Category: Jen’s reno

Interiors Addict bathroom reveal: before & after

Post author By Jen Bishop
Post date November 1, 2019
11 Comments on Interiors Addict bathroom reveal: before & after

You know that old cliché about saving the best until last? I think we may have just done that with our family bathroom! This was the last major (indoor) project in our house and it’s been a long wait; 2.5 years to be precise. For quite a while now, it’s no longer been the “Nanna house” we purchased but a really nice house with a terrible bathroom (and WC) and a very average exterior. Now those two rooms are one beautiful, surprisingly spacious, elegant and sanctuary-like space. It’s a dream come true and I couldn’t be happier with it!

I’ve written before about how I’m an anxious renovator. I overthink everything, not least because I’m Interiors Addict, and I shared this whole process with you from start to finish (not just the pretty after photos) so there’s some pressure with feeling like 92,000 people are watching on Instagram and the fear that something will go wrong or it may just not turn out that well!

I picked the Eden back-to-wall bath from Highgrove Bathrooms for the look and soft curves of a freestanding bath without having to clean behind it!

There really was never any question of knocking the WC and (tiny) main bathroom together, although a previous builder’s quote did suggest we’d have to keep them separate if we ever wanted to afford to get it done! I’m so glad we went ahead and did it properly though (and for less money with a different builder), because a bathroom the size it was really didn’t do justice to a four-bedroom family home.

Little details like the ceramic waste in our Duravit basin from Bathe make me happy! We have a gold waste in the bath which matches the Meir tapware.

So we knocked down the wall between them and moved the doorway so it would open into the centre of the bathroom. It still didn’t create a huge space though, and I was determined to have a decent-sized bath (regular readers will know I’m in the tub every single night!), so we needed to make the most of every millimetre of the room (2700 x 2500mm to be precise). I called on the help of my clever friend Kathryn Bamford to get the floorplan just right. It took many many revisions and I’m probably lucky I can still call her my friend! I’m also pretty confident to say (after many sleepless nights about how the 1700mm bath would fit) that we nailed that layout!

The build went like a dream, despite a few hiccups thrown up such as very wonky walls (like everywhere in our home it seems!) that needed a lot of packing out and a lot of old timber formwork under the house getting in the way of the new plumbing, which had to be cut out and removed. What I loved most about our builders was that they always had a solution and having worked on so many other older homes, none of this came as a surprise to them and they were so experienced it made me feel at ease.

The beauty and craftmanship of the vanity and cabinet from Ingrain Designs speaks for itself, not to mention SO MUCH STORAGE!

Having an open shower proved key to the layout working and feeling spacious.

The reno would have been done in an impressive six weeks, but for our vanity getting damaged by a forklift on the way from Melbourne. But listen up folks, six weeks is good! The absolute biggest misconception out there is that bathrooms shouldn’t take as long or cost as much. When you live through one (and this is my second), you see why they take so long and cost so much. You still need to make sure you get multiple quotes though! In the end, ours took more like eight weeks while we waited for the vanity to be fixed and delivered, and then final touches like silicon. As they all say, it was all worth it!

I never knew I could love a toilet, but I love this one, (and its white glass flush plate) from Bathe. I love that it tucks behind the door and when you open it, you can’t see it (but a doorstop stops the door banging into it). The fact it is wall hung gives the illusion of more space and it just, well, blends in!

The tiles couldn’t have turned out any better. I knew I wanted an organic looking, handmade tile and something a little different to the ever popular subway (did them in my last bathroom reno) so I went for a square and white grout. I was visualising walls of white with texture and light bouncing off the gloss finish, and that’s exactly what I got! Keeping the floor tile simple has definitely added to the sense of space. The design of this bathroom was a lot about restraint, like choosing not to have a feature tile in the niches, but instead going for a brass tile trim.

LED lighting in the bath niche and under the vanity (on a sensor so it comes on when you use the bathroom at night) were the builder’s idea but I’m so glad we spent a bit more on these features.

The tapware from Meir was a no-brainer as we have the same in our kitchen, but the shower really is something else!

I also wanted to show you the difference we made to the light in here by installing an Illume “skylight”. There was previously an old skylight in the bathroom. It did the job but it wasn’t exactly a looker! We put in a new, lower ceiling in this bathroom and didn’t have budget to install a real skylight. So we opted for an Illume, which is basically a solar-powered LED light which you can have on all the time and gives the look and feel (and most importantly light!) of a skylight. I am so impressed with how it exceeded my expectations, we’ve put a big one in the hallway too. I’ll share more about Illume in a separate blog post soon.

The Illumes have an isolation switch so even though they’re solar-powered, you can turn them off if you wish.

I have so much more to share with you about the bathroom, including why I chose everything I did, what has surprised me most, the things that were worth spending a bit more on, how to choose a builder and how to live through a reno, but for today I just wanted to share some of these photos with you because hooray, it’s finished!

All the best finishing touches can be found at Oliver Thom

Would I change anything? I actually wouldn’t! Thanks for coming along for the reno ride. I hope you like the finished bathroom and I’m happy to answer any questions in the comments. I’ll be sharing lots more details soon but the suppliers can all be found below. Let me know what you’re interested to hear more about too.

But let’s just remember what this space, as two separate rooms, used to look like. I can barely believe it’s the same!

SUPPLIERS

Build and project management: Coolibah Building & Design

Tapware, shower, robe hooks, toilet roll holder, floor waste, bath plug, all in Tiger Bronze from Meir

Brass tile trim from Tile Stone Paver

Tiles (Avalon Gloss Large Square White and Noosa Matt Travertine Look Grey Tile) from TileCloud

The Oak vanity and Mirror Mirror cabinet from Ingrain Designs

Eden Freestanding Bath 1700mm from Highgrove Bathrooms

Duravit Luv washbowl 600x400mm from Bathe

Duravit Me by Starck rimless wall mount pan from Bathe

Viega Visign white glass flush plate from Bathe

Solar-powered ‘skylight’ by Illume

Frama body wash, hand soap, shampoo and conditioner, Nova2 gold shower wiper and Tiny Frey white resin tray from Oliver Thom

Gold spot succulent pot from Angus & Celeste

Towels: Aura

Painting: Eco Lux Painting & Decorating

Floor plan design: Kathryn Bamford

Photography: Jacqui Turk

My last bathroom reno | The rest of the projects in this house

How long does a bathroom reno really take and why?

Tags bathroom reno, interiors addict, interiors addict home, jen bishop

Competitions House Tours Jen's reno Outdoor & Exteriors

Jen’s deck is summer ready + win my outdoor dining set

Post author By Jen Bishop
Post date September 24, 2019
6 Comments on Jen’s deck is summer ready + win my outdoor dining set

Interiors Addict gets it wrong: Jen’s new living room!

Post author By Jen Bishop
Post date July 5, 2019
3 Comments on Interiors Addict gets it wrong: Jen’s new living room!

Photography by Jacqui Turk

Yes, even an interiors blogger gets it wrong. In fact, I hope half the reason my blog resonates with you is that I’m not a stylist; I’m an ordinary person who has a bit of an eye for a nice room and what works well together, but no design training and frankly, I often make some real dud decisions before I finally settle on something that works. Lucky I’m only let loose on my own home, right?!

You may recall the story of my disastrous blue master bedroom (please buy your sample pots!), but I also learnt from that experience, finally getting it bang on (if I don’t say myself) with the right navy wall colour and the custom fuchsia velvet headboard which set it off like a dream (pardon the pun).

So today I wanted to share my new and improved living room and the story behind how many things I got wrong before I got it right. And I (and my husband) am finally really happy with this room now. It only took two years (and a bit)…

I’m not going to dwell on before photos for the purpose of this post BUT I have to share just this one to show the true scale of the transformation from when we bought. There’s a reason we called her the nanna house, right?

It’s a big room –almost seven metres long– so filling it was always hard. It felt impossible to start with. I even thought about sticking the dining table in there to fill it but we already had a dining room off the kitchen so it made no sense. Getting the floating shelves installed made a huge difference. But our original, L-shaped modular lounge was all up at one end and the room felt really imbalanced. The worst thing though, was how inappropriate it was for entertaining. One L-shaped lounge with no armchairs is not conducive to conversation at all, and whenever we had people over at least one person would end up on the floor facing the sofa! I mean, it’s not like everyone sits in a line when they’re socialising! And there wasn’t really an obvious place for armchairs.

