Our First Little House, Living and Renovating.

An ongoing personal renovation that we started years ago. Once you start these jobs for yourself it seems you never ever finish one section before you want to do another.

I am from a very hands on family, dads an electrician, twins a builder etc I was brought up like my brothers. Anything they can do, so can I.

As soon as I had time off to have babies I became a stay at home mum and began renovating myself. I have learnt how to demolish, build walls, gyprock, paint, render, tile, design, deck etc from the ground up.

This is a story of my little house. Most images are very old but will tell you a story of what we have come from.

My husband is not into renovating at all. He has a go though and has helped me so much. He also plays guitar for me while I'm working AMAZING.

Three Bedroom Colonial Style Home

Built by Allam Homes originally in 1993 as a two bedroom home, one three way bathroom and a single car garage.

The Original Plan

Here are the before photos for you.

The Back Yard

Purchased in 2002, the property was neighbored by homes either side with nothing behind but paddocks and bush land. The home was converted to three bedrooms for sale.

We planted this hedge years ago, and thank god we did. We had no idea The Ponds was coming.

The rear laundry door and window. (Michael mowing in his PJ's)

Pergola

Side Access

The Entertaining

This area was a small pergola and really sparse landscaping.

Entry to the home a standard 820mm colonial four panel door and basic diamond security screen. The small portico had a painted concrete floor. All façade windows include decorative colonial bars to windows. (now removed)

The front door was cramped and small.

Nib wall provides privacy to entry, entering through to lounge.

Proposals were drafted to expand the home.

Increase garage to double, add rumpus behind garage, add master bedroom and ensuite to the rear and move laundry. Provide deck and landscaping for outdoor living.

Complete re-design was considered and I drew it up using Auto CAD.

After reviewing design options the land to house ratio was un-inspiring and we opted to keep yard instead of increasing the footprint. Alternatives were implemented as future plans to keep home as an investment property were desired.

The original U Shape Kitchen had Laminate bench and cupboards (No pantry).

Lounge through to Kitchen.

The homes design did not make any feature of the back yard, instead leading to the small side patio.

New appliances and pantry were a small addition until future plans were solidified.

Bathroom re-design

Three way bathroom and linen cupboards were removed to allow for spacious open bathroom with a 1700mm bath.

Three Way Bathroom demolition was started.

The more modern and open bathroom was a sucessful instalation.

The 1700 bath is used frequentlly. I would never go smaller than that now.

The toilet was not a great quality one and I regret scimping on it now. The shower was installed last and if I could do it again I would make it a double.

Moving the Front Entry to replace the lounge window to create a nicer open lounge and entry to the home comenced.

By removing the window we made an opening for 1200mm wide front entry door and sidelight. Demolished internal nib wall to increase the lounge room livable space.

Creating a linen cupboard with the old front door way. We bricked it up and added shelving. William wanted to move in.

Including an internal garage door and incorporating natural light and privacy by using translucent glass for privacy.

A floating floor was layed.

Rendering

Cement render was applied to change the style of the home and to tidy up the newly bricked sections. We rendered in stages. Front and garage side and then the rear and side.

Front entry change meant a portico needed to be designed for protection from the weather.

Portico Added

The home was painted to suit existing colours until further renovations were made. The Timber deck and roof were added to change the main focal point of the front façade.

Dining Area

The four seater dining table was to large for the space and very difficult to maneuver. As the family grew the kitchen and dining were becoming an issue for storage,size and functionality.

Garage into Studio

With renovations impending we needed additional living space. We removed the roller door and replaced with recycled timber French doors (thanks Sally x), gyprocked walls and added carpet tiles to allow this for use as a temporary usable space.

My builder and electrician have proven invaluable to me. I gyprocked and built the walls myself. This is my dad and my twin brother hard at work.

A new room was created and can be easily rerturned to a garage by removing the carpet tiles for future tenants. Michael now uses the garage as a studio/man cave.

Kitchen Inspiration and design, research began.

