Everyone knows that for the design side of any renovation, the sky’s the limit when it comes to what one can spend! Becoming familiar with creative alternatives allows you to design eye popping renovations without busting your budget. Turning a great profit is, after all, the end game!

Getting Comfortable with Creativity

Glass Top Counters

Here’s a quick exercise to jump-start your creativity. Draw a circle on a sheet of paper. Then, before reading any further, make a picture out of the circle you just drew.

Now, look at your picture. Did you draw only inside the circle? Or, did you draw outside the circle? Can you even tell if there is still a circle?

By taking a hard look at the picture you drew, you can get an idea of how comfortable you are with being creative. Are you someone who can think outside the lines? Or, do you feel a need to stay within the lines? Maybe you’re super creative and created a masterpiece out of the circle you drew. No matter what you drew, the instructions for this exercise provided no rules or guidelines. Understanding your creativity comfort zone and teaching yourself to work outside of it in your designs can help you save money on your next big renovation project.

Creativity in Action

Bathroom renovations are an excellent example. Bathrooms are always going to be one of the most expensive rooms to renovate in any house (next to kitchens, of course). When it comes to bathrooms, renovators often think they need to spend a lot of money on products like vanities, believing that spending more on such items will help them achieve a better look. That’s not necessarily true. Most buyers would prefer their bathrooms not look like those of their neighbors, friends, and family members. Instead, you’ll often find that people are more driven to designs that stand out and have a look all their own. Achieving that just takes a little more creativity, not a bigger budget.

Vessel Sink

The vanity is often the most expensive feature in the room. Most renovators will run to the nearest big box hardware store to pick up a vanity for their bathroom renovation, expecting to pay anywhere from $700 for a single-sink vanity to more than $2,000 for a double-sink vanity. Although the big box stores offer ease, convenience, and many vanities to choose from, this can often be the most expensive and least creative choice.

If you look at vanities from a different perspective, you’ll see that they are really just a piece of furniture with plumbing and a sink. Viewing a bathroom vanity in this way helps you open the door to all kinds of fun, interesting, and exciting design options.

Antique

For example, you might look for your next bathroom vanity at an antique store. These stores offer interesting, unique, and exciting options for your bathroom vanity—at a cost that won’t break your budget. You can find antique furniture suitable to hold a sink for $200 to $500. Yes, you’ll still have to add the costs of the sink and faucet, but you will still come in way under budget. Often these beautiful old antiques have stories behind them, which add to the value. After all, everyone loves a great piece of furniture with a story behind it.

Another great go-to for an efficient and useful bathroom vanity is a dresser. Consignment stores are great places to find full-size dressers for under $400 that are large enough to accommodate two sinks and can be used in master suites. They provide more storage than your average box store vanity but will cost far less.

These alternatives might come with costs above and beyond the cost of the piece of furniture. Using a dresser to house your bathroom sinks might mean replacing hardware that looks dated or has the wrong finish. Changing the hardware will add to your cost, but it’s an easy fix and can make your newly renovated bathroom look that much more custom.

Bathroom 1: Before

Bathroom 1: After

Concerned about protecting the counter from water? That is also a simple and inexpensive fix. Applying a good clear glaze epoxy coat to the top of any wood vanity will seal and protect the countertop from water damage.

Another great look for bathroom vanities are good old off-the-shelf kitchen cabinets. Although finishing the countertops will dig deeper into your budget, cabinets can tie your renovation project together, especially if you plan to use the same cabinet for the kitchen renovation as well.

One way to finish bathroom countertops using kitchen cabinets is to have glass countertops installed by a local glass cutter. Often this gives a bathroom a super sleek look with a cutting-edge modern feel. This look is often viewed as a more “expensive” one, yet it will still bring you in under budget. The added customization will stand out in the minds of buyers because it won’t look and feel like so many of the home renovations they may see on the market. Watching buyers get excited to see something as unique as this is worth all the risk of taking a creative step that defines your renovations as “must see.”

Bathroom 2: Before

Bathroom 2: After

Embrace the Opportunity

The rising costs of renovating a home should be looked at as an opportunity to expand your creative ability. Thinking outside the box (or perhaps in this case, the circle) may instill confidence in yourself to embrace more creative designs in your next renovation. Use the dollars you will save as your encouragement to get more creative and inspire more belief in your abilities. As you benefit from the creativity you bring to each of your investment properties, your creative ability will grow.

Every room in the house can benefit from your creative curiosity. Being creative is a way to stay below your budget yet create something new, unique, inspiring, and beautiful. There is no greater feeling than hearing a buyer say, “I have never seen that done before? I love it! “


Michele Van Der Veen is host of Good Day segments, including Flip It, Decorate Like a Designer, and Stage to Sell. She started her career in real estate investing more than 30 years ago.

A published author, Van Der Veen has been recognized and featured in international magazines for her unique approach to interior design. Acquiring a formal education from the Interior Designers Institute of California, her experience stems from building custom homes to flipping more than 100 homes and working in commercial real estate development alongside her father at a young age. Not afraid to push the limit on her own designs and investments, Van Der Veen will often be heard reassuring her team about her decisions by saying “Don’t worry, we are the comps!”

For more on Van Der Veen’s work or to contact her, visit iHeartHomescorp.com.

  • Michele Van der Veen

    Michele Van Der Veen, host of Good Day segments including Flip It, Decorate Like A Designer and Stage To Sell, started her career in real estate investing over 30 years ago. A published author herself, she has also been recognized and featured in international magazines for her unique approach to interior design. Acquiring a formal education from the Interior Designers Institute of California, Michele’s experience stems from building custom homes to flipping over 100 homes and working in commercial real estate development alongside her father at a young age. Not afraid to push the limit on her own designs/investments, she will often be heard reassuring her team about her decisions by saying “Don’t worry we are the comps!” For more on Michele’s work or to contact her go to iHeartHomescorp.com.

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