Making the best of a small home on a tiny budget

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When people think about buying a vacation home, they don’t usually think of purchasing a duplex. But that’s exactly what Bradenton-native couple Neal and Vanessa Finelli did when they bought a Sarasota duplex to act as their weekend retreat. Now, not only do they have an easy escape from the daily routine, they also have an income-producing property.
 
Vanessa wasn’t impressed with it originally, however. It had a new metal roof but the outside was a little dingy and the kitchen was cramped. There was already a long-term renter living one side, though, and after talking it over the couple decided to buy it for its $165,000 asking price.
 
Renovating with $3000
 
The catch was, Vanessa only wanted to spend $3000 on its renovations, which is a drop in the bucket when it comes to most home remodels. She lucked out, though, because the floors didn’t need replaced, which expense could have easily swallowed her little budget whole. But there were still furnishings to be purchased and a kitchen to be revamped, a task many homeowners would say couldn’t be done with such little funds.
 
“My feeling is that with a big enough budget, anybody can renovate and style a home successfully,” said Vanessa, who besides being a DIY renovator is also an artist. “But it takes someone resourceful to do it with practically no money, using repurposed furniture and accessories from garage sales and big-box stores.”
 
Creative furnishings
 
For a bed, Vanessa purchased two twin mattresses and pushed them together to make a king. She shopped sales at Lowe’s for area carpets and chose a futon as a couch and hideaway bed for the second bedroom.
 
And in the living area, they got lounge chairs with matching ottomans instead of a couch, because, as Vanessa explained, “this arrangement provides us with the greatest flexibiility when entertaining guests. And when dealing with a small space, furniture that is multi-purpose, versatile and flexible is what you want.”
 
Reconfiguring a small kitchen
 
The kitchen was the biggest budget drain, of course. They had to reconfigure the cabinets and plumbing to make space for a dishwasher and they replaced the countertops and repainted the walls and ceiling. To deal with the cramped galley configuration, Vanessa removed the bank of upper cabinets on one side and the doors on several of the cabinets of the other side.  The result, she said, was, “Now the kitchen is pleasant and feels roomier than it actually is. Paint helps a lot, too as well as art.”
 
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Source: realestate.heraldtribune.com/2015/01/03/renovating-style-tiny-budget/