Eventually we changed that modular for two separate couches. Now, we were right in thinking that we needed a three and a two-seater lounge and we waited so long for them to arrive (as you usually have to with sofas). They were so squishy and comfy but they were huge. And even though they could physically fit, they were too big; both physically and visually. Too much couch! Even though everyone loved them!

The style also wasn’t right for the rest of our house. They were very casual and I have to admit my style is bit more (low key) glam. You know me and my gold accents! We really wanted to love those couches and make them work but sadly, they just kept bugging me (not to mention I couldn’t squeeze behind them to open the shutters).

Of course once we changed the couches to these winners, everything else needed to change too, as is so often the way! These are the Adams from Castlery and they’re amazing value. It’s also possible to create a great number of configurations and the best bit? They were in stock for immediate delivery (they’re currently available for delivery by the end of this month, but obviously stock levels are always changing). None of this 12-to-16-week waiting (which is then often delayed longer in reality)! I couldn’t have done it again! And can we talk about the gold legs? They’re so me! They actually came with a choice of silver, black or brass, which is so simple but can make a huge difference to personalising your couches to your style.

We’re really happy with these couches. We won’t be precious about them because we have kids and because they didn’t cost a fortune, but they’re still a great looking and comfy couch for this stage of our lives. The fact they have removable covers was non-negotiable and within a month of getting them, a friend accidentally spilled red wine on one of the seat cushions at a party. Well, I whipped off the cover, washed it on a cold wash, let it dry overnight and you would never know. I’m sure it won’t be the last time and next time it’ll be a child… I’ll admit it has even crossed my mind that if something really bad happened to the sofa, we could just replace one section…

So yes, you can have a pale grey sofa with brass legs in a family home. Why not?!

The previous rug went brilliantly with the old sofas but looked really bad with these. It was also wool and cotton and let me tell you, natural fibres are not your friend when spills and mess are frequent. While this room looks perfect and spotless in these photos, it isn’t always the case, and this poly rug (The Nile Grey Diamond Ivory Distressed from Miss Amara) is not only soft for the kids to roll around on (and us to sit on with them), food comes off it really easily, usually with no more than a baby wipe! I don’t think this rug looks cheap at all but frankly, $671 for a 3×4 metre rug is a steal! I’ve actually just purchased a smaller sized version for under the dining table, which may be a little too optimistic but we’ll see!

The huge Kirsten Jackson print of course plays a major part in the overall look of this room, and I chose the cushions from Sage x Clare, Langdon Ltd, west elm and Rachel Castle to complement it. The other artworks are by Jasmine Mansbridge, Casey Burrill and Celeste Wrona (sadly out of shot). The coffee and side tables and floor lamp (the tall version of my bedside lamps!) are all west elm. The lights are Beacon Lighting but now discontinued, the floating shelves are BoConcept and the wall colour is Greyology 4 by Haymes.

What I learned from getting this room wrong

It’s really important to measure properly for couches. Not just measuring in my opinion, but marking them out on the floor with tape. I think if I’d done this, I would have realised they were going to be too big, both too long and too deep. You can also achieve the same thing by using a to-scale floorplan, even just in pencil.
Couches are an important purchase and they can really set the tone for your living room and therefore the rest of your home. Grey couches with gold feet are so me, and they really work well with the rest of the greys and gold accents in the house.
If you let your kids in your living room (and that’s most of us!), then an easy-clean rug is going to make your life a lot less stressful.

What I already knew and had right

Start with a neutral base (see grey walls, rug and couches and white shutters) and add colour with art and accessories. In my case, I also tend to add gold accents (sofa legs, lights, decor pieces, coffee and side tables).
Sofas with removable, washable covers are a lifesaver with kids (got to say I’ve been responsible for a few coffee spills myself too!).

And if you’re wondering how I keep it so tidy, it’s became the playroom is behind those shutter doors and it is CHAOS. As a side note, I’ve found having a more colourful and bright living room means plastic toys stick out way less!

I feel really happy coming home to this room now. It feels good to have finally got it right, I’ve been much braver with colour than usual and it definitely affects my mood in a positive way, and it’s great when we have people over. I’m also not precious about what’s in it because the things that can get dirty are easy to clean.

I’d love to know what you think and if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

See more of my home.

Tags Castlery, interiors addict home, interiors addict house, jen bishop home, jen bishop house, living room

Jen's reno Outdoor & Exteriors

The folding arm awning which completed our back deck

Post author By Jen Bishop
Post date April 15, 2019
6 Comments on The folding arm awning which completed our back deck

You may have seen our recent back yard transformation with a new deck which gave us a beautiful and practical outdoor entertaining space. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite perfect due to the loss of shade from dismantling the ageing pergola, so we needed a new solution. And it is a Sunway folding arm, retractable awning.

We didn’t think our old timber pergola was in too bad shape, but it seemed shortsighted to build a brand new deck around it so we decided to remove it and, when we did, we found out it was actually pretty badly weathered in places so it was just as well! With it gone, we loved the new open feeling to the space, which seemed much bigger. But we no longer had any kind of roof to protect us from the sun which, in this climate, is obviously a big issue, especially being a very sun safe family with young kids.

We love the option to have the awning retracted when we don’t need it

After some discussion, we settled on a retractable shade solution so that we could have the area totally open with the nice view to the lawn at the end of the deck when we didn’t need shade, and then we could open the awning when we were out there in the sun, especially entertaining friends or just having dinner as a family.

We knew Sunway by reputation so we were delighted to have the opportunity to work with the brand and choose from their range. We didn’t really know where to start though, having never bought an awning before or had a space for one. It was great to have a Sunway specialist come out from the local store to tell us more about the options, what was possible, and how we could customise it to our space and taste. No question was too stupid (I’m sure some were, but they certainly didn’t make me feel bad for asking!) and I found this a really important and useful part of the process.

Obviously, aesthetics are important to me as well as functionality and quality, and I spent quite a bit of time deciding on the broad charcoal and grey stripe design. Our house is not particularly modern so I felt it would suit the traditional striped look, but black and white felt too harsh against the red brick. I’m really delighted with how it looks. It ties in well with the house trim which we recently had painted charcoal, and the grey of the deck.

All Sunway products are custom made to measure to suit your space, so we were able to consider our very long outdoor dining table and ensure the awning would comfortably cover this at four metres long. Because the only place to fix the awning was quite low, under the eaves, we chose the Sunway Fabric Beam model to give us a bit of extra clearance and head height.

We chose a short straight valance to finish off the look, but it also comes with the option of a scalloped valance or none at all.

It’s fully motorised which means we can easily open it using the remote control, and we can even control it from our phones via WiFi using the Neo Smart Blinds app. There’s also a wireless motion sensor which cleverly ‘knows’ to retract the awning if it gets too windy (especially handy if you accidentally leave it open at the end of a party after a few glasses of bubbles, for example!).

The awning install happened just in time for the super hot Christmas holidays which was certainly a blessing. Electricians came in first to hard wire for the motorisation and then the awning itself went up, It was all done in a morning; just a few hours. I couldn’t believe it! And suddenly, we were set for summer entertaining!

We often set up Sebastian’s paddling pool under the awning

We are actually getting a lot more use out of the awning now, with the weather still sunny but nowhere near as uncomfortably hot as in the middle of the summer. The deck has really come into its own the last few weeks and we are so happy with our awning, which really finished it off for us.

For more information

Disclosure: Sunway provided us with an awning in exchange for an honest review of the product and service.

Tags al fresco, awning, deck, folding arm awning, hunter Douglas, jen bishop deck, jen bishop home, jen bishop interiors addict, outdoor, retractable awning, sun shade, sunday

Bedrooms Jen's reno

Room reveal: our master bedroom, take two!

Post author By Jen Bishop
Post date February 27, 2019
4 Comments on Room reveal: our master bedroom, take two!

Photography: Jacqui Turk

Some rooms are more challenging than others. Our master bedroom has been one of them. Big time! Where do I start?! Before we moved in, I hastily picked what I thought was a nice shade of navy from a colour chart as I wanted to get the whole house painted while it was still empty. The first time I saw the colour in real life, it was too late. It was terrible. I mean really bad. I’m talking daycare centre primary blue with a hint of peacock. I could have cried but, rather than admit how badly I, Interiors Addict, had failed, I attempted to live with it for a while and make it work. It did not.

