Has there ever been a better time for a bit of home office inspo? The Three Birds Renovations team recently made over their office, and although they’re not currently able to work from it (they’re #safeathome like the rest of us), it’s a great example of how much difference the look and feel of your office can make.
Being creative types, working somewhere beautiful was always going to be important to them. “We are inspired by beautiful interiors so it only makes sense that our own workplace is beautiful and inspirational too,” says Lana Taylor.
Now, their ‘old’ office was hardly plain, but two years on from moving into their first Three Birds HQ, the girls felt it needed some loving. “It was looking a little tired and didn’t really reflect how our design style and business had grown in that time. With a growing team of gorgeous girls, we wanted to create a luxe, feminine space where everyone loves coming to work each day.”
With busy work days, they wanted the office to have a calming vibe and to be full of pretty things to make it an enjoyable place to spend each day.
“We called our vision board the #dirtyblushcrush! It was all about gritty pretty: feminine pink tones with a bit of grunt, so that it doesn’t look like Barbie’s office! Our vision was for lots of detail like panelled walls, patterned wallpapers, many different complementary textures and a mixture of natural and plush materials.”
What you won’t see is a bunch of individual desks. “We prefer collaborative workspaces so we can sit around the tables together to roll out some floorplans, or grab a coffee and sit back on in the lounge area for a creative brainstorming session. Our creative juices really flow best in a relaxed and inspiring environment,” Lana adds.
In terms of what made the biggest difference, the Intrim moulding on the walls is right up there. “This feature really takes the space from corporate office to elegant lounge room, which is how we wanted it to feel. The beauty of Intrim mouldings is that they’re custom-sized so we could choose how we used them.
“We have a full wall of panelling at one end of the office, which frames our huge Jai Vasicek artwork. Around the rest of the walls we just ran the moulding one third of the way up, to make way for the beautiful wallpaper which Grace Garrett made for us.”
The girls have generously shared their vision board for this project, and they recommend this as the best way to start any design project.
“This should help people pick out the key elements they’ll need to recreate this style at home: a dirty pink colour palette, lots of Intrim moulding on the walls, patterned wallpaper and natural rattan furniture with pops of gold. Voila!”
House 4 is done and dusted and to take you on the journey, I’ve got some obligatory B&As (before and afters) along with some Q&As that I pose to myself and then answer myself #slightlyawkward #multitasking.
BACKYARD
BeforeAfterBeforeAfterBeforeAfter
Did we keep anything from the original backyard? The existing concrete porch proved a god-send as we anchored a new deck off it and then painted it and the deck the same colour to make it look like one large alfresco space.
Is that timber decking? No. In all our previous renos we’ve built timber decks (as you do) but at this house we branched out into fibre-cement decking called HardieDeck. It has the strength and durability of concrete (and is fire-proof), but with the smooth look and feel of a modern boat deck. And the best part is you can paint it any colour you want.
Who doesn’t love a privacy screen? Nobody, that’s who! A privacy screen offers so many benefits: 1) it hides you from your neighbours and vice versa 2) it helps create the feeling of an outdoor room and, if built used Scyon wall cladding, it can become an architectural feature of the house. PS – we are slightly obsessed with Scyon walls so you’ll start to see them popping up in many more of our renos.
Why did we remove the upstairs balcony? The rickety wooden balcony was both unattractive and structurally unstable. Rebuilding it would have been costly and only worthwhile if it had provided our future homeowners with a nice vista to look out on. Given that this one looked straight over the back fence into all the neighbouring houses (no thanks) we decided to scrap it altogether!
Best budget buy outside? We saved some cash with our external servery. We bought solid timber benches from our local hardware store and had our builder cut and install them.
MASTER SUITE
BeforeAfterBeforeAfterBeforeAfter
Is that a clad wall behind the bed? Yes – and would you believe me if I told you it is the SAME Scyon wall cladding from the outdoor privacy screen? Who would have thought it could translate so well inside!? #bonnieknew
Where’s the wardrobe? Behind the wall, behind the bed.We love a walk-around robe almost more than a walk-in version.
Where is that gorgeous painting from hanging above the bed? This stunning artwork is called ‘We are Sole’ by artist Danielle Cross.
Which tiles did we use in the ensuite? All the tiles came from Amber. We used 600×600 Statuario Grey Polished Porcelain on the walls for a touch of marble style luxury and charcoal Durastone Herringbone 25×50 on the floor. The seafoam subways (Spanish handmade Menta) were our favourite and kick-started Bonnie’s love affair with this lightest shade of green.
