Nasty is not a word that springs to mind when visiting Lisa Grand and Andrew Grant's newly renovated, 1960s-era bungalow in Riverside Park South. From its meticulously executed stone elevation to the open concept living and dining area and bright basement apartment, "handsome" seems a more fitting term. And at only $55,000 to overhaul the main level and install a complete rental suite below grade, name-calling seems downright unfair.

But, says the couple, when they bought the place last year, it had a nasty old rec room in the basement, an equally unpleasant front entranceway leading to boxy rooms, and walls so impregnated with cigarette smoke that, when they were washed, nicotine started cascading down the surface.

Renovator

"Really nasty," says Grand. "I just thought, 'Oh, God, what have we done?'"

But Grand, a broker with Sutton Group Premier Realty, and Grant, a former construction supervisor with a major firm and now an independent contractor, had long wanted a bungalow that they could rent out for a few years and eventually retire to. They also loved the generous 51-by-121-foot lot with its big, open backyard.

The couple dug in for four months, applying elbow grease, a shared sharp eye for a bargain, and free ideas from their designer pal Dalma French on everything from floor plans to paint selection.

They've wound up with a dandy space without spending a fortune. Better yet, tenants have already rented the two-bedroom basement suite with its separate entrance, and interested parties have been busily checking out the upper level.

The duo is especially tickled with the new kitchens and bathrooms both upstairs and down.

For those rooms, Grand and Grant turned to online classified sites and Habitat for Humanity's ReStore. They scooped up a mountain of solid oak kitchen cabinetry ($1,800) from one home, an IKEA kitchen ($800) at the ReStore and a drop-dead gorgeous travertine marble table ($700) from another spot. The top of that table has been converted into a large and handsome upstairs kitchen island with drawers beneath and enough surface space to feed a small nation's army.

Even with the work of painting and fitting the used cabinetry into its new home, you don't want to think about what all that would have cost new.

The trick to shopping at the Re-Store or online, says the couple, is to check back regularly until what you want appears. Adds Grant, "Know what you want before you buy, and it will look great, not like that Mexican blanket that you look at later on and say, 'What did I do that for?'"

They also shoehorned a couple of new IKEA wardrobe cabinets with aluminum-framed frosted glass doors into the space around the upstairs refrigerator. The pullout drawers make the assembly a perfect pantry. "We splurged and spent $800," says Grant.

For the laminate counters and fixtures in the upstairs kitchen and bathroom, the twosome also opted for new, but did it through directbuy.com.Ditto the kitchen's stainless steel appliances. That shaved 35 to 45 per cent off the retail price.

They also used directbuy.comfor the stylish new metal-grilled, double front door with sidelight, new energy-efficient windows, ceramic tile and more.

"I was in charge of the budget and at first I was freaking out because I didn't know where it was going," says Grand with a laugh. But once she started doing the math on new versus recycled, she had both an economic and environmental revelation. "We started out being cheap, but it ended up that we were also doing something good by reusing things."

Those reused things include the solid oak floors on the first floor. The existing flooring was first pulled up, a labourer painstakingly removed the countless nails, and then Grand and Grant reinstalled the flooring. When they relaid it, however, they did so on the diagonal, creating a pleasingly unexpected esthetic and further reducing the home's original boxy feel.

There wasn't enough to redo the entire first floor, so two of the three bedrooms have carpet instead. "It took a long time," says Grant of the flooring project. "We had to stack it all in different lengths and account for damaged pieces. You have to look at every piece and ask, 'Is it reusable?'

"You have to accept that it's not going to be perfect, but you save so much money, and it still looks really good."

In the lower level, which is painted an upbeat white, features like a used bathroom vanity and kitchen sink, coupled with the second-hand IKEA cabinetry, helped keep renovation costs to a minimum.

Grand points with particular pride to the basement flooring, which at a quick glance could pass for ceramic tile but is actually self-sticking Ceramica Natural Concrete vinyl tile by Traffic-Master. Its rounded edges mean it can even be grouted, while its price -- about $1 a square foot at Home Depot -- and lifetime warranty make it irresistible.

It's also an inexpensive way to add a little pizzazz to your home if you're selling, says Grand.

In addition to all this budget-conscious interior glitz, the enterprising couple bumped out the home's original front entrance to make it larger. That meant removing the original stone from the home's front. The stone was saved and, combined with material from two stone fireplaces that were torn out as part of the interior upgrade, was later reinstalled for the home's new elevation.

The work, completed by stone mason Harold Fischer, cost about $2,000 -- a steal at twice the price.

The exterior work in particular piqued the neighbours' curiosity. Some were worried that the renovation would change the character of their traditional community, says Grant, but the newly refurbished home looks as though it's always been there. Communicating openly with neighbours about your intentions and inviting them in to see the progress is key to maintaining a positive relationship, he says. Tell them in advance that there will be some noise and that vehicles will be parked on the street during construction. Just as importantly, "Keep your work site clean and tidy up every night before you finish."

In all, Grand and her partner spent about $12,000 on labour including two general labourers at $25 an hour, painters, the stone mason and a ceramic tile installer. The couple's own countless hours measuring and cutting and fitting, of course, went uncompensated. But that's what made the project not only affordable but also deeply rewarding, says Grant.

"It's really satisfying to transform something like that."