought I’d let you know!

    Reply

  19. Marie says

    I’m new to homeownership and tackling a home renovation myself with my fiance. After a botch tile job, we’re considerng tearing out almost 800 square feet of floors and redoing it ourselves. Any advice? Also, where did you prurchase the wood-look plank tiles in your master bath? I lovvveeee it.

    Reply

  21. Danielle says

    Always nice to see a 70’s rambler show off some fresh personality. Your blog and those you feature have given me a lot of love for our mid-century ranch and its potential. Slightly off-topic – have you seen the new ceramic teal fox cookie jars at Target? Just saw them out today and immediately thought of you. :) (And then forced myself back to the toothpaste aisle where I belonged.)

    Reply

  22. Emily @ Life on Food says

    I just bought a house that needed to be completely painted, top to bottom. We went to the local paint store with BM products. We were buying 7 gallons up front and planned to get more. I asked if they had a frequent buyers program and they happily gave me 10% off. We saved $45 and got a card for anytime we come back for more.

    Reply

  23. Mandy Rose says

    Love this series and this post! Michelle’s kitchen is amazing! I would love to share some money saving tips on how we built our dream home. I just finished up an e-book (that will be released in October) titled How To Save Money Building and Decorating Your Dream Home. You can check out my home tour here: http://houseofroseblog.com The e-book will illustrate how we were able to build our dream home without being rich. My husband (GoodFinancialCents.com) is the co-author. I would love to share some of those ideas on your blog!

    Reply

  24. Gwen, The Makerista says

    Such a lovely home! The tile with the house number is really genius!

    I am so grateful for you all listing my sharpie kilim bench in the forums foursome! I noticed that the post says the sharpie makeover was done by ChrisP. I didn’t know if it had just been switched with one of the other posts? Thanks again, Sherry! Hope you all are having a lovely weekend!

    Reply

  27. Mina says

    Thank you Sherry for all the great tips and pictures. Trying to save money can be quite stressful but once you make it, it can feel so relieving.

    Reply

  28. Sarah says

    I have two great money-saving tips: 1) Be adventurous with your DIY-ing, because most projects aren’t as hard as you think they will be, and 2) Be patient (especially because being adventurous requires a lot of learning-as-you-go!) We’re coming up on the end of a massive kitchen remodel that is 10 months in the making, but the original quotes ranged from $44,000 to $75,000…and I think we’re going to come in at around $10,000. Not bad, if I do say so myself!

    You can read about it at http://www.sarahsbigidea.com

    Thanks for sharing Michelle’s story!

    Reply

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