It’s also a really tricky shaped room to work with. It is long and rectangular with a window on the longest wall. The window is so wide and so low, you couldn’t have any bedhead in front of it, and I can’t live without a bedhead. I just can’t. So we had the bedhead against the shorter wall, meaning when you walked in, the side of the bed was directly in front of you, rather than the head of the bed. There must be something about that from a Feng Shui perspective, because I’ve had a bedroom where you didn’t walk in and see the bed facing you before and that also felt all wrong.

With wardrobes on wall three and the door to the en suite on wall four, I was out of options. That room did my head in so badly that we moved out, and into a different bedroom at the front of the house. With a four-bedroom house and one child at the time, we had options! But it meant we didn’t have the en suite which seemed a real shame.

We lived like this for a few months and eventually had the room (destined to be a guest room) painted the perfect shade of navy (Haymes Paint Stormy Blue). If we had to cover up that hideous bold blue, we might as well do it with a dark colour, right?! Then it hit me: if we had a bedhead custom made to fit under that big window, we could probably make it work. Enter: Heatherly Bedheads, who I had worked with before. I had no hesitation that their classic Lincoln design was the way to go, and had been loving the trend for extra-wide bedheads, so it made perfect sense to extend it to exactly the width of the window. When I saw they had a fuchsia velvet called Lipstick, it was like a sign. Regular readers will know I’m rarely seen without my signature bold lip!

Damian took a little more convincing. I mean, who can blame him? When your wife tells you you’re getting an oversized pink velvet bedhead “and I promise it won’t look girly,” you have to wonder. Even I was a little anxious about my choice, but with such dark and moody walls and considering a lot of the bedhead would be covered by pillows and bedsides, it needed to pop. And pop it does!

This bedhead is so bloody perfect, why would you ever think the bed wasn’t always destined to go under the window? If there was ever an argument for a custom bedhead, this is it! So we can now use our master bedroom as it was intended, we have the en suite and it’s one of my favourite rooms in the house. It took a while to get here, but boy, was it worth it!

Those of you who remember our wedding decor five years ago will know navy and fuchsia has been one of my favourite colour combos for a long time! And as for brass accents, well you can never have enough!

It took a while to decide on art, and Damian was right when he said we needed something black and white to pop on the navy walls. When I discovered Secret Weapon Creative, the hardest part was choosing which of Bree’s prints to pick. I’m sure I’ll buy more for elsewhere in our home later.

I’m delighted with this bedroom now. Our old apartment bedroom was a very hard one to beat. It was probably twice this size with amazing natural light and two windows. I resigned myself to never loving a bedroom as much, but this one’s so unique, so reflective of my taste, so bold and with the extra satisfaction that comes with making a challenging room work for us, I think I might just have proven myself wrong!

And, just for fun, here’s what it looked like as the previous owner was moving out…

And here’s THAT blue that was so horribly wrong…

And for comparison, here it is next to the right navy…

Where’s it from?

Paint: Haymes Paint Stormy Blue

Custom Lincoln bedhead: Heatherly Design Bedheads

Navy Audrey bedside tables and Staggered Glass Table Lamps: west elm

King size pillows and pink linen slips: The Pillowslip Store

Navy Abbotson linen sheet and pillowcases: Sheridan

Gold Penny Round Cushion: Castle and Things

Chair: Imported from Jonathan Adler years ago

Brass crab: Mr Pinchy & Co.

Black and white illustrations: Secret Weapon Creative

Door (to en suite) MODA by Corinthian Doors

Door hardware: Bunnings

Plantation shutter: DIY Blinds

Sheepskin: Tara Dennis Store

Pink tassel throw: Kip & Co.

Wardrobe doors: Sydney Doors

Gold winged mini vase: Mari Bray via Etsy

Braided diamond wool rug: Early Settler

Bassinet: Byron Bay Hanging Chairs

More of our home | Our kitchen | Charlie’s nursery

Tags bedroom, interiors addict bedroom, jen bishop bedroom, master bedroom, navy bedroom, navy paint, navy walls

Jen's reno RENO ADDICT

Our “nanna house” reno update and what’s planned next?

Post author By Jen Bishop
Post date January 3, 2019
5 Comments on Our “nanna house” reno update and what’s planned next?

It’s been more than 18 months since we bought our family home on Sydney’s upper north shore and, bathrooms aside, it’s largely unrecognisable from the dated home it once was. Lived in by the same lady for three decades, it was not exactly modern, but it was a great size with four bedrooms, and a decent floorplan which didn’t need changing (although we’re now constantly coming up with things we’d do if money– or over-capitalising– were no object!). Add to the a flat block, a decent, private, backyard and walking distance to a cafe, and the bones were great, although we had no character features to speak of (hello, sixties red brick)!

Anyway, the New Year seemed a great time to recap on everything we’ve done so far. Still on the to-do list is:

2 new bathrooms (yup, they’re bloody expensive!)
A new driveway (also, not cheap)
A new laundry (this is a tiny room behind the kitchen barn door but it’s low on my priority list if I’m honest!)
Skylights
Tiling the front veranda
New outdoor lighting
Air con in the bedrooms
New windows
Turning the garage into a studio

My favourite projects so far have been the kitchen (take a video tour with me here):

and the most recent, the deck:

The flooring was a HUGE game changer for the house as we previously had parquetry, pine boards and, God help us, cork, all at different heights. We are still in love with our Quick-Step laminate more than a year on. Our floor is probably the thing I get asked about the most.

Our new wardrobe doors made a big difference to the bedrooms and we’ve actually changed almost all the doors in the house with Corinthian but we’re yet to shoot them.

My home office was one of the first rooms we did but I’ve increasingly found I just don’t use it! The nature of my job means I don’t need much other than my laptop, with everything stored in the cloud, and I always find myself in the kitchen/dining with the best natural light and proximity to the kettle and the front door when couriers knock! I often have Seb at home (with or without nanny), and for the foreseeable future I’ll have Charlie at home every day too, so it doesn’t make sense to be stuck up at the back of our long, single-story house.

It’s a beautiful room with the best wallpaper ever, but it’s about to be turned into a very lovely guest bedroom with doors out onto the back yard. I’m going to call it the garden suite 😉 Will shoot and share that one with you soon.

We also did Charlie’s nursery this year, although he is still sleeping in our room so it’s currently a very tidy and serene nappy-changing room!

We’ve also changed all the lighting, installed air con, painted throughout, put wainscoting in the dining room, replaced most of the skirting boards, gutted the linen cupboard and put in new shelves, put in plantation shutters throughout, carpeted all the bedrooms, and done a fair bit to the back yard (thank you, Damian!) and the front (including picket fence, painting all the trim and a new house number, but we’re not finished enough to shoot it just yet). The master bedroom has also had a big makeover but is also not quite finished enough to shoot and is currently a bomb site of baby stuff and a bassinet squeezed in!

The living room was one of the first rooms we made over and it’s recently been changed a lot, but here’s a video of the original if you’re interested! We’ll shoot version 2 soon too. And Sebastian’s room has hardly changed at all, which proves it is as timeless as we planned it to be.

What’s next?

The main bathroom is the thing we’ll be saving hard to get done this year so I’m about to start planning that. We may even have a crack at a cosmetic makeover on the en suite ourselves. Then there’s a list of smaller projects we’d like to crack too, especially skylights, but we shall see!

I hope you enjoyed the recap and I’m always happy to answer any questions you have about suppliers or what we’ve done and why.

GET JEN’S FREE EBOOK: HOW TO PULL A LIVING ROOM LOOK TOGETHER

All photos by Jacqui Turk, except Charlie’s nursery, by Sam McAdam-Cooper.

Tags interiors addict, jen bishop home, jen bishop house, jen bishop reno, real reno, reno, reno recap, renovation

Before & Afters Jen's reno Outdoor & Exteriors RENO ADDICT

My new deck: the big reveal!

Post author By Jen Bishop
Post date December 6, 2018
No Comments on My new deck: the big reveal!

Photography by Jacqui Turk

It finally stopped raining long enough in Sydney for us to shoot these photos of the finished deck and I couldn’t wait to share it with you. I also can’t wait to spend as much time out here as possible over the holidays!

