How we did our family room for under $1,500

Our family room was our first real project in our new home. Until we started our family room renovation last February, we had spent a few months unpacking our new home, arranging things, and day dreaming. I highly recommend making your first project in a new home a low stakes renovation like this one. It was a great way to get our feet wet. Now I know your highly suspicious of the fact that we spent hardly anything on this reno, and to be honest so am I. Surprised even, that we managed to pull this one off on such a tight budget. Here are 5 ways to stick to a small budget for any of your renovations!

1.) come up with a plan for your reno, along with your need to haves and nice to haves.

Before we started our renovation we sat down in our family room together and talked about what our needs were for the room, how we planned to use it, and how we could make it look and feel like a cozy custom home on a budget. There was lots of pulling up items on Pinterest, hand drawn elevations in the note app, and discussions (mostly on my husband Taylor’s side) about how to simplify the design to keep things in budget. We design every room with a budget in mind, but also keep in mind the value this really adds to our home should we choose to sell in the future. So while we try and stay in budget, if we think something will look cheap or in the long run take away value we opt to spend a bit more to make sure it’s done right.

I always do a mock-up of what it will look like, source any big ticket items, and consult my husband on what he thinks supplies might cost. Then we do up a budget in a spreadsheet, and add about 15% for things we didn’t think of or wanted to add later. Initially, we thought this reno might cost around $2k so we are really proud of ourselves that we kept it under. Here’s a view of the initial mock up:

2.) shop around for the best deals, including hitting up marketplace and Kijiji if time is on your side.

The electric fireplace was the biggest ticket item in the whole renovation, so it was important that we found the best deal we could. We did look to find one second hand but at the end of the day it was most important to us that we get one with the right dimensions. The size we ended up choosing was a perfect fit for the room, and it’s place on the fireplace wall.

we managed to find one from Walmart for under $500, which we were super happy with and we love how it looks. A lot of people worry that an electric fireplace looks cheap, and we feel this one looks high end enough for a family room. After all, we have a real wood burning one in our upstairs formal living room, so we didn’t worry that we didn’t have a gas one. Though the option is there for us if we change our mind down the line to swap this one out for a gas by running a gas line to it and finding the appropriate face. The proximity of this room to the mechanic room makes it relatively easy.

We also shopped around for the best price on a window covering. This particular window was a custom size, but at the end of the day we did find a really nice one from Select Blinds. The quality is really nice, and they took our exact measurements for a perfect fit. The wood shade lends a casual feel while still dressing up the window and making the whole room look put together and intentional.

Fireplace source (similar): Costway Fireplace from Walmart
Blinds: Select Blinds Value Cordless Woven Wood Bamboo Shades in Hatteras-Camel

3.) leave some items for a bigger renovation if possible.

We want to replace the patio doors, and the flooring someday in the future but left it for now for a few reasons.

Reason one was budget. Doors and carpeting are expensive! Reason two was timelines, and the fact that both those items were part of entirely different projects. The doors will get done when we do the exterior of the house, and the carpet will get done as part of a bigger renovation which will include two of our upstairs bedrooms— which we are so far from ready to renovate! Instead of replacing the patio doors, we painted them and updated the hardware. And for now, we’ve covered up a lot of the rug with an area rug and are simply living with it, but we absolutely cannot wait to replace it!

We’ve experienced “project creep” by trying to update all the items in the room at once, and we tried our best to avoid this for this small low key project.

4.) shop your home and get creative finding materials for your project

Since we renovated our previous townhouse and are actively renovating our home now, there are certain materials we have on hand which we took advantage of. We have trim stocked for projects on our house, some drywall supplies, paint, and silicone on hand pretty much all the time.

We also happened to have a little bit of barn wood hanging around from a friend’s property which almost didn’t make it into the renovation. In the beginning I wanted to splurge on some really nice oak for the shelves, as I wanted a modern look. The more I looked at my Pinterest inspiration though, the more I realized I wanted something that looked modern but with a lived in feel. Enter the barn wood. It was rough looking in the beginning but after sanding it all down, wire brushing the mantle pieces and staining it a light but warm neutral brown— it turned out to be exactly what we wanted!

So check your project stash, raid your parents garage, hunt down deals on Kijiji and marketplace and don’t be afraid to ask your neighbour what they plan to do with that pile of wood that’s been in the back alley for a few months 😉

5.) do it your self!

This one is tricky— I know that you don’t all happen to have a husband who is in the trades. I won’t lie, I feel super lucky to have him to do things around the house. That being said, I’m not in the trades and I’ve learned so much by helping him. I always help with tasks like sanding, painting, and caulking. My husband had actually never done such a large drywall project before and was very diligent about getting every detail “right”. This meant a few nights for him watching you tube videos on how to do outside drywall corners, and feathering techniques. You can learn a new skill! As for the time for diy, we chipped away at this project 20 minutes to an hour at a time for around 12 weeks. It’s good to keep a modest timeline if you don’t have a ton of free time to do these projects.

So that’s how we kept our family room project in budget and made it look as custom and cozy as we possibly could! My biggest takeaway for you is consider your design, if there are lower budget options for you (can you thrift? can you diy? can you change your initial design into something simple yet impactful?), and shop around to find the best deals!

Happy housing! 😘