If you have an older home, your floor plan likely feels relatively closed off. Older designs often favored discrete rooms, sometimes even placing doors between functional shared spaces such as the kitchen and living room. On the other hand, modern designs are typically more open, allowing families to feel less cut off and making more of the home available as a social space.

Renovating your home to a more open floor plan can offer numerous benefits, including increasing your resale value. However, changing the layout of your home can be a major project. If you're hoping to undertake this change on a reasonable budget, these three tips will help you keep your costs under control.

1. Work With a Designer

Saving money means understanding where spending a little more will help control your costs into the future. Major renovation projects involve significant demolition work, and poor planning can allow costs to spiral out of control. Changing your design can be particularly costly once construction work begins and crews knock down walls.

One of the best ways to avoid these unexpected expenses is by working with a professional designer from the start. An expert can guide your design process, pointing out areas where you can save money without compromising your vision. More importantly, a professional designer will help you avoid pitfalls that can delay your project or increase costs during construction.

2. Create a Partially Open Space

Creating an open concept from a traditional floor plan may require substantial structural changes to your home, including knocking down entire walls. While anything is possible with a large enough budget, you may spend more than you'd like. Fortunately, you can gain many of the benefits of a fully open concept by making some strategic choices.

For example, you can remove doors and drastically widen entranceways instead of removing whole walls. This approach will create a free-flowing layout without the expense of major structural changes. Joining only certain rooms, such as removing the wall between the kitchen and dining room, can also allow you to create more functional spaces.

3. Don't Ignore Other Upgrades

While changing your home's floor plan is a massive undertaking, you shouldn't ignore other upgrades along the way. Now is the perfect time to replace your kitchen cabinets, install new floors, or make other changes to create a more liveable and potentially valuable home. After all, what good is a modern layout if the rest of your home still feels decades old?

While adding more to your plate may not seem like a way to save money, it can mean ultimately getting a more cost-effective renovation. By focusing on practical improvements to your home, you can put your budget toward the parts of your home that matter the most.  

For more info about custom home renovations, contact a local professional.