When we bought this house, although it needed a lot of work to bring it up to the 21st century, we loved the size, the flat block and the backyard which had both an entertaining area –now decked– and a lawn for the kids. Although we still have a few things to finish, seeing it come together like this makes me so happy. We intend to live here for many years and I am thrilled that we now have an outdoor area that really does function as extra living space and an outdoor room (or two). It’s also brought the exterior up to date in a big way!

My husband Damian and I agree it’s now our second favourite space in the house after the kitchen. This may sound like a half-baked compliment but when you consider it’s not actually an enclosed room, I think it’s high praise indeed!

Although the new Trex deck is no bigger than the paved area was before, it feels so much bigger. This is due to a few things: the planks laid horizontally give the illusion of a wider space, the deck comes out from the French doors at the same height which gives great indoor/outdoor flow, we’ve removed the old timber pergola which was about halfway down, plus the light grey composite deck gives a modern, clean aesthetic.

The addition of the steps down to the lawn give it a really slick, finished look and nicely separate the two distinct areas. They’re also great to sit on and put pots on! I’m really glad I went with the grey colour, Island Mist, of the Trex Transcend decking collection, because it has toned down our sixties red brick house and it looks modern (while still in keeping), light and bright.

Because we no longer have a big back step, we can make use of extra space near the French doors, so we now have two distinct areas: one off the dining room for lounging with a coffee or a glass of wine (this was always my dream!) and the other further back for the barbecue and large dining table for entertaining friends. We can look out onto the lawn from wherever we’re sitting and there’s still room for the paddling pool if needed. What more can a girl ask for (maybe a spa, Santa?!)?

If I had to say what I love best about our Trex deck apart from the aesthetics, it would be the low maintenance aspect. And the fact it is hardwearing means I don’t cringe every time Seb rides his scooter over it or drops food on it, knowing it won’t scratch and I can easily hose anything off it. We’ve had plenty of rain (too much!) lately so I can see it drains well and dries off in the sun. While it does get quite hot under direct sun (we’re getting a retractable awning soon), so does any hard surface, including timber. This is the only minor negative I can find but the many other advantages of a composite deck far outweigh it in my honest opinion. I don’t make habit of hanging around in direct sun anyway!

In a nutshell I am absolutely thrilled with the finished product and the process of having it delivered and built was exceptional. The new deck has massively improved the use we can get out of our outdoor area for entertaining, eating as a family and just simply relaxing, right in time for summer. But we love it so much I think we’ll be out there even when it’s colder, huddled around our firepit!

Our al fresco’s now almost finished with new lighting, retractable awning and vertical herb garden still on the list. The new life that has been breathed into this backyard with our Trex deck make the mortgage repayments and living out in the ‘burbs seem more worthwhile than ever!

And before I sign off, here’s a little reminder of what it looked like when we bought it!

Why I chose Trex

More about my deck build

A new deck and new backyard look in under a week!

Post author By Jen Bishop
Post date November 29, 2018
No Comments on A new deck and new backyard look in under a week!

Following on from last week’s post on why I chose Trex Transcend composite decking for our backyard, today I’m telling you a bit more about the installation process and largely, how quick and easy it was. I only got to witness the first two days of the build before I was off to hospital to be induced and have baby Charlie, nine days late! But Damian left me updated with progress pictures and the best part was getting home with a new baby to a brand new, finished, beautiful deck!

Before we go any further, shall we flash back to what the ‘Nanna House’ backyard looked like when we bought it 18 months ago?

We’ve changed the sliding doors to timber French ones, removed the old pergola and had all that red trim painted charcoal

I know, right?! VERY Nanna! We’ve done a lot out here, including removing the old pergola and reclaiming a lot of lawn from the many little flowerbeds, but I don’t want to keep you all day, so I’ll stick to the decking for the purpose of this post!

The entire build took just 4.5 days, including creating two steps at the end down to the lawn (the most time-consuming part of the build). I was so impressed with how thorough the job was. The guys from Urban Arch really knew their stuff and it all ran like a well-oiled machine! When they told me it would only take a week, I was dubious, but in the end, it took even less! This has a lot to do with the Trex Hideaway Hidden Fastening System which makes install a breeze, within the realm of handy homeowners (which Damian and I are not), so you can even do it yourself!

Everything was delivered by Master Woodturning on day one, who expertly craned the heavy materials over our brand new picket fence!

First, a pest expert came to install a termite barrier around the edge of the house where the deck would meet it.

Termite treatment around the edge of the house where the deck meets it

I have mentioned my termite phobia before, so this gave me extra peace of mind! Then our old red-tiled back step was jack hammered off in preparation for the frame going in, which, much to my excitement, would be at the same level as the back door, hugely improving our indoor/outdoor flow.

You also don’t want a high step from your back door down to your al fresco when you have kids; it’s just asking for trouble. I am so happy to no longer have to worry about anyone tripping off the back step and falling flat on their face!

While all this was happening, we also had our favourite painters from BK Decor painting all the external trim of our house. All the trades managed to work around each other beautifully! I needn’t have worried about them getting in each other’s way or holding each other up!

Next, the timber frame, which was cut to size on site, went in. There was much measuring and cutting of timber and it all looked so pleasingly at right angles! Urban Arch explained that installing on top of pavers with good drainage was actually an excellent base for a deck. We decided against having railings installed, which Trex does offer in matching colours, because they weren’t really necessary at this height and we wanted to maximise the sense of space.

Where the steps will go in where the deck meets the lawn

It was really exciting to see the decking go in, and the space suddenly looked so much bigger and fresher, not to mention the fact it was all finally on one level. Yay! It was then I could really appreciate I’d chosen the right colour in the grey-toned Trex Island Mist, which I’m delighted with and everyone comments on!

I don’t want to share the entire transformation with you just yet (that’s coming next week, post-photoshoot) so these glimpses are just a teaser! Suffice to say we are thrilled and so impressed by and grateful for the great job done by Urban Arch and the amazing end result using Trex composite decking. You’re going to be super impressed when you see the finished look!

Make sure you come back next week to see it all! And if you have any questions, please ask them in the comments.

For more information about Trex, help with planning and budgeting, decking inspiration or to order free samples.

Disclaimer: My deck was supplied to me by Trex in exchange for coverage on this website, though this is an honest review of the product and service.

Tags al fresco, alfresco, composite decking, deck, decking, exterior, grey deck, grey decking, island mist, outdoor, trex, trex company, trex trasncend

Jen's reno Kids Rooms

Baby number two’s modern and unisex nursery reveal

Post author By Jen Bishop
Post date August 1, 2018
4 Comments on Baby number two’s modern and unisex nursery reveal

Photography by Sam McAdam-Cooper

There’s a new room in our house which is calm, serene and incredibly tidy… because nobody uses it yet! I like to leave the door open and gaze smugly at its peaceful perfection, even if the rest of the house is increasingly becoming a bomb site as third trimester tiredness kicks in! It’s our future baby boy’s nursery and I’m thrilled to share it with you today.

Everyone jokes about how the first baby gets the best of everything and the subsequent kids are lucky to get a brand new anything! This second baby was always going to have a nice room though because I obviously love interiors, and baby rooms are so fun and special to create, and part of the getting ready process (although I’m still in denial!). But I have to say, I wasn’t in the crazy rush to have it all finished and perfect before the baby arrives because I know he’ll be in a bassinet in our room for the first few months.

Goodness knows when I’d have got round to actually doing this room because I’m even busier and tireder than I was last pregnancy, so when west elm and Pottery Barn Kids announced their first collaboration it was like a sign! west elm are one of my favourite furniture and homewares brands and Pottery Barn Kids are my go-to for kids’ decor (Seb’s last three rooms, in three homes, have been mostly PBK).

This collab was a chance for me to step outside my uber classic nursery style. I loved the idea of a less obvious nursery look and even though I knew we are having a boy, I wanted to try something more unisex. I firmly believe baby rooms should be calm and serene places, for both baby and sleep-deprived, nursing Mum (and Dad, of course). The colour and the fun can come later when they’re older, and in our house, we’re lucky to have a separate playroom where basically anything goes!

I immediately fell for the Audrey collection with its luxe style, lacquer finishes, brass accents (anyone who has been to our place knows I have a lot of those!) and glam geometric textures. I also happen to have bought the navy Audrey bedsides from west elm recently for our master, so it was like it was meant to be!

The cot is an understated design but its textured end panels and brass legs give it that little something-something. A toddler bed conversion kit is available too if you want to use it later. The three-drawer change table offers smart function with its removable topper that fixes firmly to the back but can be removed as baby grows to be a toddler (or you perhaps decide you want to steal it for your own grown-up bedroom…).

