If you’ve put remodelling and redecorating plans on hold because of the economy and thinking you can’t afford to do it right now, it’s definitely time to rethink that position, for a variety of reasons.

If you’re like many people, you’re likely spending more time at home these days instead of out and about, eating out, going to theater and concerts, travelling, etc. So why not be sure the space you’re spending all this additional time in is your dream place to be?

Unlike the money you spend on vacations and the like, which brings fleeting joy, the money you invest into your home may pay back when it comes time to sell, but just as importantly (or even more so), it will also reward you psychically and emotionally every single day you live there by making your home even more comfortable for every day living. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to come home at the end of each day and feel that thrill of being in a space that you love and that nurtures you no matter what else is going on in your world? To have a home that you actually don’t even want to leave?

You don’t have to spend a lot of money, if you don’t want to or really can’t afford to – even just a fresh coat of paint, some new throw pillows, a new painting or area rug, or moving the artwork or furniture you already have around to different locations can give you a facelift and needed boost. New lighting, new fixtures, and new hardware for your doors and cabinetry are other inexpensive upgrades that can pack a lot of punch.

Don’t know quite what to do, and can’t afford to hire a designer to do the whole thing? Most will consult on an hourly basis to give you any needed advice that can help you avoid expensive mistakes, and to get you pointed in the right direction to complete the job yourself.

However, if you can possibly come up with the cash, now is very definitely the time to go ahead those more major remodelling projects you’ve been putting off, or to remodel a home you’d hoped to sell but now find you have to remain in.

If you’d planned to move before the crash and now find that you can’t do so, remodelling can go a long ways towards helping you still enjoy where you are now, along with solving many of the problems that cause people to want to move in the first place, like too little space. A thoughtfully designed remodel can add anything from more bookshelf space to more kitchen space to entire rooms, or reconfigure a poor arrangement into one that works well within the existing space, and turn a house that was too cramped or not functional enough into something perfectly suited for your needs.

If you can come up with the cash, this really is the best possible time to go ahead with the more major remodelling projects you’ve been wanting to do, and to do them right. You’re actually going to be in the driver’s seat because it’s now a buyer’s market. Once the economy starts to improve again, this advantage will soon be lost.

Prices for both labor and materials have come down dramatically, and according to a recent article in the New York Times, you are likely to find that bids are going to come in now at a lot less than when you may have obtained them before, and you’re going to get callbacks from the more desirable contractors who may not have even wanted to bid on your job at all before if it’s small. On average, you can expect savings of 10-15% off most typically, although certainly some people are even finding bids coming in at as little as half or even less of what they were quoted before the downturn.

The greater savings might indicate cutting too many corners, though, or leaving too much out on the initial bid and hoping to make up for it later with change orders so make sure you’ve got a complete set of plans and specifications from a competent designer or architect before going out to bid, so that you can be sure you are comparing apples to apples and getting bids that are taking all of the same things into account – and all of the details. (This advice applies in any economy, actually, and not having all of this documentation up front before getting bids is one of the primary reasons that consumers are most likely to find their projects going over budget and not getting what they thought they were.)

The money you spend up front in design fees will more than pay back in overall savings because a design professional will know the best contractors, what to look for, and how to get the job done most efficiently in exactly the way desired, including finding the best cost savings while still in the design phase, where changes are much easier and dramatically less costly to make than once construction starts.

What’s more, even the best contractors are now scrambling to find any work they can, so you’ll be able to hire the best now instead of having to settle for something less like you might have before, as well as possibly even do more work, or get much higher quality materials, within the same budget than you thought you could.

Contractors are also getting more efficient, and able to complete work faster and with fewer employees, a strategy that Regev Amir of Diamond Building and Construction of San Rafael, CA says is working well for him. He’s realized that one person can usually accomplish almost everything he used to think he needed two people for, so he’s cut back – and discovered that this is also dramatically improving accountability on his jobs, which increases quality as well as effortlessly decreasing his costs. Many contractors will be cutting margins to the bone in order to get more work, but the ones who are also cutting the fat they may have had on board before and finding they can accomplish more – and more quickly, with fewer problems – with a leaner team, will most benefit you without sacrificing quality. Ask your contractor how he’s able to give you a lower bid than before, because the ones who are doing it by getting more efficient in one way or another are much more likely to still be around when the economy picks up again – which means they’ll be much more likely to still be here later to take care of any warranty issue or other problems that might arise. The ones who are cutting their margins to the bone or below cost may be more likely to be out of business.

