Share to Your Social Media

Below I show the 4 Bedroom Renovations on a budget Before’s and After’s of our fixer upper (Home 2)—including photos, costs, and items used to stage the bedrooms.

My husband and I turned his fixer-upper-home which he had bought a few years before we met and hadn’t had time to ‘fix up’ into a nice home that sold for much more than what he bought it for.

It was originally a 2 BD 1 Bath home. We turned it into a 4 BD 2.5 Bath home. 

To renovate the entire home on a tight budget, we did everything we could on our own and always had one hourly handyman we could trust helping to keep the work moving along. 

To afford our other home and this one, my husband kept a full time job and worked at this house after hours.

I worked on the remodel almost every day (until I got sick with pregnancy), plus I was raising two kids and making sure our life didn’t fall apart.

It was a stressful many months but it literally paid off big time. I am grateful we had the opportunity to do this.

If you start a venture like this, I’ll just put this out there… it helps if you renovate a home close to where you live. This home was 35 minutes away with good traffic, so it was just a huge time consumer to get there and back again.

We did have both set of parents help a few days total. Both of our brothers came out for a day or two to help, a neighbor helped a day or two and my brother in law was paid (albeit at a discounted rate, thanks Jake!) to install the hardwood flooring. This help was so appreciated and at times when my husband and I felt burned it out, it was needed to have someone come help.

Was it worth all the time, work, energy, expense and effort? Yes, we had 4 bids the first day on the market that went into a bidding war. Remodeling this home really did work out to our financial benefit.

You can fix up and remodel a room quite nicely on a budget; you can even frame a bedroom with the proper size window and a closet on a budget…here’s how.

BEDROOM 1 (Master) – BEFORE

The master did not have its own bath. So we walled off the hallway entrance to the bathroom. Then we cut out a door that gave the master a sole entrance into a “master bath” on its shared wall.

We used the same door from the hallway which saved us the cost of a door. I will post about the master bath remodel soon.

My kids and I pulled up and hauled out all of the hardwood flooring.

Whenever we went to work on the renovation they got to decide whether or not they wanted to work on the house since we were there a lot and I knew we would be working on it for many months. 

I didn’t want them to hate going there. So I made sure that we had all sorts of toys and things for them to do both indoors and outside and that they were safe areas to be. I also had gloves and good shoes on site that fit them for when they were wearing flip flops or something not really that protective.

They often choose to help for an hour or two and then play or rest and watch a show the rest of the time we were there.

Shane and I paid them for their work often rewarding them with an activity to work towards such as a visit to a kids’ museum, a play land center, or dinner out to a restaurant of their choice instead of actual money.

We did this reward system because of their ages (4 and 6); at this young age they better understood the value of fun activities more than cash. Had they been older, we would have paid them per hour or most likely per job done.

AFTER Master Bedroom

I primed and painted the ceilings and walls of the room.

My husband ran new electrical for the new lights and smoke detectors.

We paid my brother-in-law to eliminate the squeaks in the subfloor and install the real bamboo wood flooring.

We also installed trim and baseboards, caulked, sanded and painted them.

With the help of my father in law, he and I sanded and painted all the doors in the home.

I hung closet tension rods and curtains for ‘closet dividers’. The closet opening was so large it would have had to be a 3 closet door system. I personally don’t like those because the doors seem to always be hitting one another or in the way.

This curtain system was cheaper, more modern and so much more functional.

My brother Chris and his kids came for a day and helped us install all of the doorknobs in the home. 

Supply list and cost of master bedroom renovation and staging below.

BEDROOM 2 – BEFORE/MID RENOVATION

This room was adjacent to the master bedroom so we did a lot of the same things. The main difference was the closet needed more work. We ripped out the weird shelving and doors, repaired the sheetrock and made the top shelf wider.

We had to mud some uneven spots on the walls and sand and prime them.

We pulled up the old hardwood flooring and replaced it with new bamboo flooring.

My kids were paid to help when they wanted to work. They got good at removing wood floor.

AFTER Bedroom 2

I primed and painted the ceilings and walls of the room.

My husband ran new electrical for the new lights and smoke detectors.

We paid my brother-in-law to eliminate the squeaks in the subfloor and install the real bamboo wood flooring.

We also installed trim and baseboards, caulked, sanded and painted them.

With the help of my father in law, he and I sanded and painted all the doors in the home.

I hung closet tension rods and curtains for ‘closet dividers’.

I staged it.

BEDROOM 3 – BEFORE/MID RENOVATION

This room was more expensive. We framed it, put in insulation, hung sheetrock, mud and sanded it, painted and primed it, and added a closet with doors and trim.

My brother-in-law took out the squeaks and installed the bamboo wood flooring we had running throughout. My husband did the electrical.