With this statement dresser and cot, I didn’t want to have too much else going on in this room, but I knew I wanted wallpaper, and settled on Love Mae’s Sleeping in the Woods design from Queensland-based Milton & King. It adds that essential bit of whimsy every child’s room needs! Wallpaper is an investment, especially when you factor in hanging it (although this can be DIY-ed if you have the skills, time and confidence!), but a single wall is pretty affordable and makes a serious impact for the money. To give you an idea, this wall required less than two rolls and the labour cost $300.

The Graham Glider chair (a matching ottoman is available too) is ridiculously comfortable and I love the Frankie side table (again, featuring brass) as somewhere to put bottles and all that other baby paraphernalia (let’s not kid ourselves, the plant will soon be moved elsewhere as I clutter it and run out of space!) so I love that it has a shelf underneath too. The Mongolian Lamb Stool (currently on sale) adds some texture and is so cute-looking and super soft.

The white picture shelf (from IKEA) was already there when this was mine and Damian’s bedroom, and it just worked to put it back above the cot so we could safely add some wall art (the frames can’t fall off because there’s a ledge at the front). The gold frames add to the sophisticated theme and we can change them up with family photos, big brother Sebastian’s “art” and prints as the mood takes us. The fluffy white rug feels gorgeous underfoot and adds to the relaxing feel. Anything to make those middle-of-the-night wake-ups more comfortable, right?!

I picked the key pieces for this room and shortlisted some wallpaper options, then happily handed over the reigns to the experts. Jodi Hall, Design Crew lead for the Williams Sonoma brands in Australia, came up with a moodboard which we tweaked together, and she brought it all together on the day of the shoot. I couldn’t have loved it more and it certainly feels more real now the room is sitting there finished and ready!

The brass mirror was a wedding present and before you ask, could not be more professionally or securely attached to the wall (safety first, always!). I wasn’t planning on keeping it in there but when everything else went into the room, it was perfect!

I am so happy with this room. I love how peaceful and uncluttered it is and I’m so happy I went with something a bit different for this baby as I’m not planning on having anymore (famous last words!). It’s so great to have it sitting there ready for 12 weeks’ time (give or take) and even though he won’t sleep in there for a while, we’ll still do plenty of changing, feeding and playing in the nursery.

So, what do you think? I’m happy to answer any questions you have in the comments.

If you’re struggling to pinpoint your nursery or kids’ room style, why not take advantage of Pottery Barn Kids’ free design service?

Disclosure: I was gifted some of the items from this shoot.

See more of Jen’s home

SHOP THE LOOK

west elm x pbk Audrey Convertible Cot in Parchment

west elm x pbk Audrey 3-Drawer Change Table

west elm Frankie nightstand (as side table)

west elm x pbk Graham Glider in dove grey Performance Velvet

west elm x pbk Honeycomb Baby Bed Linen in Horseradish

west elm x pbk Organic Stamped Owl Fitted Cot Sheet

west elm x pbk Unicorn Plush

Pottery Barn Kids Nursery Faux Fur Plush Fawn Rocker

Pottery Barn Kids PBK Blocks

Pottery Barn Kids Jumbo Elephant Plush (borrowed from Sebastian, who has had it since he was born!)

Pottery Barn Kids gold gallery frames

west elm Baby Souk Wool Nursery Rug

west elm Mongolian Lamb Stool in Platinum

west elm Roar + Rabbit Ripple Ceramic Table Lamp in Cool Grey

west elm Spun Metal Planter (borrowed from my living room).

west elm Waffle Weave Throw in Platinum

Pottery Barn Kids Change Table Insert and Belgian Flax Linen Cover

west elm Graphic Printed Basket

Cream and black alpaca wool cushion on chair from Pipsqueak Home via Etsy

Tags Audrey, baby room, change table, cot, graham glider, interiors addict nursery, jen bishop, jen bishop nursery, kids room, nursery reveal, pottery barn kids, west elm, west elm x pbk

Jen's reno Kitchens RENO ADDICT

VIDEO: Jen Bishop takes you on a tour of her kitchen

Post author By Jen Bishop
Post date May 22, 2018
2 Comments on VIDEO: Jen Bishop takes you on a tour of her kitchen

Haymes Paint Chinchilla Fur used in Jen's kitchen

It’s been a few months since we finished our kitchen and I’m still completely in love! We have added a few things, like navy linen blinds, and my next project will be to add a bit more colour and a few more styling elements (that’s for another post!) because it still looks a little too much like a show kitchen (like that’s a bad thing?!).

There’s been so much interest and wonderful feedback on this room and we were over the moon to be featured in House & Garden as a before and after. But pictures only show so much of the overall picture so I thought I’d take you on a video tour to give you a bit of a better idea of the room. I hope you enjoy it.

As ever, if you have any questions about the reno or where things are from that I haven’t covered, please ask them below.

Read the big reveal blog post with photos.

My living room video tour.

SUPPLIERS

Project management: Integriti Bathrooms

Flatpack: Freedom Kitchens Essential range

Flooring: Quick-Step Impressive Ultra laminate in Classic Oak Beige (read more about our flooring choice here).

Handles: Kethy

Appliances: Ilve (read more about our appliance choices here).

My Print Emporium framed canvas in my dining room

Stone: Noble Grey by Caesarstone

Panelling and wainscoting: Easy VJ by Easycraft

Barn door: A plain door covered in Easycraft panelling and black hardware from Bunnings

Sink: Bunnings

Tap: Meir

Stools: GlobeWest

Paint: Haymes Paint Greyology 4 (walls) and Chinchilla fur (panelling).

ALL POSTS ON JEN’S OWN RENO

Video by The Story of Us

Photography by Jacqui Turk

Tags flatpack kitchen, interiors addict kitchen, jen bishop home, jen bishop house, jen bishop kitchen, jen bishop reno, kitchen reno, video tour

Jen's reno RENO ADDICT

My game-changing new wardrobe doors!

Post author By Jen Bishop
Post date May 17, 2018
4 Comments on My game-changing new wardrobe doors!

As regular readers will know, we have been slowly but surely (some would say pretty quickly actually!) updating our family home from the “nanna house” we bought, for a year now. The bedrooms got off to a good start really quickly with carpet, paint, plantation shutters and new lighting. But the wardrobes were seriously letting them down. Until now!

New wardrobe doors in our master bedroom. These are huge wardrobes and the doors have made a massive difference to this room.

Now we can access the spare room wardrobe space so much easier, we’ll be making use of this essential storage! Can never have too much!

Bedrooms are definitely a lot easier and cheaper to refresh than kitchens and bathrooms! But the old wardrobe doors, most likely original from the 60s, screamed DATED. They were wood veneer when we moved in (so much brown!) and we quickly had them painted white which made a big difference but they still didn’t exactly look great.

BEFORE: Seb’s bedroom wardrobes shortly before we moved in.

STOP GAP: His wardrobes looked better painted white but it didn’t stop the door falling off its broken tracks!

AFTER: New wardrobe doors were the last piece in the puzzle of finishing Seb’s room.

The wardrobes not only looked bad, were also really really annoying! In two of the bedrooms, the smaller wardrobes had an excessive three sliding doors which meant the space you could actually access the wardrobe through when they were open was frustratingly small. In Seb’s room they were continually falling off their runners until it got to the point that the bottom track fell out and it was game over. So what great timing it was to be approached by Sydney Doors about working together!

BEFORE: The wardrobe doors in the master were so huge and so brown, there was no missing them!

AFTER: Now they’re a pleasure to look at!

As mentioned, painting the doors white was a decent stopgap but did nothing for the functionality and usability of the wardrobes so we didn’t really use them much. And in under a year, that oil-based white paint had yellowed. Much as we weren’t in love with them, we had so many other competing jobs on our to-do list we didn’t really think about when or how we’d fix them because ripping them out and starting again seemed like such a huge and expensive task. I had no idea it was possible to replace just the tracks and doors.

Sydney Doors, who have been around for more than 20 years, offer the chance to update your wardrobe, or indeed kitchen, for a fraction of the price by simply replacing the doors only. They have loads of designs to choose from and you can have them custom colour matched (ours are Haymes White on White to match our internal doors and trim). They arrive made to your exact size specifications, which is why this works even with decades-old wardrobes like ours, and they’re spray-painted in hardwearing polyurethane with a satin, matt or gloss finish.