Alternatively, in some situations, some contractors may put more people on the job than usual and might be able to get it done faster than before. Make sure he’s still using people he’s accustomed to working with, though, and whose work he trusts, or this strategy can really backfire in a big way and leave you holding the bag.

You may also be able to take advantage of tax savings and rebates on upgrades such as energy-efficient new windows or low flow toilets, which will decrease your costs still further. Ask your local utilities what’s available where you live, and consult your accountant. Often these rebates are for fixed dollar amounts, regardless of what you actually spend, so that will translate to an even higher percentage of money saved now than in times when prices are higher. Your utility bills will also be lower, resulting in even further savings on an ongoing basis.

Likewise, for furnishings and artwork and many other movable interior elements, prices are coming down in many areas, and stores and showrooms are much more likely to be willing to accept less than they were before. Don’t be afraid to ask if whatever you are quoted is the best they can do, because often there is still a little bit of wiggle room (but please don’t expect to haggle like you would in a third world country where that’s par of the culture.). Here is yet another place a good interior designer can be your best friend – in any economy, actually – because even suppliers who will sell to the general public as well as to the trade are much more likely to give a designer a better price than Joe Q. Public, if they do have room to move, because they know they’re going to get other business from the designer as well and likely already have well-established relationships.

So what are you waiting for? The sooner you get started on that remodelling or redecorating project you’ve been putting off, the sooner you will be able to enjoy the fruits of your efforts!

Updated 1/14/08, reposted and edited from my very obscure personal blog at http://wendyannh.blogspot.com a couple of years ago.

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Below is a repost of a comment I sent on the Xtraordinary Living blog this evening, in response to someone’s upset remarks that she was going to look elsewhere for a cheaper kitchen remodelling contractor other than Home Expo, since she thought they were acting superior and trying to con her into something very expensive when they told her their lowest end kitchen remodel would start around $50,000.

Clive Christian

Unfortunately, the figures you were quoted are just gross estimates that probably have nothing to do with reality. In point of fact, that’s really probably a *low* estimate of the lower end of the range of kitchen remodels nowadays.

It’s not about someone copping an attitude; that’s just the reality. Kitchens that cost $200,000 and up aren’t all that uncommon nowadays, to be perfectly frank – and something like the one shown above could easily reach that level or even considerably more.

Even “inexpensive” cabinetry (like Ikea) and countertops are pretty expensive, and no matter what you choose, redoing a kitchen is a very labor intensive job, especially if you do anything other than replace the exact same cabinetry layout. Particularly if any sort of plumbing or electrical work is involved, or hidden damage is encountered, you will see $50,000 in the rearview mirror very quickly. There are certain minimum labor costs no matter what products you choose.

Between the labor and the cabinets, that’s where the bulk of the expense of a kitchen remodel is, but there are still a zillion other details that go into it that all add up pretty high, even with lower end materials.

You can certainly try to control the labor costs by finding a less expensive contractor, but do remember that you quite often get exactly what you are paying for.

Unfortunately, you won’t be able to control the amount of work required for a given design, only the cost of the cabinetry and other materials, and much of what they carry at Home Depot/Expo is definitely at the low end of what’s out there cabinetry-wise.

Remember, too, that you definitely get what you pay for in terms of durability and functionality. If the cabinet doors are falling off their hinges in the showroom, as I’ve observed with most kitchens at Home Depot/Expo, they will definitely not fare any better in your kitchen over time, especially if you have a family and kids.

Depending on what’s involved in fitting it into your existing space, it may turn out to actually be cheaper to go with a higher end line, possibly even custom, that can be ordered to fit much more precisely than with a lower end line that may end up requiring much more labor to get everything to fit halfway decently.

And if you end up with a contractor who isn’t as efficient as he might be, or as skilled, that will drive your costs up as well, and very quickly. Be very wary of low bids and choosing a contractor based solely on price, because such lowball estimates often don’t even include much of what needs to be done, and the price goes through the roof once they get started.

Speaking of customer service, places that give quotes like this really aren’t giving good service, either, in a way, because there are far too many variables that go into the cost of something like a kitchen remodel to be able to give a figure that’s anywhere remotely near accurate before the final plans are drawn up and everything specified and specifically bid out.

Don’t even think of shopping for products or contractors until you’ve got a full set of plans drawn up, if you want the process to go as smoothly as possible, and to realize the most economical remodel possible that gives you what you most want and need, with as little headache as possible. A good interior designer or kitchen designer can be worth their weight in gold in this process – ideally an independent one, not one who works for a particular store, because they can provide many more options because they aren’t locked into particular products like store employees are, and are typically far better trained as well. You will net out far more savings than additional costs in the end. (Of course, the same holds true for remodeling the rest of your home or office as well.)