AFTER…

This closet opening was not so wide. I thought since there were already 4 curtains (2 curtain rods in this room) it would look a little too curtain-heavy to do a curtain divider closet rod system. I found the closet doors new and unused for $20 a piece, so we went with a closet door system.

I staged it.

BEDROOM 4 – downstairs ‘theater room’ turned bedroom and walk in closet.

This was my husband’s theater room. Since he specializes in Audio Visual equipment, I can tell you the sound system and TV picture was amazing… everything else was, well…

Ghetto. He is a tech guy… he really didn’t care what it looked like, only how it sounded and looked.

I knew I wanted this to be a bedroom so we cut out a window for it that would meet building code requirements for a bedroom.

I found a big newish never installed window in a guy’s junk pile for $50. It was a nice high-quality-brand window with double pane glass etc.! That was a huge savings/ great find. I also found the window well new-never-installed for $100 which was another huge savings!

I called and got quotes from multiple concrete cutters. It was winter and slower season and we dug the window well deep enough we didn’t need to pay for hauling away of concrete so they cut this entire window out for $400. Again, not too bad considering how long it took them to cut the window out.

See how we did this in the exterior renovation post here.

AFTER

I did clean the window well, window and hang curtains but unfortunately, I lost the photo of it. I promise that it did look quite nice in the end. Here’s the rest of the room.

When we got around to renovating the basement, I was about three months pregnant and feeling very sick most days. I could not physically work so many hours on the home a day anymore. So, we hired a crew to hang the sheetrock and mud and sand and a crew to paint it, do the trim, etc. 

While it did cost us more than had we done it ourselves (like we did most of the upstairs), it was necessary.

Shane did do all of the electrical work which saved us loads and I did a lot of the final work and details, closet shelves, cleaning, staging, etc. because I was further along and not as sick.

We carpeted the downstairs with a gorgeous grey brown carpet that we found at the RC Willey Warehouse in SLC. They had ordered way too much of it on accident so we got a great deal on it with install— price breakdown below.

Our amazing neighbor (home 3) asked if he could help us multiple times. So Bruce came out for a day and hung the closet shelves for us and did some downstairs odds and ends. We were so lucky that we had such supportive friends and family and are trying to pay it back when we get the chance.

Cost of each bedroom renovation.

Bedroom 1 Master costs

Flooring $550

Paint and supplies $300

Electrical $200

Light $30

Renovation: $1080

Staging: $985 (sold the bed in the room and previous side tables) $400 =Net $585

side tables	Overstock	Avenue Greene	$120	$60 each
2 lamps	Smith’s Marketplace		$120.00	$30 each base $30 each shade
queen bed	Amazon	Linen Spa 8″	$190.00
Sheets	Kohls	Adrienne Vittadini	$20.00
Comforter	Kohls	The Big One	$60.00
Pillows (4)	Kohls	The Big One	$20.00
Shams	Smith’s Marketplace	4 cases/shams	$40.00	(Shams $25 cases $15)
Mirrors	AtHome		$60.00	($30 each)
shadow box	Smith’s Marketplace		$15.00
Headboard	Amazon	Zinus Jessica Modern Studio	$70.00
Queen frame	Amazon	Zinus Shawn 14 Inch SmartBase Mattress Foundation	$90.00
Tension rod for closet	Amazon	Springs Window Fashions 84-Inch to 120-Inch Adjustable Tension Curtain Rod	$50.00
Grey curtains	Smiths marketplace		$60.00	grey curtains ($10 panel)
Curtain Rod	Amazon	AmazonBasics 1″ Curtain Rod with Cap Finials, 72″ to 144″,	$30.00
White Curtains	Kohls	Noreen	$20	($10 panel)
Decorative grey pillow	Smith’s Marketplace		$20.00
			$985

Total for Master Bedroom: $1665.00

Bedroom 2 costs

Flooring $550 Bamboo floor .99 cents sq foot (yes for real bamboo prefinished wood) install was another $2.50 sq foot

