Whether it’s your first home or you are just trying to stay prudent, you’ll want to bookmark these tips on how to shave off some costs from your renovation budget. These four room and five room BTO renovations stayed on a $40,000 budget or less, all without having to sacrifice style.

Keep things personal

Design: The Local Inn.terior
Location: Canberra Crescent
Flat Size: 95 sqm
Renovation Cost: $39,000

Budget tips from this home:

• Styling is a huge part of how your home will turn out. So add in accessories that tell a story, go big on plants, and layer with textiles.
• With carpentry, stick to the necessities and go for more freestanding pieces. This also means you don’t have to get everything at once, allowing you to save up some cash along the way.
• Stretch your budget for built-ins by going the less conventional route. This flat incorporated a retro arch in the living room, a fluted bi-fold glass divider in the kitchen, and a dining banquette to distinguish their space.
• Change up the look of the standard BTO bathroom by overlaying tiles. But you don’t have to overlay every surface. Consider just a focal feature like the shower area.

Consistent theme

Design: United Team Lifestyle
Location: Bukit Batok West
Flat Size: 93 sqm
Renovation Cost: $35,000

Budget tips from this home:

• Keeping to a consistent theme and colour palette can make your home feel more put together and complete.
• Retain the HDB floor tiles if you opted in for the optional component scheme or if your BTO flat already comes with them. Flooring is a huge part of your home and overlaying them with vinyl or new tiles can add a significant chunk to your renovation cost.
• Instead of focusing on the flooring, this home drummed up interest on the walls with full-height storage, which have added function.
• Using different laminates creates visual interest and depth without having to go over the budget with a new design feature. In the living room for example, the TV’s feature wall was distinguished with a marble grain patterned laminate.

Tasteful and timeless with mid-century modern

Design: Ascend Design
Location: Northshore Drive
Flat Size: 85 sqm
Renovation Cost: $40,000

Budget tips from this home:

• Consider the mid-century modern interior design theme, which is a style that focuses more on the furniture rather than the built-ins.
• If you don’t need the extra kitchen storage or you aren’t a regular home cook, consider doing away with upper kitchen cabinets. Open shelves offer a cheaper alternative and can make a small space seem airier and more open.
• A shorter backsplash can also help to save some moolah. Blending it with the colour of the kitchen wall can minimise the visual breaks.
• Carpentry was similarly kept to a minimum in this BTO flat. The ones that were crafted featured interesting detailing like curved ends, in line with the mid-century modern theme whilst helping to ease the edges and lines.

ALSO READ: Budget-friendly DIY home projects to try before calling a professional

The minimalist route with Muji

Design: Yang’s Inspiration Design
Location: Henderson
Flat Size: 93 sqm
Renovation Cost: $30,000

Budget tips from this home:

• The Muji theme is an unfussy, minimalist style that works to the favour of the budget conscious. There are also a lot of affordable furnishings that fit this style out there.
• You get to save on painting costs, since a white base is preferred in a Muji style.
• Double up on your built-ins to save on carpentry costs. The built-in dining is this BTO flat extends out from the TV feature and also works as a privacy screen, shading prying eyes from the main door.
• In the master bedroom, part of the wardrobe functions as a dressing table and a nightstand.

Going big on visuals

Design: Dots N Tots
Location: Bukit Batok
Flat Size: 112 sqm
Renovation Cost: $38,000

Budget tips from this home:

• If you’re looking to get more bang for your buck, you may want to focus on things that make a big visual impact like the double arches in this home. Set at a central point of the BTO, the arches create a focal point for more than a single zone of the flat.
• A walk-in wardrobe isn’t completely impossible in a budget conscious home. Create a smaller version in the bedroom, and position it such that there’s privacy for that exclusive walk-in closet feel. On the other side of the closet, a little cutout was made to rest bedside belongings.
• One of the kitchen counters serves as the dining table as well. Custom made stools may feel like a splurge, but it’s money well spent because of how they fit in with the size of the counter (no space wasted!) and the colour scheme of the home.

An eye for glass

Design: Fifth Avenue Interior
Location: St George’s Lane
Flat Size: 110 sqm
Renovation Cost: $40,000

Budget tips from this home:

• The designer made use of lighting through cove and recessed lights to create a ton of ambience. So despite an absence of other design elements, the lighting here brings up the mood in this space.
• If you love glass walls, keeping to smaller individual panes rather than larger panels can help to save you some cost. Large panels tend to be more expensive because they are more difficult to transport. Also, some may be too large to be carried inside lifts, which will cost you extra to bring them up via the stairs.
• A simple paint-job, which is more affordable, takes the place of a feature wall in the bedroom.
• Love a particular tile for your bathroom, but they are too expensive? You can consider using the expensive tiles on just a part of your bathroom, while complementing them with other more affordable tiles.

ALSO READ: 4 kitchen renovation tips to save on total cost

This article was first published in Renonation.sg.