Using 3D Ipad apps I drew up the space and shuffled the design to allow for the largest amount of storage and seating for four incorporated into the kitchen layout, robe to bed 2, laundry and indoor outdoor living.

Laundry and kitchen were demolished by us.

I had so much dust and dirt in my hair. It is really hard work.

Plumbing capped off and electricals taped up.

Kitchen packed up and a temporary kitchen was set up in the garage.

Windows removed.

What a mess! That's Noel ready to jump in and build this new kitchen.

Hinged laundry Door and window were the last to come out.

Half of the house was missing when I came home from work one day, Michael was so proud of his destruction. We promptly got the supports in though.

Windows and Doors

Glass splashback window and stacker doors ordered, delivered and installed. Big thanks to Mid-City Windows, Kevin and Simon were fantastic.

My fantastic builder Bryan Dunlop installed the window and stacker door. We were held together with plastic.

This is a view from the lounge room looking to the back of the house. As you can see it is a nicer outlook already.

The tiles were next to come up, a very long and messy job that I did.

We did this ourselves to save money, used a machine from Kennards Hire. The dust from this destruction went EVERYWHERE! One thing about living in a renovation you never feel clean.

Kitchen Sketches done by Noel Drew our cabinet maker. Noel is an invaluable member of this team. He helped me and tought me as much as he could. We went through materials and products together and he let me build the kitchen with him. I now have a fantastic understanding of how a kitchen is put together. I have a running tally of exactly how much a kitchen costs.

We purchased our appliances on Grey's online and had them delivered. They had no boxes and the back of my oven has a big dint in the casing but it's surface damage. We saved big time doing this. I can't go passed the induction cooktop it's a dream to cook on (so Michael tell me haha)

Bedroom walls were brought forward to include a robe to the middle bedroom.

Cabinets and then stone before we got the tiling installed. The stone was from a stone mason in Kings Langley. His pricing was fair and his workmanship is outstanding, Young-An Stone.

Tiling was laid, we used a company called Bathroom Elegance and Steve was so professional and fast. He understood that living and renovating with kids meant he needed to work toward timelines and be as tidy as possible. He also did our bathroom for us previously and it's true that once you find a great tradesman you will have him for life!

Today this is the current kitchen and laundry.

We added so much storage to our home. the splashback window means I can watche the children and look at my garden when im sitting at the bench.

Pot drawers are so fantastic in any kitchen and I can empty the dishwasher straight into these drawers. it works wonderfully.

Those doors on the left of the fridge house my washing machine, tumble dryer and shelving for my lights, darks and coloured's. I don't spend much time in the laundry so I opted not to have a room dedicated to it.

The cooktop and the sink are on the back wall as it was important for me not to have to see the dishes on the sink as soon as I walk throught the front door.

Next to come was the Pergola. We wanted to keep the natural light and ventilation. The Pergola and deck were to wrap around the back and side of the home. I used a company called Prestige Pergola's. Tony was outstanding and so incredibly neat. We loved having him in our home and highly recomend him.

We used Merbau decking and Michael and I installed this ourselves. The finished product has changed how we live in this little house. We do a lot of our living outside and are entertaining again!

With the changes to the home and the building surrounding our property we had some drainage issues and have had to dig out trenches and divert the water. Our landscaping is now complete and the grass has been levelled.

Today this is the backyard.

The External Colours used for our home were Monument, Shale Grey and Surfmist by Colorbond and Miss Molly by Taubmans for the render.

The front of the home currently looks like this.

When renovating your own home, you are never finished. I love to re-decorate, re-paint and better our home. We have changed this home so much over the years and I have learned so much and many new skills.

I've cried many times, been frustrated and beyond tired. I've given in and had weeks that I have done nothing at all but enjoyed my husband and children.

The people in my life that have supported and helped me are an invaluable part of my life. This is my passion and I hope it shows you just how much renovating can be fantastic!

*Edit 2018

We have now rented out our little lady and we hope our new tenants enjoy her as much as we did. A young family is moved in and it is lovely to think they will grow here as we did.