How to “finish” a home’s interior as cheaply as possible?

ME: How to “finish” a home’s interior as cheaply as possible?
We want to build our first home. And although we’d love to have luxury features like ceramic tile and a custom kitchen, we just can’t afford to be extravagant right now. After the home is constructed, we’d like to temporarily “finish” the interior of the home as cheaply as possible and upgrade over the years as we can afford it.

What are some good ways we can cut corners in regard to finishing a home’s interior (fixtures, flooring, appliances, etc)? Any ideas or resources are welcome. Thank you so much.
Thank you ,eskie lover, for the additional information. Those are some very helpful suggestions!

Answers and Views:

Answer by eskie lover
You need to be creative. Check out the second hand appliance stores in your area. Not only do they have appliance that are reconditioned but they also sometimes get overstock and seconds directly from the retailers and manufacturers. Fixtures can also be found in odd places like thrift stores, consigners, clearance at the home improvement stores. (In my own home I have beautiful lighting all of which I didn’t pay over $ 50 for because I got them at clearance prices below what I could even get them for “to the trade”, including chandeliers). Even the hardware I have in my own home came from furniture at a thrift store. I didn’t want the furniture, just the hardware. They sold it to me, I took it off and they still had the furniture to sell for profit even without the hardware. Flooring can be found also on clearance but I found that waiting until the manufacturers change lines nets big discounts in tile, stone and hardwoods. Places like Lumber Liquidators buy out stock and inventory from businesses that are going under and bargains there are even below cost. Big lots does the same and just had laminate flooring on sale this past weekend for $ 19 a box when it retails around $ 80. Tuesday Morning often gets in lever door handles for dirt cheap ($ 5 per) but you may have to go to several stores to get enough for your purposes. If you can envision what you want for a particular space and are willing to accept a variation on a theme, you will be able to find it at your price point if you are patient. Always carry your dimensions (rooms, windows, appliances & fixture openings, etc.) That way you can jump on a bargain when you see it. It does not take a lot of money to live or decorate well.

Answer by designer_girl_76
There are many things you can do and you are going to have to do a lot of prioritizing. Choices will have to be made concerning comfort, budget, aesthetics and more. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Floors:
If your home has a basement with a cement floor, just paint it for now so that you won’t be tracking cement dust around. You can paint it plain, or if you want to devote some time to it you can paint a pattern, faux finis, stencil it, or whatever.
Floors in your living space can be finished with inexpensive commercial carpeting until your budget permits an upgrade, or if nice plywood is being used for the subfloor and you have some talent with paints, paint it. Your final cheap option for flooring is the peel-and-stick vinyl tiles which can often be found for around 35 cents a square foot. They are easy enough to install yourself, so you’ll definitely save on labour with these.

Walls:
This is not the place to think of cost-saving methods. Use good quality 100% acrylic paint. If you aren’t too particular when it comes to colour, you could ask your local paint stores for mis-tints – these are usually sold for less than 1/2 price.

Plumbing & lighting fixtures:
I would start by asking different showrooms in your area if they have any slightly irregular stock they would be willing to sell cheap, or if they could sell you discontinued items (floor models left over from last year) at a good savings. You could also speak to some general contractors in your area and ask if they could contact you should they have certain items to dispose of on a project. The number of relatively new ceiling fans, light fixtures, faucets, shelving units, sinks… that go in the trash each year in North America is quite scary.

Appliances:
Shop second-hand or ask about purchasing floor models or try to bargain if you buy 4 appliances from one store. Many appliance stores don’t advertise this, but if you buy 4 or more appliances from them you can save quite a bit. Don’t be afraid to push your bargaining luck with salespeople. Also shop at less popular times like Tuesday morning at 10:30 when the store is very quiet and sales are slow.

Your kitchen is going to be the costliest part no matter how you go about it. Even cheap cabinets add up in price when you start factoring in handles, counters, drawers, and other such necessities. At least for the washroom(s) you can use a piece of furniture you don’t need anywhere else in the house as a vanity… strategically drill some holes in an old dresser or desk, add a decorative towel bar, and it’s a vanity.

I hope some of this helps get you started. Of course you will have to be creative along the way. Good luck with your project!

Answer by leslie
Eskie lover has some great ideas. To add to her great suggestions, when it comes to buying fixtures for your kitchen and bathrooms, look around on Ebay and online. They have ‘stores’ that sell faucets, towel racks, etc. (brand new in original packaging, warranties, too) at prices much lower than places like Home Depot or Lowe’s. When you find what you like, shop around online and you can get some great deals. We renovated three bathrooms recently and bought high-line fixtures online and saved a ton of money. Same thing goes for lighting, shop online, most have free shipping and they always have clearance sales. Just “google” what you’re looking for and compare prices. Congratulations on your new home:)

Answer by tanyahurt76
Sweetsdecoratives.com has great decorative items.