My Cabin: Budget Renovation

The renovation of our two-bedroom, 1930s cabin near Lake Algonquin in Wells, N.Y., involved gutting the place completely, raising it a few feet, and adding a 340-square-foot screened porch and a master bedroom. The entire renovation was held to a strict budget. Here are a few ways Frank, my husband, and I saved money during the project:

• Smart shopping. We replaced most of the windows and the sliding glass door with used Andersen windows that we found on Craigslist for $400. All of the furniture (except for the mattresses) and appliances were found at garage sales or on Craigslist, and a few items even came from the local dump.
• A hands-on approach. We spent a lot of our time refinishing and repurposing our many finds. Our family and friends helped us with the gutting and the building of the addition. Frank did all the detail work and made most of the Adirondack furniture pieces. (He enjoyed it so much that he started his own rustic furniture company.)
• Shrewd negotiation. We did a lot of bartering with friends to obtain our furnace, septic system, kitchen cabinets and some landscaping at little or no cost to us. 
• Multiple material sources. All of the knotty pine wood for the interior was purchased from a local mill at very reasonable prices, and the loft railings are made out of pieces of wood that were found in the woods around the cabin and near our primary home. 
• Return on investment. We also rent the cabin out whenever we aren’t using it ourselves.