A kitchen made over with Sydney Doors doors

There are loads of designs but I was keen for ours to be in keeping with our internal doors and shaker-style kitchen, so the choice was easy. It only takes around three weeks for your doors to be made and then delivered anywhere in Australia. You can then install them yourself or use one of their recommended installers. If you’re not confident of measuring or installing yourself, they definitely recommend you use the services of a professional and can provide a list of people near you.

An installer came to measure our wardrobes and he suggested we replace the three doors in the smaller wardrobes with two for better access. It was the best call ever! They’re so much more useable now. Meanwhile in the spare room, the existing three doors on the much larger wardrobe were replaced with four, which looks so much better.

I am absolutely delighted with the look of our doors, which have transformed and modernised our bedrooms; they really were the last piece of the puzzle. It’s also amazing to actually be able to use them properly. As we all know, you can never have too much storage and this has made a huge difference to us. The whole process from ordering to delivery and installation was seamless and quick and the end results have exceeded my expectations. This is definitely a great affordable option and I hope something I’ve brought to your attention if you didn’t know about it before, as I didn’t.

READER DISCOUNT

Sydney Doors are offering our readers a 5% discount on all painted kitchen and wardrobe doors until 30 June 2018. Simply quote the code IA5OFF when ordering.

Get a free quote by submitting your door sizes at https://sydneydoors.com.au/quote-or-order/ or make an appointment for a measure and quote with one of their referred installers.

Photos by Jacqui Turk.

Tags bedroom redo, budget renovation, built-ins, builtins, cupboard doors, cupboards, interiors addict reno, renovating, storage, Sydney doors, wardrobe doors, wardrobe makeover, wardrobes

House Tours Jen's reno

VIDEO: Tour Jen’s living room

Post author By Jen Bishop
Post date May 2, 2018
2 Comments on VIDEO: Tour Jen’s living room

Can you believe it’s been a year since we moved into our family home and started changing it from ‘nanna house’ to timeless longterm home? I’m going to do one big roundup of everything we’ve done so far (a lot!) and what we’re planning next very soon, but for today, I have a video tour of our living room for you!

Supplier details below but if I’ve forgotten anyone, please just ask in the comments. What room would you like to take a tour of next?

Get my free eBook on how to pull a living room look together!

SUPPLIERS

Flooring: Quick-Step Impressive Ultra laminate in Light Oak Beige

Paint: Haymes Greyology 5

Shutters: DIY Online Blinds

Large artwork behind lounge: Urban Road

Large pink/purple artwork: Christopher Broome

Other artworks: Scott Petrie and Ali McNabney-Stevens

Cushions: Kip & Co, Target and Langdon Ltd

Coffee table: Brosa

Couch: LoungeLovers

Rug: Miss Amara

Lighting: Beacon Lighting

Wall hung shelving unit: BoConcept

Entertainment unit: GlobeWest

Mudroom/hallway hanging system: Willow & Wood

Tags ebook, interiors addict home, interiors addict venom house tour, jen bishop home, living room, lounge room

Appliances Jen's reno RENO ADDICT

The lowdown on all the appliances in Jen’s new kitchen

Post author By Jen Bishop
Post date January 25, 2018
No Comments on The lowdown on all the appliances in Jen’s new kitchen

Why I chose Quick-Step Impressive Ultra for our new floors

Post author By Jen Bishop
Post date January 22, 2018
48 Comments on Why I chose Quick-Step Impressive Ultra for our new floors

Jen’s back yard makeover reveal

Post author By Jen Bishop
Post date December 19, 2017
5 Comments on Jen’s back yard makeover reveal

Let’s face it, one of the best things about upgrading from apartment to house, like we did this year, is having a back yard. Not only has it been amazing for Seb, who even stopped wanting to go to the park for a while because he loved hanging out there so much, but as an extra outdoor room for us grown ups. Being a Pom, I really appreciate the outdoor lifestyle Australia affords me, so I was excited to have a decent sized paved area down one side of the house as well as a grassed lawn at the back. Only problem was, it looked like this:

Hot or what?!

But now we have this lovely oasis:

In the before photo, you’ll note the old and wonky, red-toned pavers (I actually hate anything red-toned in interiors and exteriors, hence my plan to paint our red brick grey eventually!), the fence that could fall down in a stiff breeze and the distinct lack of furniture. That table for two from our old apartment balcony wasn’t really cutting it!

We thought about a deck for ages, until we got a quote ($30 to $40k) and then we quickly forgot about it. Then one day, a press release from Adbri Masonry landed in my inbox and I suddenly thought: why have I never considered pavers?! It’s like everyone assumes you need to build a deck these days. But what’s wrong with pavers? In fact, there’s a lot right with them! They’re super durable, come in loads of colours, shapes and sizes, and you can lay them in myriad different patterns. Not to mention they’re a great safe option in bushfire zones. I quickly settled on their EuroStone product in a 400x400mm size and loved the mid-grey colour of Zurich. It almost looks a little Terrazzo and we all know how on trend that is right now!

As with most things, you can lay these kind of pavers yourself (Adbri have plenty of how-to’s with TV’s Jason Hodges on their website) but we lacked the skills and the time, so we got in the professionals. All up, it was about $4,000 of pavers (including a path across the front of the house and around the side to the back yard) and about the same again in labour. A snip compared to decking!

It took about a day to complete and thankfully, they were able to lay the pavers on top of the existing ones which saved us having to either remove them ourselves or pay someone else to. I absolutely loved watching the process as it all became so neat and uniform!

I am so thrilled with the end result. The area looks so much bigger and more modern and when we paint our red brick exterior grey and our pergola white, it’s going to look even better! It was like giving our entertaining area a brand new, clean slate to work with. I couldn’t believe how much difference it made! And now I think of it, a timber deck wouldn’t have really suited the look of the house anyway. And I love knowing this will last for years if properly maintained. And I’m all about long term in this house! Bigger, lighter, neater and more modern: what’s not to like?

But of course, we needed some furniture now we had a space we wanted to entertain and spend time in ourselves. I was so impressed with the range of styles available at Early Settler this summer, not to mention the quality. Whether your home is traditional, country, or ultra modern, with a small or large outdoor area, they really do have something to suit everyone. I thought about the stunning marble-topped outdoor dining table with black legs for quite a while before eventually conceding it was too modern for our space. I love our sweet, flower-filled garden, and it’s something we were really happy to inherit from the previous owner. So I decided on white and the Kanto dining table. I just couldn’t get past its handy legs on castors and it was a great choice for us because we can easily move the table around, in and out of shade, or to create more room for Seb on his trike when we aren’t using it. Genius!

The timber top of this table is just beautiful and I think the white legs really modernise it. The Cate dining chairs are so cool. I love that they stack, they’re super easy to clean and they look modern without being too out there. They come in a variety of great on-trend colours too.

As well as a decent-sized dining table, we wanted a small relaxation area to just lounge with a morning coffee or an evening wine, look at the garden, listen to the birds or watch Seb on his play equipment. The Cantina chairs were a very quick choice and I love them. You can actually curl up in them with your book and there’s space for Seb to sit with me on the same chair. We finished it off with the matching Kanto coffee table (also on castors) so we have somewhere to rest out drinks and books! I really love that we can easily move the two tables on wheels, the lightweight, stacking dining chairs and the lounge chairs easily. This creates a flexible space and we can move everything to one side with minimal effort and allow Seb to scoot around the paved area, or when we need to sweep up leaves etc.

I absolutely love this floral outdoor cushion

Just like indoors, outdoor areas need accessorising too, and Early Settler have a great range of faux plants (like the palm behind me in the picture and the convincing succulents on the table ), outdoor rugs and cushions, linen, trays and more, to add those finishing touches.

Faux succulents and napkins from Early Settler

The sun umbrella, which matches the outdoor cushions, is great for shading Seb’s sandpit on sunny days and is easily moved around the garden

When we spoke to our neighbours about going halves on a new fence, thankfully they were all for it! So not only do we have a much better backdrop to our new back yard, we also have more privacy for our entertaining area thanks to a higher fence.

So while we haven’t done any major landscaping and there’s still plenty we’d love to do out the back (and will do, one day) we are over the moon with the new look and functionality of this space thanks to new pavers and furniture. And just in time for summer too. We’ll be out here on Christmas Day with our families, enjoying it to the max!

