Feeling stumped on how to remodel a bathroom on a budget? While luxury bathroom remodels can run as high as $100,000, there’s no need to spend an exorbitant amount in order to get the bathroom of your dreams. In fact, with some smart planning and creative thinking, you can stick to your budget and create a serene, spa-like space worthy of your most relaxing moments.
Below, we’re sharing some of our top bathroom remodel ideas on a budget, including savvy strategies for stretching your budget as far as it will go.
Figuring Out Your Bathroom Renovation Budget
Almost every prospective client asks how much it costs to remodel a bathroom. And the answer is: it depends. That’s because there are lots of different factors that come into play when setting a renovation budget, all of which need to be considered when tallying up the potential cost. Beyond the basics, things like moving walls or installing new electrical or plumbing will all add to the price tag and, if you’re working on a budget, take away from money you can spend elsewhere.
Since labor is the biggest cost factor, start out by getting labor estimates to set the base cost of your project, then decide from there how much more you have to spend. As a good rule of thumb, we recommend allocating more resources toward the products and fixtures you’ll use daily, such as your faucets, lighting fixtures, and storage systems. Keep in mind that bathroom remodels offer one of the biggest returns for homeowners, so you’ll likely recoup a lot of what you end up spending.
How to Save Money on a Bathroom Renovation
Now let’s talk logistics – or, more specifically, how to save money on a bathroom renovation without cutting corners on labor or design.
Hire a Showroom Professional
It may sound counterintuitive to hire an expert to help you save money on a bathroom remodel, but there are plenty of good reasons why it’s in your best interest to do so. Decorative plumbing and hardware sales professionals are pros at figuring out ingenious ways to maximize the use of space. Since space in a bathroom is usually at a premium, that will be key to a successful budget-friendly remodel.
Better yet, showroom professionals can work with you to control costs by designing a plan that aligns with your existing plumbing and electrical configuration. That means fewer infrastructure changes and, as a result, a lot less money you’ll need to spend.
Work With the Space You Have
Speaking of layout, if you’re on a tight budget, you’re probably not going to want to spend money on things like relocating pipes, vents, power lines, or waste and supplies. Plan to keep as much of the existing infrastructure in place as possible rather than reconfiguring what’s behind the walls and underneath the floor. There are creative solutions to pretty much any infrastructure oddity, and it will save you a ton of money to stick with what you already have.
Figure Out Your Priorities
Do you really need a jetted tub if you only use it once or twice a year? What about heated floors when you live in a warm climate? Determining what’s worth splurging on and what isn’t lets you allocate resources wisely and spend more on features that will genuinely benefit your health and wellness, which is much more budget-friendly than simply opting for the latest trends in bathroom design.
Of course, do consider areas of the bathroom where it’s not necessarily advisable to cut the budget, such as the quality of your lighting and toilet. A showroom professional can provide guidance on where costs can be minimized and where you should prioritize spending for the biggest return, keeping in mind both your personal preferences and the features that will offer the most overall value.
Stick to the Plan
Whether you’re collaborating with a professional showroom or hiring another party for your bathroom remodel, don’t let the project begin without a detailed work scope detailing what is to be done, what the timeline is, and what the contractual conditions are for performance and payment schedules. And once you get these details into your contract, stick to them. Budgets are often broken by clients changing their minds mid-renovation, so you must know – and approve of – exactly where your money is going before work gets started.
The goal of any bathroom renovation is to get the biggest bang for your buck. Follow the tips above to set and stick to a reasonable budget, and contact us today if you need help stretching your renovation budget even further.
