Even the most inexperienced with DIY will have spent some time down at their local DIY centre or store. The more experienced or addicted, probably spends every weekend or evening down there.

Whatever your level, there are a few things you can do to ensure you get the most out of your trip to your local DIY store. Here’s my top five tips:

1. Most stores will have an array of leaflets offering masses of DIY tips, how to advice, instructions and guidance. Pick up as many as you think will apply in the future and file them at home for when you need them. Some DIY centres will also offer free training classes, usually at weekends. These are excellent for learning the basics or gaining improvement tips. I also know of people who have been inspired for ideas from attending these.

2. The staff at your local DIY store will usually work there because they love DIY. Don’t be intimidated by them: Talk to them, make use of their knowledge and passions. You don’t have to buy anything to receive their advice.

3. Some stock is delicate and may be subject to breakages before it’s even been touched by a customer. A lot of damaged stock is thrown away each year, often just because nobody bought it. DIY stores can limit their loss by selling this damaged stock off cheap, so do not be afraid to ask! Split bags of compost, dented paint cans, broken paving slabs, broken terracotta pieces, wood offcuts are often available at a bargain price. Remember, it’s saving the store on waste collection costs, so don’t feel guilty about asking!

4. Be aware that demand for some items is a lot higher than others. Some nails and screws are regarded as ’specialised’ just because their length isn’t a particularly common one. If you are not after a specific item, look for the common size in the range. You will be able to spot these as they will have the lowest price per packet!

5. I hate to write one against the DIY stores, but it’s true that with a little thought, planning and time, you can make some items yourself, sometimes to a better standard. This often applies to mass produced wooden items like decorative planters. Use the store as your ideas showroom, then go away and search online for similar designs. You can save heaps this way.

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Kitchen renovation can be costly. Not only do you have all those costly appliances to buy, you have to pay for somebody to work out where they are all going to go. And then work out where all the cupboards are going to go around the appliances!

The best piece of money saving advice I can give you when it comes to kitchen renovations is ‘refurbish, don’t replace’. Take a good long look at your kitchen. Try the cupboard doors. Open a drawer. Is it just that you are tired of the tired looking worktop, a drawer doesn’t open and you have a hole in the cupboard door? Those are no reasons for a new kitchen!

Most DIY books will give good instructions on fitting a new worktop (Tip: When cutting, remember to place masking tape firmly along the line you are cutting to help prevent chipping!). The cupboard doors can be replaced, or better still, sanded down and re-varnished in a colour of your choosing. The hole can be filled with a small chip of the same type of wood. Oh, and the drawer probably just needs a new runner. It also goes without saying that a lick of paint can go a long way to improving a room.

Grab a pen and paper and write down all the things you dislike about your kitchen. Include everything. Obviously items like cookers and dishwashers may need replacing, but these are rarely the heart and soul of the kitchen. If the final list, to you, represents a somewhat doable list of DIY tasks, then congratulations, you have just saved yourself a lot of money! All you need to do now is have a glance at some kitchen websites or perhaps some design magazines and choose some styles that you would like to recreate.

Remember the less money you spend on perfecting your home, the greater your overall gain at time of sale!

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With the recent tightening up of mortgage lending and the slowing down of the housing market, a lot of people are looking at renovation and home improvements as a way of strengthening their property investment. It is pretty well accepted that there is no greater way to add value to a home and by carrying out the work yourself, you stand to make a greater gain at the end as the overall costs are lower and property value higher.

Keeping the renovating cost down is not always easy. Some tasks require professional workmanship, often for your own safety amongst other reasons, which can drive the cost up. There are, however, a plethora of improvements to a home that can be carried out yourself and help keep the cost down.

If you are capable with most DIY tasks and are happy to undertake some tasks yourself, you leave yourself in complete control over the tools and materials used, offering further potential cost reductions. Here are my top 3 tips to achieving lower renovating costs:

1.Reuse as many materials as you can. Look under your house. In the garage; the shed. Even other peoples’ skips can hold treasures for your home. Obviously always knock and ask the owner before removing something from a skip! Before you chop up that piece of timber for the fire, ask yourself if it carries any other potential purpose in your home, like, perhaps, skirting repair or even a small shelf. The reusing of any materials already owned, or available free or at low cost, can massively help drive down your renovating costs, so give this some thought.

2.Now, I would never suggest trying to skimp when it comes to purchasing tools. I have had too many heads fall off hammers for that. What I would suggest, where logic prevails, is the purchasing of second hand tools. Check out your local flea markets, you never know what you might find. I recently bought a recently sharpened chisel for $5 NZD (About $2.50 USD) from our local village market. I would also recommend charity shops for any DIY/home improvement books you may want along the way. Popular techniques have barely changed over the years, so it often doesn’t matter whether you’re buying the fifth edition, or the first.

3.Keep doing what you are doing and stay online! The internet is quickly becoming a massive resource for renovating techniques and cost saving ideas. There are plenty of sites out there that can inspire, guide and inform on the job you wish to carry out, so keep your eyes open and remember: the more informed you are, the less it will cost.

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