Once Sara and Harley Aish sat down with the Refresh Renovations Consultant, the vision for extending their home became clearer.
The Aish’s main goal was to create a functional family home for a large family. Because they love to entertain, they wanted to see how they could accommodate guests, extended family and a growing family of teenagers.
Working initially with a design brief, our renovations specialists helped the homeowners formulate a list of questions about what they wanted to achieve in the renovation and highlight any potential issues or outcomes for the family. This gave them a clear understanding that helped them negotiate through the more challenging visions and plans for their renovation.
Once the Aish’s knew what they wanted to achieve and had a design brief in hand, they set about creating a modern and functional family home.
“Refresh team came up with plans that would work - not the easiest, as they were working with a house that has been added on too many times over the years.”
With an onsite project manager, the process was clear cut, and good lines of communication meant that when issues or questions arose they were responded to quickly and effectively.
The renovation focused on reconfiguring the layout, and it was decided the home would work much better with an extended living and kitchen area. This meant that the hardworking laundry was moved to a new-built area, so that the area could be extended for an enjoyable scullery area to cater for entertaining large family gatherings.
“Once we figured out how we could possibly do this, we thought, if we’re going to have renovations done, what else would help our indoor/outdoor flow and lack of storage? We decided to have the old doors onto the deck removed and replaced with double-glazed doors that would open out onto the front deck.”
With an extension of the interior spaces came a need to connect the living area to the existing pool and deck. While the changes didn’t sound extensive, it needed to be well considered to complement the existing structure of the home.
“The ultimate goal of blending the old home with the new was achieved by connecting the colour palette of the joinery and paint choices, and the final result is a renovation which is sympathetic to the existing home,” says the Refresh Renovations Consultant.
The existing laundry was moved and the old laundry space became a scullery to cater for much-needed preparation and storage space. Again, this needed to flow with the rest of the home and simple additions, such as floor-to-ceiling cabinetry in light neutral colours achieved maximum storage space.
The extension of the lounge meant the living area needed to be divided into sections to control noise and warmth. This was closed off with beautiful large sliding doors that enables teenagers to have their own space away from adults.
“We have people over frequently, including the many nieces and nephews. We needed to create a more workable space where the kids could do their own thing and the noise wouldn’t impact those in the main living area, as the entire living space was open-plan.”
The modernisation of the home in the form of insulation, double-glazing and restructured footings, meant the home was not only more functional, but also more modern and comfortable. With future-proofing a key focus from the initial briefing stages, well thought-out power point locations and a room-by-room speaker system were installed.
After ten weeks of construction, the results of the much-anticipated renovation speak for themselves. The spatial flow of the new areas, and the ability to use them in a multi-functional way means the energy of the home has shifted. The dark underutilised areas of the home are now designated for storage or living, many with a combined use to suit a large, growing family.
This case study featured on page 70 of Issue 019 of Renovate Magazine. Renovate Magazine is an easy to use resource providing fresh inspiration and motivation at every turn of the page.
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