Paint and supplies $200

Electrical $200

Light $30

Closet shelf and sheetrock repair $300

Total renovation $1380

Staging: $805- sold items in room $300= $505.00

Bedroom 2
Twin mattress	Amazon	Zinus Memory Foam 6 Inch Green Tea Mattress, Twin	$85.00
Sheets	Kohls	Adrienne Vittadini	$15.00
Comforter	Kohls	The Big One	$30.00
Twin bed skirt	At Home		$15.00
Twin Frame	Amazon	Zinus Shawn 14 Inch SmartBase Mattress Foundation	$65.00
Pillows (4)	Kohls	The Big One	$20.00
Pillow Shams white	Pottery Barn	Garage sale	$5.00
Decorative pillow	Smith’s Marketplace		$25.00
Headboard	Shane Had		Free
Night stands	Overstock	Marcella Paint-dipped Round Spindle Tray-top Side Table iNSPIRE Q Modern	$135.00
Tension rod for closet	Amazon	Springs Window Fashions 84-Inch to 120-Inch Adjustable Tension Curtain Rod	$50.00
Curtains (window)	AtHome		$25.00
Curtain Rod	Walmart		$15.00
Closet Curtains	Kohls	Noreen	$40.00
Brass Side Table	AtHome	used on classified	$45
Trash Can	Wayfair	Cabo	$35.00
Globe	Garage sale	Garage sale	$5.00
Other decor	AtHome	vases, candles,flowers, small frame	$30.00
Art work	AtHome	2 glass, one canvas	$100
Lamp	Smith’s Marketplace		$15.00
			$805

Total Bedroom 2- $1,885

Bedroom 3

My husband had already framed this, ran the electrical and put the sheetrock in the room (set it on the floor), before we started working on the house together.

I tried to record almost every dollar we spent but before we got married, Shane did not write down what he spent. I do not have exact numbers include this in the total as he had no idea what he had spent.

This is likely to have cost a few hundred dollars at least so I’ll just say $300.00

Labor to hang sheetrock, frame closet, mud tape and sand room: $900

Closet doors $60

Closet door track $20

Light $30

Flooring $400

Door was taken from a door downstairs so they all matched upstairs-free

Door knob $20

Paint and supplies $100

Renovation to make bedroom 3: $1,830

Staging $455 sold stuff afterward for $200=$255

Bedroom 3
day bed frame	Amazon	Zinus Brandi Quick Lock Twin Day Bed frame with Steel Slat Support	$100.00
Twin mattress	Amazon	Zinus Memory Foam 6 Inch Green Tea Mattress, Twin	$95.00
Sheets	Kohls	Adrienne Vittadini	$15.00
Pillows (6)	Kohls	The Big One	$20.00
Pillow cases	Smith’s Marketplace		$15.00
Comforter and sham	AtHome		$40.00
3 decorative pillows	Smith’s Marketplace	varies	$60.00
Laptop Table	World Market	had bought 2 years before	Free
Vintage fan	Overstock	Hunter (Shane had it)	Free
NoteBooks	Rustico	Shane had	Free
Curtain Rods	Bed Bath and Beyond		$40.00
Curtains	Kohls	Noreen	$40.00
Candle	Smith’s Marketplace		$5.00
Clock	At Home		$5.00
Wall Art collection	Smith’s Marketplace		$20.00
			$455.00

Total Bedroom 3= $2,085

Bedroom 4 downstairs bedroom and walk in closet…

Window $50

Cutting out the window $400

Labor to frame, install window $500

Sheetrock, paint, trim, etc. $2,000

Carpet and install $600

Closet shelving and rods $250

Doors $40

Lights $90

Electrical $300

Total renovation costs converting room into bedroom and walk in closet: $4,230

Staging: $805- sold rug and roll top desk and other items in the room $300 total $505.00

Bedroom 4 (basement)
Queen frame	Amazon	Zinus Shawn 14 Inch SmartBase Mattress Foundation	$90.00
Headboard	Amazon	Zinus Trina Upholstered Modern Classic Tufted Headboard in Taupe, Queen	$90.00
Mattress	Amazon	Zinus Memory Foam 8 Inch Green Tea Mattress, Queen	$175.00
Sheets	Kohls	Adrienne Vittadini	$20.00
Comforter	Kohls	The Big One	$40.00
Pillows (4)	Kohls	The Big One	$15.00
2 decorative pillows	Smith’s Marketplace	varies	$20.00
Mirror	AtHome		$100
Blanket throw	Amazon	comfort spaces super soft microplush blanket	$40.00
Side Tables	classified		$40	($20 each)
lamps	Lamps Plus		$60.00	($30 each)
curtain rod	Bed Bath & Beyond		$25.00
curtains	Target	Threshold	$40
Small vintage table	garage sale		$30.00
mirrors	Had		Free
decor	varies	Had	Free
photo holder	World Market	Gold Wire Photo Clip Wall Frame	$20.00
			$805.00

Total $4,735.00

While this room cost us significantly more, it was a dramatic change and many of our friends and family who walked through mentioned how they’d almost have it be the master bedroom. They liked how large it was and the walk in closet and we put in a half bath right across the hall. So I know it added significant value to the home when we sold it.

Total for the before and afters on all 4 bedrooms: $10,370.00 This is a very low number for what the before and afters suggest, especially when considering that we actually added two rooms onto the home’s MLS listing.

Well there you have it… 4 Bedroom Renovations of Home 2 Before’s and After’s including how much it cost to renovate and stage them.

For other ‘rich living tips’ please subscribe, like me on Facebook, and follow me on  Pinterest and  Instagram.