10 Budget-friendly Tips to Steal From Our Houzz Tours
Follow the lead of designers and find clever ways to create a stylish home while staying bang on budget
Designing a home can be costly, but there are some simple ways to save money. We’ve trawled through our Houzz Tours and found inspirational tips from experts to help you add those extra touches without blowing the budget.
Customise some crates
Crates provide another cost-effective way to make shelving. Annie Grierson of Aegis Interior Design customised these crates with paint and wood stain and arranged them on her bedroom wall to create a bookcase. The effect is pretty stunning.
See more of the London semi full of pattern and colour
Crates provide another cost-effective way to make shelving. Annie Grierson of Aegis Interior Design customised these crates with paint and wood stain and arranged them on her bedroom wall to create a bookcase. The effect is pretty stunning.
See more of the London semi full of pattern and colour
Update your blinds
To add a bespoke touch to your window dressings, there’s no need to spend a fortune on expensive fabric. For these blinds, interior designer Bunny Turner of Turner Pocock found a plain calico fabric and added a simple line of red and white braiding. This easy update has turned a plain blind into a stylish feature that pulls together the whole scheme.
Visit this Victorian terrace with a modern twist
To add a bespoke touch to your window dressings, there’s no need to spend a fortune on expensive fabric. For these blinds, interior designer Bunny Turner of Turner Pocock found a plain calico fabric and added a simple line of red and white braiding. This easy update has turned a plain blind into a stylish feature that pulls together the whole scheme.
Visit this Victorian terrace with a modern twist
Manage the details
Emma Barber of EB Interiors advises project-managing certain jobs yourself, such as installing a new kitchen. “I tried to get good deals for everything – the cabinets, worktops, tiles – and then got people in to install them,” she says. “I think that’s where people get lost with money – they buy everything from one place. You do have the luxury of having it all done at once, but, with a bit of hard work researching and buying it all yourself, you can save a lot of money.”
By doing her research and keeping a look out, Barber managed to find a kitchen that was being sold at a 60 percent discount over one weekend. “It’s really good quality and was a bargain deal,” she says.
Check out more of the extension in this Wiltshire semi
Emma Barber of EB Interiors advises project-managing certain jobs yourself, such as installing a new kitchen. “I tried to get good deals for everything – the cabinets, worktops, tiles – and then got people in to install them,” she says. “I think that’s where people get lost with money – they buy everything from one place. You do have the luxury of having it all done at once, but, with a bit of hard work researching and buying it all yourself, you can save a lot of money.”
By doing her research and keeping a look out, Barber managed to find a kitchen that was being sold at a 60 percent discount over one weekend. “It’s really good quality and was a bargain deal,” she says.
Check out more of the extension in this Wiltshire semi
Embellish basic kitchen units
If your budget won’t stretch to a custom-made kitchen, there are other ways to make it look special. Claudia and Kerem Aksoy of A2Studio designed this elegant kitchen, “It combines Ikea carcasses with bespoke elements,” they reveal.
This is a trick that designers often use, opting for a cheaper kitchen framework and adding to it with different doors or handles. If you want to add a touch of luxury, the money you save on units could be invested in a good-quality worktop.
See more of this Victorian home’s oak canopy extension
If your budget won’t stretch to a custom-made kitchen, there are other ways to make it look special. Claudia and Kerem Aksoy of A2Studio designed this elegant kitchen, “It combines Ikea carcasses with bespoke elements,” they reveal.
This is a trick that designers often use, opting for a cheaper kitchen framework and adding to it with different doors or handles. If you want to add a touch of luxury, the money you save on units could be invested in a good-quality worktop.
See more of this Victorian home’s oak canopy extension
Revive tired floors
A tight budget presented a challenge for Camilla Leech of Trunk Creative when it came to updating the laminate flooring of this converted school apartment. Her clever and purse-friendly solution involved rubbing down the laminate to key the surface, and treating it with a specialist industrial floor paint, like one you’d find in a garage. It gives the floor a rubbery feel.
“The owner didn’t want ordinary floor paint and, besides, that would have worn off and produced a distressed finish, which he wasn’t keen on,” Leech told us. “This was a good solution and we used it everywhere except the bathroom.”
