Building ideas for a family's home renovation

When this family wanted more room, they took the DIY approach to building ideas, creating a practical home extension the whole family loves. You don't need to be an expert to renovate your home, but a little inside home renovations knowledge can help you avoid the pitfalls.

Although Mandy had never renovated before, she and her partner happily bypassed using an architect when it came to building renovations to extend their own home.

"We've got four kids ranging from nine to 14, so we really wanted to create more space," she says. "The indoor extension is definitely our main living area now."

Using a draftsman to draw up the family home's plans, Mandy also picked up some ideas from others along the way. "Although we didn't use an architect, I did rely on the interior designers from Beautiful Room to help me," she reveals. "They gave me some great ideas, and you really need someone experienced in building to help you through.

"For example, there was a massive beam that went across the ceiling that was going to cost a lot to remove, so we decided not to. But Beautiful Room convinced us otherwise, and I'm so glad, as it's really opened the place up."

The living area is now made up of a living room, kitchen and casual dining area and looks out over the tennis court and swimming pool. With strong northerly light coming in the kitchen windows, the living room is comfortably casual and practical.

"When we moved in, the house was very Scandinavian and minimalist in design and there were tiles on the floor, which I hated," says Mandy. "We replaced those with floating floorboards, but as we have hydronic heating under the floor, the boards began to expand and contract. The solution was to go back to tiles, which actually work really well."

Due to structural considerations in their home renovations, a small section of wall had to be retained, which now functions as a handy work space accessible from the kitchen. "We keep our computer and printer and all our papers there, which makes it really handy, but you don't see it from the living room," says Mandy. "It was a really practical way to make this wall, which we had to keep, more functional."

In pride of place on the living room wall is a colourful and fun painting of the old St Kilda pier, by artist Greg Irvine. "We were living in Sydney when we bought it, and it was a nice reminder of Melbourne," says Mandy. "Now we're back, we still enjoy it."

The sleekly designed storage unit along the far wall is one of Mandy's favourite pieces of furniture. "I love this unit; not only does it hide everything, but it really looks great," she says. An antique cabinet in another corner acts as a display case for some of the children's drawings and cards.

"I'm really pleased with how the renovation has turned out. I wanted everyone together, and now we spend a lot of time in the family home," says Mandy.

Mandy, owner and designer

Why did you decide to go your own way with the extension?

We did consider using an architect, but having discussed our ideas with a couple of builders, they suggested using a draftsman. With the help of Beautiful Room, we were able to create a main living area which is a joy to use.

How big was the actual extension?

The kitchen area ended at about where the island bench is, so the dining area is new. The actual living area already existed, but is now much more accessible from the kitchen.

Were there any major problems you encountered?

Probably the biggest decision in this home renovation was whether to remove a large supporting beam, as it was going to cost a lot to get rid of. In the end, we were advised to get rid of it and I'm glad we did. If it had stayed it would have been really unattractive and blocked quite a bit of light, so it was well worth the expense.

What's your favourite piece of furniture?

I really love the unit running along the back wall. It stores all the DVDs and CDs and lots of the children's bits and pieces and it looks great. This type of furnishing is perfect for a room that is used so much.

The paintings are lots of fun, do you buy much art?

Not really. But we really love the old St Kilda pier painting by Greg Irvine. The other paintings are by Noosa artist Gordon Richards and again are really fun for this space.

Did Beautiful Room help much with the decoration?

They were wonderful. Lots of the pieces in here and in other parts of the house were their idea. Beautiful Room were great with their advice on family homes; they really helped guide us.

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