Inside a 1920s home renovation with Refresh

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The new kitchen features white walls and furniture to contrast with the black tiling.

We spoke to Sandy and Eamonn about their renovation experience with Refresh Renovations.

Before After
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As willing clients to optimise and renovate their home, the brief presented Refresh Renovations with a 1920s home on a 91.8sqm property comprising of two levels with 3 bedrooms, two bathrooms (small master ensuite) and decking out front on the hill. With such elaborate renovations, it was clear that this job was going to be very rewarding. 
“The renovation included extending the master bedroom with a 20sqm spa ensuite, fully tiled floor and walls, with ‘him and her’ basins and showers. The already existing ensuite was changed into a walk-in wardrobe. We wanted to modernise and warm up the house and extend the master bedroom (20sqm) with an exquisite spa room. The entrance, dining, and kitchen areas were opened up and reconfigured. It also included new kitchen and dining room joinery, as well as appliances and tiled flooring.
We loved the idea of sliding windows so the inclusion of new double glazed, sliding windows in the kitchen and lounge to maximize the fantastic views was a must! All our other windows and doors throughout the house were retrofitted with double glazing to ensure better insulation. 
Renovated Kitchen with a tiled splashback

Carrying out the house renovating

Our cosy bathroom downstairs was renovated, with tiled flooring throughout the bathroom, laundry and entrance area. All the other rooms throughout the house were re-carpeted. The deck out the front of our house was strengthened and the balustrade was replaced with frameless glass to maximize uninterrupted views. 
With all this work happening in the house, the project managed to be delivered in two phases, upstairs and downstairs.
We came across Refresh Renovations through television advertisements and commercials specifically on the Living channel. It was important to us when we chose Refresh Renovations to consider company, service, quality and price. We wanted a complete professional package, with a personal touch. This is where the likes of Refresh Renovation specialists Lia, and Charmaine were able to work their magic. 
The team at Refresh Renovations, especially Charmaine Davis, allowed for us to have a positive relationship with every aspect of such a large project. Charmaine was the main point of contact throughout the entire renovation. This was important, as she fully understood our vision, needs and drives with us having full confidence in her to make it work. 
View of the black-tiled stylish bathroom from the master bedroom.
Charmaine invested a lot of time during the design process to ensure the design concept was thorough and reflected the vision. Options were presented, which was very helpful as it gave us different perspectives/alternatives and some good ideas on how to realise our vision. Charmaine guided us all the way along during the selection of products and fittings and we trusted her advice and this saved a lot of time. Final designs were completed once all the key decisions were agreed by us – which we loved!

The renovation design process

Our budget and priorities did not always match and hence there was quite a lot of discussion before we made our final decisions. Having options and alternatives presented to us was helpful in making the decisions. At times, trade off decisions were consciously made.
Our sign off from the Council was just before Christmas day and it took a little longer than we would have liked to start the work due to Christmas break and outstanding final decisions. Unfortunately, the project experienced unexpected delays due to additional design requirements from Council and unforeseen supply issues that impacted the timeline, which was disappointing for us. However, the priority was always on keeping the project moving forward whilst working through these challenges. At times, this required reprioritisation calls and decisions to be made. We were kept fully up to date during the process thanks to Refresh and Charmaine – no problems there.
Sliding windows provide the best ocean view from a modern living room
We would recommend Refresh Renovations and the help of Charmaine Davis to ensure your renovation runs to plan

The benefits of working with a Refresh Renovations franchise

There was so much happening at any point in time, having a project manager managing the workflow, subcontractors and issues was crucial. Lia was the project manager supported by a project coordinator. The team worked very well together although there were a couple of new players.
We had formal project update meetings and were informed on a timely basis when issues arose that required our input/decisions. We were overall very pleased with the end result and how our vision had come to life. 
We were well informed on a timely basis, and were kept up to date where necessary. We had quite a few issues for various things and decisions had to be made quickly to keep the project moving especially towards the end.
Refresh Renovations did a lot of running around for us, managed the professions extremely well and we appreciated the final cleanups which were done personally.
We would recommend Refresh Renovations and the help of Charmaine Davis to ensure your renovation runs to plan with an exceedingly good home at the end. Refresh Renovations are very professional and customer-focused. They have really brought our vision to life and delivered a quality outcome. Homeowners should be aware though that major projects do take time, and that there are often procedures and hiccups that occur, but at the end of the day Refresh managed to ensure our home was as close to what we imagined as possible.”

As mentioned, having a single point of contact is an important part of the Refresh process. Find out more about it here.

See Our Testimonials
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This case study featured on page 88 of Issue 021 of Renovate Magazine. Renovate Magazine is an easy to use resource providing fresh inspiration and motivation at every turn of the page.

 

Get in touch with Refresh to discuss your home renovation project

If you would like to discuss options and ideas for your home renovation, please use the enquiry form alongside to provide us with your contact details. We will get in touch with you at a time that suits you to discuss your project.
*All information is believed to be true at time of publishing and is subject to change.

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This project was completed in
February 2017
.
Project description
Location
Wellington
New Zealand
Client
Sandy Natha & Eamonn Wilkie
Project duration
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Lia Boersma is a Renovation Consultant of Silkworm Ltd, a franchisee of Renovation Franchise Ltd, doing business in Wellington.

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