Many of the Early Settler pieces in my back yard are currently on sale! Shop online.

For more about Adbri Masonry.

My kitchen reno | My new floors | My home office

Tags Adbri masonry, al fresco, concrete, early settler, interiors addict reno, jen bishop reno, outdoor, outdoor furniture, patio, pavers, paving

Jen's reno

Jen’s new floor before and after

Post author By Jen Bishop
Post date December 13, 2017
1 Comment on Jen’s new floor before and after

In partnership with Latitude Financial Services

As regular readers will know, we have been doing up our “nanna house” (so named after the lady who lived here for 30 years before us and whose decor was decidedly, well, nanna!) since April. While this house was well loved and looked after, it was added to over the years, many times, and this left it with a look which was often more patchwork quilt than consistent!

The best (worst) example of this was the flooring. We had dark (red-toned) parquetry in the entry, living room and front bedroom, cork in the playroom and dining room and pine boards in the hallway and other three bedrooms. And then of course tiles in the bathrooms. Not only did it ruin the flow of the house aesthetically but it really made it clear where the first of two extensions had happened. I was desperate for the house to feel like one consistent home.

I’m not against parquetry per se, it can be beautiful. And this wasn’t exactly offensive, but it had been faded by light over the years, and it was really obvious where a huge rug had been because of a change in colour. Not to mention dull patches and scratches. If we’d had the same parquetry throughout I’m sure I would have attempted to have it sanded back and re-stained lighter if possible. But as we were really only talking about a quarter of the house, and it still wouldn’t match the rest, it wasn’t really going to achieve our goal.

BEFORE Here is the worst example of the different flooring cutting our long house in two. Note the brown scotia against the yellow pine boards and the gold bar just making the two floors even more obvious!

BEFORE Dining cork floor meets kitchen pine floorboards

We carpeted three of the bedrooms (the fourth is my office and has a door to the garden so I didn’t want to carpet that) and the playroom as soon as we moved in.

So, I had to decide what kind of flooring and then which brand and colour, and it is a big decision which really affects the look of your home massively. No pressure!

Once we painted the living room, added shutters and wall-mounted shelving, new lighting and our own furniture, and replaced the doors between it and the playroom, it was one of the easiest rooms to finish. But the floor just never quite worked with everything else and really dated the room. It’s not the brightest room (the best light is in the kitchen and dining room) and the dark floor really didn’t help. We knew we needed something lighter and more modern.

Another thing that really bugged me was the lack of proper skirting in most of the house. There was a mismatch of scotias of different colours. Oh, how I longed for plain white skirting boards!

So, it was time to decide on what kind of floor, which brand and which colour; decisions not to be taken lightly. In this house, I was choosing between laminate and vinyl plank flooring. I must admit, I found the differences between the two quite confusing, and I kept hearing that the difference in quality and price wasn’t that big these days, and it was more a case of what kind of floor you wanted/needed.

Laminate flooring is a layered floor built around a watertight, glued High Density Fibre (HDF) board. Luxury vinyl flooring consists of several layers. This not only results in a waterproof floor with sound-reducing properties, it also gives your feet a very warm and soft surface to walk on.

But there is a new generation of laminate flooring that is super durable, and as a mum of a toddler who rides a trike around the house, this appealed! I landed on the Quickstep Impressive Ultra product for several reasons. The first was the look (no surprises there!) because it is so like timber, it feels like timber and it has a great matte finish (Because everyone assumes they now have to take their shoes off on our new floors, our friends have all been commenting on how nice and timber-like it feels underfoot!). I also knew the brand by reputation as high quality and I believe in doing things well and doing them once! I think this is an important point because there are much cheaper products out there but they are not going to last you. Replacing a floor is a major hassle so I don’t want to do it again in a few years. This flooring comes with a very reassuring 25-year warranty!

I liked several of the colours but I loved classic oak beige. It was perfect! Secondly, it’s waterproof, which means it can even be used in bathrooms. And it means if the dishwasher leaks, no drama! Likewise should Seb have the odd accident when we get to toilet training…

I love solid timber floors too but the durability and water resistance of this kind of laminate really made it the winner for me. It’s also cheaper than solid timber, easier to clean and less likely to scratch. And, if you’re interested, it’s compatible with underfloor heating.

I could not be more thrilled with or proud of our new floors. I keep saying I don’t need a Christmas present this year because these floors and my new kitchen have been such a dream to get finished!

Actually getting the floors in was no mean feat and it took four days because there were so many different levels in the house, caused by not only the differences between the different original floorings (which we went over the top of) but also the fact the house shifted many years ago (it’s ok, the structural engineer says it’s sound!). The hallway in particular had a quite obvious slope to it. And even in the living room, which we thought was quite level, some parts were 2.5cm lower than others! This called for a lot of Ardit levelling compound. That stuff ended up having to go everywhere and I did question my decision to not move out during the process! But we managed! After the Ardit, a Quickstep underlay went down and let me tell you, these floors are so much quieter then the old ones and feel solid underfoot.

So, while you can click these floors together yourself, if you have a wonky house like mine or you aren’t confident, I’d recommend you call in the professional flooring experts. Your local Quickstep stockist would be able to help you. Despite the utter chaos of furniture being piled up in unaffected rooms and having to live around the install, it wasn’t actually stressful because the guys doing the job knew exactly what they were doing and had a solution for every curve ball my wonky house threw at them. And there were many!

The house looks so much fresher, brighter and lighter and the best thing about the new floors (and our new white skirting) is they’ve pulled the house together and made it feel like one cohesive whole! This was exactly what I wanted to achieve and I’m not exaggerating when I say the results have actually exceeded my expectations.

In summary, I think laminate has come a really long way. It’s no longer the shiny-looking, cheaper option you may have known in the past. For families, its durability and water resistance are perfect and as appealing as the lower cost (compared to timber).

Next job: new doors!

For more information about Quick-Step.

All posts about Jen’s reno

More on why I chose Quick-Step Impressive Ultra.

Want to get your own reno plans happening? Speak to our partners at Latitude Financial Services about your finance options.

Considered sales finance for your reno? Find out more in this video with Jess Aloi from Latitude Financial Services and I:

After photos by Jacqui Turk

Tags ardit, floor, floorer, flooring, impressive ultra, laminate, oak, planks, quickstep, timber, underlay, vinyl, waterproof

House Tours Jen's reno Kitchens

The big kitchen reveal

Impressive Ultra in classic oak beige in my own kitchen

Photography by Jacqui Turk

I am so excited to finally share my new kitchen with you today! Seeing these beautiful pictures makes the last two months of mess and chaos seem more than worth while!

They say the kitchen is the heart of the home and in this house, it really is. Not just because everyone hangs out in this room, but because it really is in the middle of our home. And the light here is the best in the house. It used to drive me nuts that people gravitated towards this room because of the light when it was unrenovated, as we had much nicer spaces to entertain in like the living room! Now I am no longer embarrassed of my kitchen, I am happy for people to congregate in here and admire it whenever they want!

This really is my dream kitchen. I’m going to blog about some of the finer details separately, but today’s post is just the first overview of what we chose, what we did and why. In terms of layout, this has not changed drastically, but we did get rid of the back door (see before pix at the end of this post) to allow the cabinetry to go right to the end of the kitchen. We were also able to move our fridge freezer into the kitchen (it’s the little things, right?!) because previously there was nowhere to fit it and it lived in the dining room!

The starting point for this room was the cabinetry from Freedom Kitchens. I always knew I wanted white shaker style doors so when I found out this was possible using their new, more affordable flatpack option, the Essential range, I was thrilled. I saw flatpack as an opportunity to make great savings, which would allow me to still have the other things I dreamed of like stone benchtops.

My good friend, TV interior designer James Treble, sketched me out a rough layout I loved over dinner one night and we were off! I then worked with Freedom Kitchens design consultant Nina Hughes to turn that sketch into a detailed plan, taking into consideration the flatpack options available. This in-home service is included for everyone buying from their flatpack range, as well as a site check to make sure nothing has slipped through the net, before your cabinets are made. This really made me feel confident. I think buying a kitchen off the shelf with no professional advice or checks would have made me worry myself sick!

