How Much Does Apartment Renovation Cost?

Do you want to renovate your apartment?

When you’re faced with a whole apartment renovation, it’s tempting to get it all done in one go. You’ll be focusing on the benefits like making it look more appealing and raising value.

While it might be practical to do it in one go, it can take a substantial budget to make this a reality. And if you’ve never handled an apartment renovation before, you might not know what it’ll cost.

That’s where we can help! Keep reading for our guide on how much does apartment renovation cost. We’ll provide a room-by-room breakdown and tips on how to save on those renovation costs.

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Kitchen Renovation Cost: Around $23,500

It isn’t an exact science when it comes to working out the average cost of a kitchen renovation. HomeAdvisor says the average cost is around $23,500 or $150 per square foot for a complete kitchen remodel. The most common prices on the site range from $12,500 – $34,800.

Home Depot did a breakdown of 3 renovation scenarios for the kitchen. These were:

Minor remodel: $20,800
Major remodel: $62,000
Up-scale remodel: $123,000

The kitchen will be one of the most expensive rooms to renovate due to the number of large appliances you need. You can cut costs though by doing some or most of the labor yourself.

We don’t recommend doing plumbing or electrical work, but you can take down old cabinets. Labor will be the second biggest cost after your cabinets and counters.

You can also save money by buying ready to assemble cabinets from places like Ikea. They even offer kitchen remodeling planning tools so you can get the right look for your home. For a complete kitchen using Ikea items, you could only be looking at a cost of $7,000.

Bathroom Renovation Cost: $10,400

The average price of a bathroom renovation sits at around $10,400 with the range at $5,960-$14,840. On Thumbtack, the price for contractors alone sat at around $4,070 – $6,500.

The balance put the price of a mid-tier complete bathroom renovation to around $19,000. This cost can vary though as it depends on the fixtures and fittings you choose to install.

Some tips on saving money include using recycled fixtures and materials. You can also only tile around showers and baths or do a half wall. A fresh lick of paint on the rest of the walls can look as spectacular as full tiling.

Bedroom Renovation: $21,000

According to Fixr, the average bedroom remodeling cost is around $21,000. The range drops as low as $7,000 but can be as high as $70,000. $14,000-$40,000 seems to be where most master bedrooms fall.

This includes big jobs like:

Heaters
Moldings
Carpets
New windows
New door
New lighting and possible rewiring work

As you add items that aren’t part of the structure like beds, wardrobes, etc, your price goes up. The key to managing apartment renovation costs is to understand what you need and want. This helps you control the budget and not overspend.

Living Room Renovation Cost: $7,270

Rooms like your living room that don’t have many fixtures aren’t as expensive to do up. For the most part, you should be able to do a lot of the work yourself, as you won’t have gas or plumbing to worry about.

If you’re on a small budget, even a fresh coat of paint can give the room a new lease on life. But for fuller renovations, the average living room renovation cost sits at a range of $6,705 – $7,823 with a mid-point of $7,264.

HGTV goes further, recommending that you set aside an extra 10% of your whole living room budget. This is to cover the items that you end up forgetting once you get to the end of the project or as you go along. To be fair, this is great advice for any room you’re renovating.

Basement Renovation Cost: $18,400

HomeAdvisor suggests that the average cost based on a 400 – 1,500 square foot basement is $18,400. At the higher end for the larger basements, you’re looking at $34,000. For the smaller end of that scale, it could only cost $2,800.

It will depend on the size of your basement and the state it’s in already. Adding flooring and drywall as well as insulation to an unfinished basement adds up. It costs to make an unlivable space habitable.

Fixr put the average cost of a 900 square foot basement at $50,000. This goes to a high of $100,000 and a low of $25,000 with most basements sitting at $27,000 – $81,000.

Building an underground cinema in your home will cost more than turning it into a spare bedroom. So, it will also depend on how high-end you want to go and what purpose your basement will serve. But turning a basement into a functional part of the living space is one of the best investments you can make as it increases the size of your home.

Attic Renovation Cost: $49,438

The average cost of finishing a remodel on an attic sits at almost $50,000. But there are huge variations to this, depending on the size of livable space you can add.

To add a bedroom in your attic space, Houselogic put the total cost at around $75,000. While this might make your head spin and your wallet close, that extra bedroom can add value to your home. You could get half of those costs back if you were to sell.

5 Tips to Lower the Cost of Renovating an Apartment

For your upcoming apartment renovation, here are some easy tips on how you can cut the costs down.

1. Increase the Space’s Efficiency Not the Size

If you focus on reorganizing space to equip it for the most function and utility you might not need extra space. This is a great tip for smaller homes like apartments, where adding square feet often isn’t an option.

Start by getting rid of shelves that hog space and use cabinet height pull-out drawers instead. They should be about 8 inches wide, with racks so you can use them to store dry goods like cans.

Think horizontal to make the most of the space available to you. This could double or triple the amount of usable space in any room. It’s easy to spend thousands on more cabinets, pull-out pot trays, and bespoke wine racks. But, you can save even more by skipping on frivolities you don’t need especially if you need to add space to get them.

To add 200 square feet to a kitchen, you’re looking at anything between $48,000 – $95,000. To design efficient, bespoke cabinets that make the most of the available space, it’s about $35,000. This could save you up to $60,000 on your renovation budget!

2. Get More Natural Light Without Creating Extra Windows

Adding windows is an invasive process. You’ll need a structural assessment as well as proper supports depending on the size. But this isn’t the only way to get more natural light, so consider the options before you cut a hole in the wall.

If you have a windowless bathroom or hall consider a light tube. They sit between your roof rafters and will funnel light down into the space. Making a new window can cost around $1,500 but installing a light tube is only $500. If it works, you could save $1,000.

3. Make Use of Your Contractor’s Resources

For things like flooring in your kitchen or any other room, ask your contractor if they have any cast-offs from larger jobs. This is a great way to source flooring like hardwood for a higher-quality finish.

While they might come in different sizes and shapes, if you get enough it’s easy to uniform them. This is something your contractor could do by planing them to a uniform thickness and length.

The cost of a new floor could average out at $19,200 but it could be as low as $10,500 to use the cast-offs of another job. This could be a huge saving of around $8,700.

4. Don’t Move Your Plumbing

If you can avoid it, don’t move any plumbing. Often, one of the biggest costs comes when a sink or toilet, or bath needs moving.

If you need to move a toilet more than 3 feet, for example, it’s $500-$1,000. It costs nothing to leave it where it is, so that’s an immediate saving.

If your new layout does need these items moved, then upgrade your pipes too. In the long run, it’ll save you money, especially if they’re already old.

5. Plan to Use Stock Sizes

Ask yourself whether you need something that’s 5ft wide if the plywood is in 4ft sheets. The same goes for windows and doors, do they need to be a bespoke size? What will this actually add?

If you use the stock sizes manufacturers make, you can get these items off the shelf. This will save you the cost of needing to have bespoke designs made up.

Custom doors can be as much as $2,500 for example, but a standard one is often no more than $800. When you’re replacing all the doors in the apartment, that soon adds up.