By Julie Schmale

Many of us have spent more time at home this year -and if there are things not working in your home, you feel it more now than ever!

Right now, and for the year 2021, there’s a tax credit to be had when you renovate -so now is a great time to make your home more functional and get a bit of money back at the end!

The reason why we’re addressing this now, is to get your wheels turning! Use the first slow dreary months of 2021 to dream! Some people may not realize how much time can go into the reno process -and we don’t want you to miss out on a great opportunity! Or maybe you feel unsure of exactly how much money something is going to cost you? So, here is some inspiration to get you started, and our thoughts on renos and what to expect.

We’ll go through upgrading your shower, reno-ing your whole bathroom, flooring, and kitchen. Just scroll to the section that appeals to you the most. But first read the following:

Don’t wait! -Here’s why:

Our most important advice is DON’T WAIT till mid year to start the process! If you are a DIY’er it’s maybe less of a deal, but if you need a contractor, you will need to start ASAP. Many of them are booking well into 2021 already, so DONT wait! You want to get your project on their list before it’s too late. 

The whole process from “Let’s do it!”, to actually getting the material in hand can be lengthy. You take all your favorite samples home only to realize you hate them all! Or you order the perfect shower door, but the plant had a Covid out-break and can’t deliver for 3 months. Or things are just on backorder for forever because who knows?! You get it. Supply and demand don’t always go hand in hand…. Right now, supply is a dawdling toddler when you’re trying to get to the store before closing.

Work by 5 Point Contracting

Showers / Bathrooms

Let’s begin with an upgrade we’ve encountered quite a bit: Bathrooms. Especially showers; upgrading from an outdated yellow tub surround to an all-tiled shower. With the Schluter Shower systems that are very popular these days, you can get a fully tiled shower with a bench to shave your legs (cause really, people don’t actually sit in their showers, do they?!), a niche for your shampoo bottles, glass shower doors, even a tiled floor or ceiling, and the labour to do it all for around $10-11K. This obviously depends on the finishes picked -but it gives you a rough idea of what you can get for your money.

That’s JUST to redo your shower. If you’re looking to renovate your entire bathroom, including new flooring (heated tile floor perhaps?), new vanity, toilet, faucets and matching towel bars etc. you’d be looking at $12-14K (again, rough numbers to give you an idea. It totally depends on which finishes you pick. We carry tile at $3 per square foot but also at $30 per square foot….. just saying)

New Flooring

Another big one has been flooring. Now this obviously ranges a lot! But I will say that the vinyl flooring has come a loooong way since we built our home just 4 years ago. Our Evoke VCC’s have such a wide variety of colours, you can definitely find one you love! And you can get them from $3 per square foot all the way up to $5.50 per square foot. Evoke has a great website where you can “see this floor in my room” -it does a fantastic job at applying a floor to whatever photo you take of your space. That way you can play around with them all before coming to the store to grab samples. The vinyls also have nice trim and stair nosing options.

Visit Evoke’s website to see these up close

Glue-down is super popular too. This one is going to cost you between $3 and $4 per square foot including glue and stuff -if you are doing it yourself. If someone else is installing it, you should be safe to estimate around $6-$7 per square foot including materials. Again, these are just rough numbers for you to get started.

Hardwood is another beautiful option. It’ll start you in the $5-range per square foot and go up from there. Nothing will feel as soft and warm as the real thing!

Some of our carpet and tile displays

Another great flooring option is tile -heated tile. This is awesome in basement bathrooms where the floor can get quite frigid in the winter months. Another great place for heated tile is in your mudroom/entrance, where your kids unload their wet boots in wintertime. We did that, and I love how it dries everything off. The winter wetness evaporates, and we just vacuum up the gravel or sand. The kids throw their wet toques and mitts on the floor in one area, and they’re usually dry by the time they head outdoors again. I love it and would say it’s worth the extra cost! (I don’t really have numbers for this one, sorry!)

Fireplaces

Another update we’ve encountered quite a bit is fireplaces. Either replacing an existing one or adding one to your home. Here again, there’s a wide variety of products and therefore a wide price range. If you were adding a natural gas fireplace, building a chase for it, putting stone on it, and hanging a mantle you should count on spending $10-$12K. And because you all loooove shiplap, the good news is that this would bring your cost down by a couple grand, BUT the down-side is, you have to tile around the fireplace opening. You cannot shiplap all the way around the fireplace if it’s natural gas.

If you switch to an electric fireplace you CAN shiplap the whole thing! On top of that, an electric fireplace is generally less money, so you’re really saving money now! For a small space we would recommend electric anyway, because you can have the ambiance of the fireplace without the heat. It would be so sad to add a natural gas fireplace that puts out too much heat that you can never turn it on.

