how to upgrade your new build without ‘upgrading’
Building a new home is such an exciting time, and attending your selections meeting is one of the best parts of the process. But if you’re on a tight budget it can be a bit disheartening when you feel like you can’t upgrade on big ticket items.
Newsflash - Budget does not have to mean boring!
Here are some really cost-effective ways to upgrade your new build without breaking the bank.
swap out your external bricks
Not loving the external bricks in your inclusions? A little known insider tip; cladding is quite often cheaper than brick.
Ask your builder if they can provide weatherboard, linea or axon cladding in lieu of brick and you may see a reduction in price. I’ve even seen a few homes come down in price significantly using this trick.
Disclaimer: this may not apply to ALL builders; but it’s definitely worth asking the question!
island back feature
Keen to bring in a feature to your kitchen, but wary of the costs involved?
I have found that the most cost effective way to achieve a feature is to add some VJ panels or a Porta Timber product to your island back. Both of these are cheap to purchase and are a painted finish, so ideally you’d be looking at only a few hundred dollars to upgrade.
Image: Haus of Cruze / Style Curator
shower ledges
The shower ledge is the niche’s much cooler older sister - and it costs approximately the same to build. So if you’re already willing to pay for a niche, or your builder includes them as standard, changing to a shower ledge should be a straight swap cost-wise. If not, adding these in shouldn’t be too costly at all, a worthwhile investment.
Image: ACT Renovations / Style Curator
bathroom mirrors
Not a fan of standard, flat builders mirrors? Here you have two options…
Option one - Ask your builder to delete the standard mirrors and leave the wall behind them tiled or blank, depending on your tiling situation. You can then re-invest that cash into nicer mirrors and install them yourself after handover.
Option two - quite often the standard builders mirror is made/cut by the same crew that make the shower screens. Check to see if they will cut your flat mirror into a circle, arch or oval shape. Depending on your builder, this could be at no extra cost or at worst a very small cost which is totally worth it.
Image: Dot & Pop
cabinetry handles
Love the handle-less look but on a tight budget? Lip pull handles are the next best thing…
Quite often you can get these in lieu of standard handles at a very low cost (sometimes no cost at all) and if you get the right colour they can almost blend into your cabinetry!
Cabinetry handles in general are a great item to look at upgrading regardless; and you can certainly get bang for your buck. My fave place for on-trend cabinetry handles is Linear Standard.
If your builder won’t entertain the idea of sourcing handles outside of their standard range or their normal suppliers, request to have them left out entirely so you can install your own after handover.
I hope this has provided a bit of insight into how you can add a bit of personality to your new home without the price tag. Let me know in the comments if you’ve got some cost saving ideas to share!