What if people don’t want an open ensuite? We love an open ensuite but recognise we might not be in the majority.For those who prefer the privacy of a closed-in ensuite, this design can easily be adapted by installing two cavity slider doors in each nib wall.
FORMAL LIVING ROOM
BeforeAfterBeforeAfter
Is it the same room? Yes …. and no 😉The before shot is of one of the rooms, but we removed the wall between it and another bedroom to turn the space into one large formal lounge with separate tapas bar.
Did I just say tapas bar? Every Aussie home needs a tapas bar, right!? Well maybe not, but we couldn’t resist in this reno. The formal lounge room was big so it worked to create two zones in the one space.
Why didn’t we keep the yellow walls? I know this is the question on everyone’s lips but we opted instead for our fave white, Snow Drop by Taubmans.
Our budget buy in this room? To save money we used cheap-as-chips IKEA sheer curtains ($12 for two).
Most practical decision? We learnt from House 3 that it’s best to separate your living spaces, so that one is truly an escape from the other. This was a challenge with the floor plan, but we solved it easily by adding French doors that can section off this zone from the rest of the house.
So that was Part 1 of the journey through the transformation. Next month we’ll share Part 2, which will showcase the kitchen, living and dining, along with the unlikely hero of the house –the stairwell.
–Lana Taylor is one third of Three Birds Renovations alongside Bonnie Hindmarsh and Erin Cayless, and one of our Resident Experts. The best friends and busy mums walked away from their corporate careers in pursuit of a more fulfilling life. They created Three Birds Renovations – a boutique renovation company where they buy, renovate and sell suburban homes. Their ultimate ambition is to build a life they love, hoping to inspire others to do the same.
By Lana Taylor (one-third of Three Birds Renovations)
You’ve all heard the cliché that “you don’t plan to fail, you fail to plan”. Well, in the world of property flipping that couldn’t be more accurate. And the most crucial thing to realise is that most of this planning has to take place before the house is even yours – in the settlement period (which usually takes about six weeks).
So for all you budding flippers out there, get your notepad and pencil out as I interview our Operations Guru-slash-Standover-Woman, Erin Cayless, to share the 10 steps to success when planning a 30-day flip. And even if you’re not flipping a house, just renovating your own home, you might pick up some tips on how to make your reno as fast and painless as possible. There’s nothing worse than a home reno that drags on ’til the cows come home — all that dust!!
Lana: HOW IMPORTANT IS THE PLANNING STAGE OF A RENO?
Erin: In my opinion it is the most important part of a reno. Without thorough and detailed planning, the reno will fall apart and run over budget. This is especially important if you are running the reno yourself to maximise your profit rather than paying a builder to do it.
Lana: WHAT ARE THE STEPS TO PLANNING A 30-DAY FLIP?
Erin: I think there are 10 main steps:
Step 1. Before buying the house, contact a local certifier to get the 149 certificate checked. This will confirm that the renos you want to do at that property, can be done e.g – a 149 will tell you if you are in a flood zone which could mean you need to get a DA (Development Application) and that could take months. That would be a showstopper for us as we are only interested in doing renos that are either Exempt or Complying Development as a CDC can get passed through council much more quickly.
Step 2. Assuming you get past step 1 and have purchased the house ie – exchanged contracts, you need to spend time at the property to work out exactly what changes you want to make. This will include drawing up a new floor plan. We hand-draw our plans using a pencil, ruler and rubber (it’s easier and more enjoyable than you think). Remember, you don’t actually own the property yet, as it hasn’t settled, so you need to negotiate “access visits” with the agent. On one of our projects, the house was already vacant and the owners were happy for us to spend as much time in the house as we wanted. This is the ideal scenario as it gives you maximum time for planning. If the house is still occupied, you should still get at least 2 access visits and if that’s the case, try and stretch them out to be several hours in duration.
Step 3. If your reno plans extend beyond replacing just fixtures and finishes you may need to engage a structural engineer. If so, meet them onsite to discuss your hand-drawn plans and see if they are possible. The engineer will tell you how much significant structural work will be required to meet your reno vision.
Step 4. Meet a builder on site to run through your plans. Share with him any feedback your engineer may have given you. Give the builder a written scope of work (which you may have adjusted during his visit) and ask him to come back with a quote. You should repeat this step with a few builders to get comparative costs. Once you’ve received all the quotes from your builders, check to see if they are within your budget. Discuss with each builder if necessary – especially if you need to bring costs down. Appoint a builder.