Now to a BIG one: The Kitchen

I would honestly looooove to give you a rough price on this, I just don’t know that it’s doable. There are SO many variables to a kitchen, like: which finish you chose, what type of door, how many cabinets, what type of countertops, whether you tile the backsplash or just do the 4” lip, whether it’s full extension drawers or not…. Honestly, SO. MANY. OPTIONS. Also, the quality of the cabinet maker. We work with Superior Cabinets, and I have them in my own kitchen…. Here’s the reality of living with those cabinets: We have lived in our home three and a half years, we have 4 children ages 6-12, we’ve had two younger foster kids living here for a year, we have a young man who stays with us regularly, and we have two cats, and my cabinets are white MDF. WHITE! And they look as good as they did the day we installed them! Honestly! There has been so much activity in our home, all our kids use the kitchen on a daily basis, and my cabinets have held up to it all! “Yes, but so they should!” you say? I agree, but that is not always the case, unfortunately.

Here are some other kitchen-thoughts to give you:

Make sure your cabinetry includes a slide-out for garbage and recycling -you will never EVER regret this decision!

Opt for drawers in your lower cabinetry rather than a box with one shelf and a door on it. The drawer system makes it much easier to reach your stuff and is way better for storage. I have a 9” tall soup pot that fits in my lower drawer.

Spend the extra money on full extension drawers. We have learned that “standard” is actually a smaller drawer. You lose about 2” of depth. Weird, but that’s how it is.

Include undercabinet lighting. This task lighting is awesome when doing work on your counters. It’s also a nice way to keep a bit of light in your kitchen in the evening when all your ceiling lights might be turned off. If you have undercabinet lighting, hang your uppers 19” from your countertop. This gives the room for your light valance to sit at 18” above the counter, which is standard, but it gives a bit more headroom and makes your kitchen feel bigger.

Put your microwave in the island (if you have one). I reeeeeally don’t  like the microwave above the stove look. If you love it, that’s fine. If you have a tiny kitchen, it’s a great space saver! But if it’s doable to have it elsewhere -do it!

Add an appliance garage. This one is a bit deeper than upper cabinetry and sits on your counter essentially. BUT! Even though it doesn’t save you actual counterspace, it does allow you to hide the appliances you don’t want seen. A clutter-free counter; a clutter-free mind!  

Take your cabinets right to the ceiling! Especially if you have 8 foot ceilings! You can choose a 42” upper, that basically takes you right to the ceiling -all you need is a small trim piece to finish it off. It will give another shelf in every cabinet for storing items you only need once in a while. Definitely worth it! It draws the eye up and makes your kitchen appear larger.

Pot filler above your stove. I know I know…. Now we’re just getting into the luxurious! But it’s incredible. Filling large pots of water for noodles. Adding a bit of water to an already hot pot of whatever. Can much? A pot filler will be your best canning-friend!

Do your island in wood, if your perimeter is MDF. We have found that going from an MDF door to a stained maple is almost no difference in cost!! (and Superior’s maple comes in some absolutely gorgeous stains!) Crazy, right?!

Okay. I feel like those were all upgrades….. Let’s look at ways to save money when re-doing a kitchen:

Spend your money on the cabinets themselves: drawers, full extension where you can. But there is a cheaper option for the fronts: laminate. They are flat but come in a few colours and even some wood looking ones that are quite nice.

If you can, mix the laminate on you lower cabinets with MDF on the upper cabinets. This is a great way to save money if you like the two-toned kitchen look.

Choose laminate (arborite) counters. They have come out with some really nice options, that look very real! And you can choose the counters with a 4” backsplash at no extra cost! That way you save money on tiling your backsplash! For resale, I think it’s easier for a potential buyer to look at a kitchen and think; “I’ll replace the counters” rather than the entire kitchen!

If you are lacking storage, install a small shelf underneath your upper cabinetry for things like favorite cups or nice glasses. Hang your knives on a wall-mounted magnetic board to free up counter and drawer space. The more storage you can get out of your cabinets, the less you have sitting on you counters, the bigger your kitchen will feel. And don’t we all long for a less chaotic home in this very chaotic world we live in these days?

Buy a few nice cutting boards to have sitting on your counters -this frees up an entire drawer for stuff that no one wants to look at!!

Backsplash: I will say: if you love tile, there are options out there that do not cost a lot per square foot. It’s likely a subway tile, or square plain looking tile -but plain doesn’t necessarily mean boring!

-I realize some of these weren’t really savings, but still good thoughts, don’t you think?

The fun and chaos of pulling together the look you’re after

I hope this has gotten your wheels turning, inspired you, or been helpful for you in getting a rough idea of numbers for your own home renovation. Our most important advice: DON’T WAIT! Like I said. The process takes time. Contractors are likely booked for the first half of the year, so get in touch with someone if you want to take advantage of this tax credit! Even if you are a DIY’er, don’t wait too long. The process takes time. It just does.

Covid-depression is a real thing. This time can be very discouraging! Just don’t let it procrastinate your efforts to improve your home at a time where you can get some money back in your pocket!

Feel overwhelmed? Book a Design Consultation.

We’d love to help you!