Years ago, when I was a school teacher and had more time than money, I hired some kids and together we landscaped our new home entire yard. I hired a landscape architect to complete the design, which we followed. I did have cement poured for the patios in front and back; but otherwise, we installed sprinklers, a railroad tie retaining wall, about 40 trees, hundreds of plants and sod. It was a huge job that took two summers to complete. I was young then and had lots of energy and took the time to learn how to do the job right. It was a tremendous amount of work; but our yard looked great once done. Though we don't live there anymore, the home is still there and the yard still looks great; though a little over grown. We probably could have planted half the number of trees and it would have been enough. Remember, plants grow.
I never attempted a major renovation within the home. And today, I have a guy for everything; electrician, plumber, handy man, gardener etc. I am just not that handy with tools and I don't have the time or the energy to take on big jobs. That ship sailed long ago. However, younger people can save a lot of money by attempting small jobs around the house. Of course, the trade off is time. Time you spend doing a renovation is time you don't have to spend with your family. Years ago, when our sons were young, I hired a gardener to avoid spending my Saturdays dealing with the yard so I could spend more time with my family.
But be advised, projects always take longer than you anticipate and usually cost more because you will need to factor in screw-up's. If you don't get it right, most likely it will either need to be done again, or you will call in a professional to get the job done right. If you are handy with tools, you could find doing a renovation enjoyable. There is a lot of information on the Internet to provide instructions and or stores like Home Depot and Lowes some times offer classes. So if you have plenty of time and energy, go for it.