The next thing I chose were the handles. Anyone who knows me or has been to my home knows I just love a brass accent! I was always going to have gold handles and I sourced these from Kethy (available through The Block Shop) after seeing similar in Julia and Sasha’s beautiful Block kitchen. It was a winning combo from the start. I didn’t look at another handle so this proved to be one of the easiest decisions!

Then benchtops: through my job, I know Caesarstone by reputation and I loved their designs. I had three samples on high rotation but I finally went for the most subtle, Noble Grey, for a few reasons. I liked the contrast of the grey with the white cabinetry, and while the Calacatta marble-look designs have been hugely popular recently, I wanted something a little different. Then I saw blogger Briar Stanley from Sunday Collector use Noble Grey in her amazing kitchen and that sealed the deal.

Of course, then I needed to decide on a complementary splashback. I absolutely love tiles but trying to choose some left me paralysed by indecision! There were just too many amazing choices. I could have opted for subways, and I am a fan, but again, I wanted something a little different. So I decide to carry the Caesarstone up the splash as well; a decision I have not regretted for one second! The splash behind the cooktop is really quite deep so it makes a real feature. When the light through the opposite window hits it, it really shows off the veins in it. I also think the streamlined look it has created has allowed me to add my other, more bling touches, without it feeling cluttered or over the top.

Speaking of bling, the gold tap is from Meir and I am so in love with it! Taps really are like jewellery in a kitchen. You can’t miss them so you might as well make a statement! Their new Tiger Bronze colour was released at just the right time a few months ago and I was lucky enough to be one of the first to get my hands on it! Would a gold sink as well prove too much? I must admit, I did really worry about my decision, but in the end, it all came together beautifully. And nobody can believe that sink came from Bunnings!

Of course, a kitchen can (and should!) look beautiful but it needs to function too! Having room for a fridge freezer was a great start! But I needed to think long and hard about the appliances, which I chose from Italian brand Ilve. I was really excited to get an integrated dishwasher from an aesthetic perspective but this one works brilliantly and even has a light inside, plus one which shines onto the floor so you know it’s on (being that it’s hidden behind a cabinet door). I just love how it seamlessly blends into the kitchen.

Choosing an oven was a lot harder than anticipated and something I’ve never done before. I eventually decided on a 90cm electric oven and having that extra space is already proving a Godsend when entertaining. I can’t wait to give it a really good workout on Christmas Day.

Then of course you have to match that with a 90cm cooktop even though I’m not sure I’ll ever use all six burners at the same time! We first wanted gas but had a delay finding out if we could get connected, which led us to opt for induction. I’m so glad we went this route because I bloody love it! I cannot believe how quick it is to heat up, it’s a dream to clean and, importantly, it’s safe, which when you have an adventurous climbing toddler around is one less thing to worry about. I’m also thrilled with our hidden rangehood which allows me to have an uninterrupted row of overhead cupboards.

So, we had the bones of a great kitchen, but there were two other things I needed to achieve: replacing the dated sliding door to the laundry, with a modern take on a barn door and black hardware was the first. I wanted the door to have VJ panelling so we did this by cutting Easycraft panels (I’m in love with this product) to size and fixing them to the front of a very cheap, plain door. We then decided what the hell, why not panel the entire wall and wow, wasn’t that the best call? This wall has become a real feature of the kitchen. We also did the back of our breakfast bar in the same paneling and colour.

Secondly, I wanted to tie in the dining area, which adjoins the kitchen and previously had a cork floor, much better. I did this by adding VJ wainscoting to this room and painting it in the same grey (the panelling is in Haymes Paint Chinchilla Fur and the walls are Haymes Paint Greyology 4). It has made a huge difference. Of course, having the same floor helped massively too.

The icing on the cake of all this was our new Quickstep Impressive Ultra laminate floor (more on that next week) which we have also laid in the living room, hallway and my home office. Once that went down, we were finally finished!

A few other things I’m really glad we did and are worth a mention were:

adding bulkheads for a more finished, streamlined look (and no dust or clutter accumulating on top of the overhead cupboards)
putting a power socket in the back of the pantry so I could hide the Nespresso machine and toaster away in there
making sure there was a space for the microwave under the breakfast bar out of sight, so it didn’t have to use precious benchtop space
making one of the five powerpoints (you can never have too many) a USB one (we use this every day to charge a phone or laptop and it has proven really handy)
opting for a pullout double bin under the sink so there’s no ugly bin on show or in the way (I obviously need to get out more but I really love this!).

I could rave about my new kitchen all day but I’ll focus on some other aspects in future blog posts.

Overall, I am thrilled with kitchen and that it is finished before Christmas! I’m just waiting on my blinds (Romans) and looking for the perfect new kettle! A huge thank you to our friends at Integriti Bathrooms who helped project manage this reno.

Now, we could finish this without taking a look back at the before photos!

What do you think of the transformation? If you have any questions, please write them in the comments below and I’ll get back to you.

Want more? Take the VIDEO TOUR with Jen.

Listen to my husband Damian interview me about our kitchen reno in this podcast!

More kitchen and bathroom inspo.

House Tours Jen's reno RENO ADDICT

Reno realities: Jen’s kitchen update

Post author By Jen Bishop
Post date November 17, 2017
No Comments on Reno realities: Jen’s kitchen update

In partnership with Latitude Financial Services

So, my kitchen reno started on September 27. And it still isn’t finished! Unusual? Not really! From my own and others’ experience, these things are never as speedy as you anticipate. Four weeks from start to finish? Pah! I never really believed it! Add to that the fact we had to stop for almost a week last week to have new floors go in (was hoping it would have already been finished but hey ho!), and here we are, with an 85% finished kitchen.

I’m not going to share any new photos here because I figure we might as well wait for the full reveal now! You can see all the progress I’ve shared on my Instagram and the hashtag #interiorsaddictfamilyhomereno

I’ve been lucky enough to have my friends at Integriti Bathrooms and their site supervisor (legend!) Steve coordinating all my trades. And there are a lot of trades involved, especially when you opt for a flatpack kitchen (for budget reasons). You need someone to demolish and take away the old one (or hire a skip), to organise someone to both assemble it (okay, it’s possible to DIY but Damian and I don’t rate our skills and patience in that department) and install, as well as a plumber, electrician and plasterer at an absolute minimum. We also got rid of a back door which required a carpenter, and added bulkheads, which required another visit from the plasterers. Then there’s always a wait for your stone (Caesarstone) to be cut by the stonemason although ours was ready in under a week, which is amazing!

Then unexpected things will pop up to throw you: fitting our concealed rangehood and venting it through the roof was a tricky job and we needed a different tradie for this.

We always planned to have a sliding barn-style door to our laundry but finding the right size door took a while, then we decided to do that whole wall in VJ panelling (door and all) and oh my goodness, it looks great! So this required more carpenters. And then I got a bit excited about VJ and decided to do wainscoting in the adjoining dining room. None of it is painted yet so ignore the off-white look!

So, was it worth doing a flatpack kitchen with the added hassle and time of organising trades myself (with help, thankfully)? A RESOUNDING YES. I couldn’t be happier with my cabinetry from Freedom Kitchen’s Essential Range. Every trade who has been in here (and my goodness there have been loads lately!) has been surprised (pleasantly) that it wasn’t a custom job and said the quality is as good as any more expensive kitchens they’ve worked with. And that’s good to hear from people who know their kitchens, but I was already very happy with what I could see with my own eyes. And I’ve been able to “pimp” my flatpack with my choice of stone, hardware, appliances etc. I’m delighted to be honest! Just want the damn thing finished!

Check out this video of me with Jess Aloi from Latitude Financial Services, discussing ways to get the luxe look for less in your kitchen reno:

Make your reno dreams come true with some help from our partners at Latitude Financial Services.

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OUR KITCHEN SUPPLIERS

Project management and trades: Integriti Bathrooms
Cabinetry: Freedom Kitchens
Benchtop and splashback: Caesarstone
Appliances: Ilve
Tapware: Meir
Sink and black barn door hardware: Bunnings
Floor: Quickstep
Paint: Haymes
Hardware: Kethy
Blinds (DIY Online Blinds)
VJ paneling: Easycraft

I’ll give you all the finer details in the full reveal post. My painters are due today so we should be done very soon!

Tags benchtop, Ceasarstone, flat pack, flatpack kitchen, freedom kitchens, handles, integriti bathrooms, jen's kitchen, kethy, kitchen reno, latitude financial services, trades