The complexity of this field is just not to be believed, and you can literally double the cost of a kitchen just by which inserts you choose for whatever cabinetry line you decide on, as just one example of the myriad places you can get caught unaware in this process and drive the costs through the roof. Just the choice of one edge detail vs another on the countertop can greatly increase those prices, and not make a huge difference in the look or the functionality. Dozens of choices later, even with minor increases for each, and you’ll have bitten off much, much more than you ever expected financially if you don’t have an organized plan and a guide through the maze. I’m professionally trained in kitchen design as well as general interior design, and it’s still a seriously complex undertaking to remodel one, even a simple remodel.

The best way to find a good designer is through a personal referral from a friend or acquaintance who’s had their kitchen or home done recently, if you like what the designer did. Alternatively, you can find interior designers or kitchen designers near you through a good Google search, which will also lead you to the designers’ websites, so you can evaluate the work they do before even contacting them, to see if their style appeals to you. Several professional associations such as ASID and NKBA also offer referral services, but the options are severely limited if you go this route, and many of the very best designers don’t even belong to any of these organizations, so cast your net wider if you want the best selection of people who may be right for your own project. Ask about their experience and education and check references, by all means, but don’t limit yourself to designers with letters after their names, since those absolutely do not necessarily correlate with quality work or knowledge.

And if you live in California, check out the Contractors’ State Licensing Board website at http://www.cslb.ca.gov/contractored/google.asp for a wealth of information on how to go about hiring a contractor, what to look for, and what to avoid. This is actually an excellent general resource for anyone regardless of where they live, with the caveat that you need to look up the specific laws and regulations in your own area.

However, I wouldn’t suggest doing it this way on large renovations or new construction–it’s just too much for an amateur to handle. But it can work for the relatively simple updating, upgrading and enhancement projects that I focus on.

Beware, however, that if the workers you hire are not licensed, bonded and insured or if they are not legal residents, you might run the risk of getting entangled in legal or liability issues–not to mention ethical questions. If you hire unlicensed workers, be sure to check out the laws in your state. For example, in California, any contractor who is paid more than $500 for a job technically must be licensed by the state board. Also, unlicensed contractors are not covered by state worker’s compensation. The California Contractors State License Board (www.cslb.ca.gov) recommends that homeowners get at least three bids, ask to see their license, and be wary of door-to-door solicitors.

Here’s something to keep in mind when working with a contractor. Try to avoid paying in advance–for construction materials or anything else. There is nothing worse than having a contractor start the demolition stage, but then leave your project idle for days at a time because another (ostensibly more important) client needs him to do a new project or repair an older one. You won’t be in a position to fire him and bring in someone else if you’ve already paid him a chunk of money upfront–and all the while your house remains a shambles from the demo.

In other words, don’t give him all the leverage!

I had an experience recently with an electrical hookup for a new portable spa. The guy who sold me the spa arranged for one of his regular electrical contractors to run a 220v line to it from the main breaker panel. Not a big deal, right? Well, the contractor was busy, so he sent over his unlicensed apprentice after-hours to do it. This nice young guy told me that he had done eight spas and that he knew what he was doing. And he thought it would cost less than $500.

Well, he really didn’t know that much. He ran long, serpentine lengths of the grey 1″ electrical PVC pipe along the eaves of the house (although it is primarily intended for burying in the ground). The PVC ran down into a new “disconnect” subpanel that wasn’t even needed, and then down along the ground to the spa. Keep in mind that copper prices are quite high these days, so the extra lengths of heavy copper wire he used were quite expensive. After four evenings of work, it still wasn’t operational, but he still handed me a bill for $800!

So we called in another contractor who had done hundreds of spas. The new guy tore out all of the old stuff and replaced it with the more attractive 3/4″ steel conduit, and because the main breaker panel was within 100 ft of the spa, there was no need for the big ugly disconnect box. After only two hours, the new contractor and his 2-man crew had ripped out all of the previous guy’s work, installed a clean direct line, and had the spa heating up–and did it for only $450.

This was quite a lesson in the risks of using unlicensed contractors for seemingly simple projects.

By the way, if you haven’t downloaded my free special report, “Essential Tips Before You Buy, Sell, or Remodel a Home,” I encourage you to do so now.  Simply follow this url: http://HomeUpgradingIdeas.com.

Seek simplicity, comfort and value!