Quick Home Renovations For Chinese New Year — That Cost As Little As $650 — To Consider

The quickest way to give your home a dramatic instant makeover? Changing up the flooring. And nope, that doesn’t have to involve hacking your existing tiles and re-laying new ones. Instead, the experts at RenoTalk suggest overlay flooring. Opt for vinyl surfaces for bedrooms, which are more economical and involve minimal hassle. Bonus: You don’t need to get special permits to do an overlay like you would if you were to go for hacking your existing flooring. And it takes as little as one day to complete, which is great if you’re busy prepping for CNY — ’cos ain’t nobody got time for renovation hassle when there are pineapple tarts to hunt down.

Photo: First Dot Design Pte Ltd

The fix: Overlay existing kitchen flooring with vinyl
Area covered: Interior designers and contractors typically charge a minimum floor area of 150sqft and above for it to be economically viable for them to take on the project.
Estimated time required: 1 day
Estimated cost: $750-900
Photo: Absolook Interior Design

The fix: Overlay living room and bedroom flooring with vinyl
Area covered: Living room and three bedrooms, or about 700 sqft
Estimated time required: 2-3 days
Estimated cost: $4,900-$6,300

The fix: Overlay bedroom flooring with vinyl
Area covered: Three bedrooms, or 350-450sqft
Estimated time required: 1 day
Estimated cost: $1,400-$1,800

Photo: Absolook Interior Design

The fix: Overlay toilet floor and wall tiles
Area covered: 2 toilets (based on number of toilets rather than square footage)
Estimated time required: 5 working days
Estimated cost: $1,800-$2,300

The fix: Overlay toilet floor tiles only
Area covered: 2 toilets (based on number of toilets rather than square footage)
Estimated time required: 1 day
Estimated cost: $650-750 per toilet

Photo: My Reno Diary

You may have moved on from the ’80s but your kitchen cabinets or wardrobes still look like they belong on the Stranger Things set. Maybe that pretty pink wardrobe was great for your daughter when she was a kid, but she’s allergic to anything pretty now that she’s in her teenage goth phase. A quick and easy fix: re-laminating your cabinets to change things up is your efficient, budget-friendly option. This will work if your existing cabinet structures are well-built and less than 10 years old. Laminates usually last for 10 to 15 years, so no hurry to get her out of the goth phase.

Photo: Absolook Interior Design

Estimated time required: One week
Estimated cost: $80-120 per door panel
Care tips: Wipe using cleaning agents that are less harsh, such as baking soda mixed with water, or eco-friendly cleaning solutions.

Photo: Absolook Interior Design