Step 5. Engage a draftsman to draw up official plans for the certifier and ask your engineer to return to the site so he can prepare final drawings. Give the draftsman’s and engineer’s plans to the certifier for the CDC (Complying Development Certificate) application. The sooner you get the plans to your certifier the better. This also allows the certifier time to give you feedback on your plans if they think they need adjusting in order to get them through council.
A Three Birds reno BEFORE
Step 6. Choose a proposed start date for your reno. You can’t start your reno the day after settlement because you need to wait for council to issue the CDC, and that process can’t commence until they you are confirmed as the new owner. Get your solicitor to send a letter to your certifier confirming you as the new owners. How long the council will take to issue your CDC depends on the council and can take between 2-21 days. Ask your certifier to give their best estimate on how long approval will take based on the complexity of your plans and their experience with that council. Use that as your start date.
Step 7. Sit down with your builder and develop a week-by-week, day-by-day reno schedule with him. His work schedule will determine when other trades need to be onsite so it’s important to sort this out first before locking in other trades like plumbers and electricians.
Step 8. Co-ordinate all other trades (eg – tiler, plumber, electrician, landscaper, glazier, painter) to meet you on site and quote. Give them a written scope of work including the dates they are required on site (which you should have worked out with your builder prior). Get a few different companies to quote for the same scope of work so you can compare costs, then appoint your Tradies. This should ideally happen 2-3 weeks out from settlement.
Step 9. Determine what fixtures and fittings you want and can afford. You need to know this so you can order in advance and have them ready onsite when the Trades need them. Some things have long lead-times (eg window shutters) so you need to place orders in the pre-settlement planning phase.
Step 10. You’ve settled on the property and the house is yours. Get the letter from your solicitor (see step 8) and await your CDC. You may need to adjust your reno schedule based on exactly when the CDC comes through.
Lana: IS THERE ANYTHING YOU’VE EVER FORGOTTEN TO DO?
Erin: Ordering the porta-loo and working out where to put the man-hole — gets me at every house.
Lana Taylor, one third of Three Birds Renovations, our new Resident Experts, tells us all about their latest reno success story…
With a purchase price of $1.3m, we risked more money than ever on this four-bedder in Beecroft, NSW. We had to increase its value by at least $350,000 in seven weeks to make it worthwhile. Welcome to Three Birds Renovations’ third reno in 10 months!
After: exterior
For this transformation, we changed the whole floorplan, moved the kitchen downstairs, cut in a void, created a luxury master with dressing room and built an alfresco wonderland in the backyard. Did I mention we did it in seven weeks!?
I could write and write and write about the finer details of this reno but let’s face it – we all just want the highlights package, right?
Biggest transformation – the kitchen
Before: kitchenAfter: kitchen
The kitchen originally sat upstairs on the entry level of the house – unfortunately this meant it had no connection to the backyard (a big no-no for any family home). So we knew we had to move it downstairs but that was easier said than done. Downstairs was a dungeon (no joke, I could see the remnants of medieval shackles on the walls). It was a long, dark, skinny space. We had to make that kitchen look as ‘fat’ as possible so of course we employed a lot of white and tried to let in loads of natural light.
After: kitchen
We cut in as many French doors as our engineer would allow and to be sure of a bright kitchen, even on the darkest days, we didn’t scrimp on down lights. We considered doing a window splashback, but that only looks good when there’s a lush rainforest growing outside of it. With our barren land, we weren’t going to grow anything in seven weeks! Instead we chose Calacatta Gold Talostone for the splashbacks – they looked light, bright and just like marble. Of course we ‘bookmatched’ them. Bookmatching has nothing to do with a trip to the library (as I discovered in a rather embarrassing conversation with our stonemason), rather it means the veins from the splashback were joined/matched with the veins on their corresponding benchtops. Still not clear? Trust me, it’s cool.
Biggest gamble – the void
Before: voidAfter: void
A void, by definition, is nothing, but it meant everything to us when we decided to add one to this house. With the kitchen moving downstairs we simply had to lift the lid on the dungeon — so we cut out the floor from the bedroom above to flood the downstairs with natural light. It was our biggest structural change and we lost floor space upstairs, but the new floorplan couldn’t have worked without it. The void (and its African mud chandelier) became the hero of the house.
Quickest transformation – spraying the bricks
Before: exteriorAfter: exterior
Obsessed! That’s what we are with the concept of spraying brick. It’s just too easy and so impactful! We (when I say we, I mean our painter!) transformed the back of this house in just a couple of hours with a tin of paint and a spray gun. Between breakfast and lunch it had changed from a red brick eyesore into a gorgeous Gibraltar Grey estate. Of course the white trims were crucial in finishing the look but the major makeover came from spraying the bricks. Not only is this method quicker and cheaper than rendering, but we love the look of painted brick as it adds texture and dimension to an otherwise flat surface.