Tour this flat in an old Victorian school building
A tight budget presented a challenge for Camilla Leech of Trunk Creative when it came to updating the laminate flooring of this converted school apartment. Her clever and purse-friendly solution involved rubbing down the laminate to key the surface, and treating it with a specialist industrial floor paint, like one you’d find in a garage. It gives the floor a rubbery feel.
“The owner didn’t want ordinary floor paint and, besides, that would have worn off and produced a distressed finish, which he wasn’t keen on,” Leech told us. “This was a good solution and we used it everywhere except the bathroom.”
Tour this flat in an old Victorian school building
Keep a look out on the pavement
Follow designers’ lead by looking out for discarded furniture at the roadside. “This chair was a lucky find,” reveals Joséphine Lecouflé-Vinet. “I found two of them in the street.” The chairs were painted in a dark colour and didn’t have any cushions on them, so Lecouflé-Vinet spent the summer sanding the frames and had some cushions made.
Follow designers’ lead by looking out for discarded furniture at the roadside. “This chair was a lucky find,” reveals Joséphine Lecouflé-Vinet. “I found two of them in the street.” The chairs were painted in a dark colour and didn’t have any cushions on them, so Lecouflé-Vinet spent the summer sanding the frames and had some cushions made.
Paint some pine
Pine furniture is often cheaper than alternatives such as oak and walnut. Don’t be put off by its orange hue, but focus on the shape and structure instead. “I buy pine furniture from eBay and repaint it,” says Veronica Rodriguez of Veronica Rodriguez Interior Photography. “I love painting furniture. If you get it wrong, you can just redo it. And it’s an inexpensive way to change the look of things.” The TV cabinet in the corner here is one of her pine purchases that she has upcycled with paint.
Take a peek inside this small Edwardian home
Pine furniture is often cheaper than alternatives such as oak and walnut. Don’t be put off by its orange hue, but focus on the shape and structure instead. “I buy pine furniture from eBay and repaint it,” says Veronica Rodriguez of Veronica Rodriguez Interior Photography. “I love painting furniture. If you get it wrong, you can just redo it. And it’s an inexpensive way to change the look of things.” The TV cabinet in the corner here is one of her pine purchases that she has upcycled with paint.
Take a peek inside this small Edwardian home
Use what’s already there
Rather than buy a new kitchen, Veronica Rodriguez decided to keep the original one. “The units were beech, so we thought we’d just try painting them to see how they’d look,” she says. “We took all the doors off and applied a special super-grip primer, then the paint.”
She also kept the granite worktop, which she thought “didn’t look great surrounded by pink tiles on the walls and floor”. Once the tiles were removed the worktop looked completely different and goes perfectly with the painted cupboards and slate-grey walls.
Rather than buy a new kitchen, Veronica Rodriguez decided to keep the original one. “The units were beech, so we thought we’d just try painting them to see how they’d look,” she says. “We took all the doors off and applied a special super-grip primer, then the paint.”
She also kept the granite worktop, which she thought “didn’t look great surrounded by pink tiles on the walls and floor”. Once the tiles were removed the worktop looked completely different and goes perfectly with the painted cupboards and slate-grey walls.
Give an old sofa a new lease of life
Tired of your old sofa? Instead of chucking it out, how about reviving it instead? “This L-shaped sofa from Ikea was restyled with new wooden legs from PrettyPegs,” explains Sybille Garnier Le Mené of Into Interior Design.
There are some great online companies who will provide ways to update your furniture with items such as ready-made covers and cushions.
Take a peek inside this smart, light-filled extension
Have you picked up any budget-friendly tips from our Houzz Tours? Share your experiences in the Comments below.
Tired of your old sofa? Instead of chucking it out, how about reviving it instead? “This L-shaped sofa from Ikea was restyled with new wooden legs from PrettyPegs,” explains Sybille Garnier Le Mené of Into Interior Design.
There are some great online companies who will provide ways to update your furniture with items such as ready-made covers and cushions.
Take a peek inside this smart, light-filled extension
Have you picked up any budget-friendly tips from our Houzz Tours? Share your experiences in the Comments below.
This bookshelf is a quirky feature in the home of Joséphine Lecouflé-Vinet of JLV Design, and it’s budget-friendly, too. “We created the bookshelf by buying shelf boxes and holding them together with bulldog clips,” said Lecouflé-Vinet. “I painted them in bright colours and used a few interesting books as decorations.”
Visit more of this bright 1930s family house