What’s harder: living in your home during a renovation or living on the other side of the world during a renovation? Mika and Brian Kleinschmidtthe hosts of “100 Day Dream Home” seem to believe the former.

In the fifth season episode “Overseas and Oversees,” the Kleinschmidts work with Nina and her mother, Aprilwho currently lives in Germany.

After living abroad for six years, April is moving back to her home in Clearwater, Florida, to live with her daughter. But first, the outdated house needs renovations.

To make the project even more complicated, Nina tells Mika and Brian that she wants to live in the house during the extensive renovations to save money, even if she (and her two cats) have to make do on a camp bed and sipavoid plumbing work.

Mika and Brian’s team renovates the kitchen and living area, converts three bedrooms into two bathrooms, and even adds a powder room. It’s a lot of work, but they manage to stay within the $175,000 budget. And the best part? They’re finished a week ahead of their 100-day schedule, meaning Nina and April can enjoy the house much sooner.

Read on for tips on how to get a renovation done quickly, with plenty of design ideas the whole family will love.

Color is a quick, easy upgrade

The Kleinschmidt family’s clients want to finish this house quickly so that April can move back home and Nina doesn’t have to live on a construction site for too long.

So it’s no surprise that Nina says the exterior doesn’t need any major changes. She does, however, suggest a new color. Mika is happy to find a color that will cover the home’s faded yellow, and ultimately settles on a light teal. It gives the home a beachy look that the HGTV star considers more “Florida.”

When April finally sees the house, she is thrilled by the sight.

“The yellow was – it was OK, but this is much more my personality,” she says.

It shows that sometimes small changes can have big impacts.

Tri-coloured cabinets look great – and don’t need more time

While the exterior renovation is relatively quick and easy, the interior is a completely different story. April is a cooking teacher and desperately needs a new kitchen where she can cook without any problems.

So Nina helps Mika and Brian design a spacious kitchen with a huge island and plenty of storage space.

This kitchen is so important to April that she plans a trip from Germany to Florida to help with the design decisions. During the visit, the homeowner decides on not just one, but three Cabinet colors for this room.

A three-tone cabinet design may seem over the top, but Mika knows that the mix of wood tones, white and blue gives the room a dynamic look.

Ultimately, April is thrilled with the space and the tri-colored cabinets.

“We’ve used two tones a lot before,” says Mika on the day of the unveiling. “But I have the feeling this will be the new trend.”

Make your wardrobe an eye-catcher

Nina decides to save money and live in the house during the renovation, which is difficult because the team has to work on almost every part of the house – even her bedroom.

Before the demo, Nina shows Mika and Brian their overcrowded closet that just wasn’t working for them. The couple decides to use the closet space to expand the bathroom and add a new closet that takes up an entire wall.

As if the storage space wasn’t enough, the team added sleek gray doors to give this space a beautiful focal point.

“Gray provides a bit of contrast,” says Mika when the room is finished.

“And it still fits with the rest of the house,” adds Nina.

The chic solution offers more storage space and style and creates space for a larger bathroom. A new cabinet is a hit!

Prioritize space for another bathroom

Before the renovation, this house had three bedrooms and two bathrooms. While one large en-suite bedroom and two smaller bedrooms might work well for a family with children, this layout isn’t ideal for a mother and adult daughter. You may be wondering: Who gets the master bedroom? Who has to stay in the smaller room?

Therefore, Mika and Brian suggest that Nina and April would be happier if they converted two of the bedrooms into one large bathroom, creating two master suites.

It’s a smart decision that gives both women their own space. And to sweeten the deal, Mika and Brian find space for a powder room so guests don’t have to walk through a bedroom to get to the bathroom.

“This used to be part of a bedroom, but it seemed more sensible to convert it into a guest bathroom,” says Mika, showing the new bathroom.

This house may have one less bedroom, but it has one bathroom, and that makes much more sense for this family.

Choose tiles that are easy to clean

Nina’s bathroom is in dire need of renovation. On the first tour, she tells Mika and Brian that both the toilet and the shower are broken, so this bathroom is now just a “handwashing station”.

So the HGTV stars are planning to gut this space. When it comes to the shower fixtures, Mika has one important piece of advice for you. Nina wants accent tiles to match the plain white tiles, but when she considers elaborate mosaic options, Mika dissuades her.

“Think about how easy it will be to keep it clean,” she says. “And sometimes, as beautiful as these mosaics are, grout can make it a nightmare. I don’t want to do that to you.”

Nina seems grateful for the tip and finally decides on a simple but beautiful blue tile.

A bonus? This tile is in stock and ready to be installed on the shower wall, so the bathroom can be completed as quickly as possible – and Nina can enjoy it.