4 Vacation Rental Home Improvement Tips
Keeping an eye on your budget is vital when improving your vacation home rental or holiday home, particularly when money’s tight. Whether you’re tackling a minor repair or gearing up for a major build, thinking ahead, planning wisely and shopping carefully mean it’s easy to make significant savings without compromising the quality of the work.
Do it yourself. Doing or project managing a job yourself always costs less than paying someone else to do it. But you’ll need to put in time and effort to make those savings, and should only attempt tasks you feel competent to do, and always leave gas and electrical work to qualified professionals. You can reduce your outlay by buying flat-packed products which are cheaper than ready-assembled. Manufacturers realize that DIY doesn’t come naturally to everyone, and have introduced products designed for novices and nervous would-be handymen. Examples include easy-to-use fillers and heavy-duty self-adhesive hooks, allowing you to hang pictures without the hassle of nails or screws. Learn new skills. Once upon a time, the only place where you could learn DIY skills was a class at your local adult education center. These days, you can find out how to do everything from fitting wooden flooring to installing a wet room from the comfort of home, via a myriad of apps and online how-to guides and videos. For starters, try The Ultimate Handyman, Wickes and B&Q. If you’d rather be taught alongside others – and have the opportunity to try out new tools and techniques – try enrolling on one of B&Q’s DIY workshops, which are held at 15 of its larger stores across the country. These are free to members of the B&Q Club loyalty scheme, and there are even sessions for children aged 7+ so that they can get involved too.
Work within your home’s footprint. Look at where wasted space could be put to better use before committing to the more expensive option of adding extra rooms. To expand your kitchen, consider going open-plan by knocking down an internal wall, and think about the viability of, for example, slotting a cloakroom in under the stairs, or turning part of the landing into an office area. Converting existing space is less pricey than extending, so first examine the potential of transforming the loft or garage. Get recommendations when hiring builders and tradesmen and, if possible, choose a small business that isn’t required to be VAT registered so you won’t have to pay an additional 20%. Fake it. Its frustrating when your heart’s set on a top-end product or finish which you can’t justify or afford. But there are so many good-quality replicas out there that you should be able to source something very similar that doesn’t break the bank. Porcelain or ceramic floor tiles are a popular alternative to natural stone, with very good reason – they cost less and, unlike the real thing, require minimal maintenance. A laminate worktop is far more affordable than granite, and self-adhesive frosted window film is virtually indistinguishable from blow-the-budget sandblasted glass. Paint effects are back in fashion, so get creative to transform tired walls and furniture – try applying uniform blocks of color to make a striking kitchen splashback.