Overall winner – the backyard
Before: backyardAfter: backyard
The backyard proved our saviour! We used it to double the living space downstairs. Inside the house was skinny (have I mentioned that before?) — only 3.5 metres wide — so to make it feel like a suburban family home rather than an inner-city terrace we needed to add width (dare I say girth?), to the living, dining and kitchen. Our solution was to create an outdoor precinct running the length of the house.
Before: backyardAfter: backyard
When styling, we defined the outdoor zones to show potential buyers how to live in the space. Up one end we built an outdoor lounge pavilion with pergola, at the other end was an alfresco dining area just a stone’s throw from the kitchen, and in the middle we added wow factor with a sunken fire pit (which could easily convert into a sun lounge in summer). Last but not least, we anchored outside to in using our trademark gas-strut window and servery bench – and this is where I chose to sit when we popped the cork on the champers when all was said and done!
Our favourite room – ???
There’s a room in this house I haven’t mentioned – it’s our favourite room ever so it deserves its own post… stay tuned.
— Lana
For more before and after photos and to find out how much Three Birds Renovations sold this house for, visit their website.
When just a few months ago we took a look inside the amazing first reno by best friends Lana Taylor, Bonnie Hindmarsh and Erin Cayless, we knew we had not only stumbled upon a trio that had impeccable taste, but one that seriously knew how to renovate for profit. Their first reno, under their boutique business Three Birds Renovations, made a staggering $155,000 profit in just two and a half months (read all about it here), and their second? $230,000 in two months!
Before – FacadeAfter – Facade
Situated in Sydney’s Castle Hill, the four-bedroom, two-storey house was purchased for $975,000 in January and sold for $1.32 million in March. With the renovation taking six weeks and costing $115,000, when it came to transforming the property the girls had three goals in mind. “With this renovation we wanted to transform ugly into beautiful, closed-off into connected and dark into light,” explains Lana. “It’s a cliché, but we wanted to create the house of our dreams.”
Before – BathroomAfter – Bathroom
While the home was certainly livable prior to its renovation, the interiors lacked flow — with endless rooms and a tiny master suite, the exterior was beige and bland and outside housed an area said to be an alfresco zone but was really a random brick room that looked like a garage and led to nowhere! “We saw the potential straight away and knew it could be completely transformed,” says Lana. “Our main job was making the layout of the home open, open, open – even the shower screens have no doors! We tried (and we think succeeded!) to create a breezy, open-plan living style designed specifically for indoor/outdoor entertaining.”
Before – AlfrescoAfter – Alfresco
To achieve this look, the girls removed several walls and moved the kitchen from the centre of the home up to the far end. This made the kitchen a destination rather than a thoroughfare and enabled them to connect it directly with the new alfresco area via a custom-built breakfast bar and gas strut window. Upstairs they converted four bedrooms down to three, which allowed them to deliver a large, luxury master suite that reflected the resort-style living they had created downstairs.
Before – MasterAfter – Master
“Probably my biggest learning on this renovation was that you must make a master suite big,” explains Lana. “At first we tried to work within the original dimensions, but eventually the penny dropped and we decided to rip out the dividing wall with the bedroom next door and combine the two to create a proper parents’ retreat. As a result we had to build a new fourth bedroom downstairs and in hindsight this was a masterstroke because it provided a great guest or teenager’s room as it was located away from the other bedrooms. Most importantly, this change in floor plan allowed the master suite to truly live up to its name.”
Before – KitchenAfter – Kitchen
Marking the luxury master as the home’s biggest change, the girls are also huge fans of the alfresco area and kitchen. “A kitchen needs to be an open, breezy space that invites people to take a seat, so by moving it to the end of the long room we created a new alfresco zone directly off the kitchen. Our finishing touch was to add a pair of French doors directly out to the pool giving mum the perfect view of the kids whilst preparing an early summer dinner.”
Before – backyardAfter – backyard
Now onto their third renovation, the girls of Three Birds Renovation are absolutely in their element. So what advice to they have for any newbie renovators? ” Firstly, don’t do it alone – grab a friend or two to share the load and build ideas. Secondly, be organised and plan, plan, plan – the devil is in the detail. And lastly you can achieve beauty on a budget – try not to spend more than 10-to-12% of the purchase price (or current value of your home).”
When best friends Lana Taylor, Bonnie Hindmarsh and Erin Cayless tired of their corporate careers, they saw it as the perfect opportunity to go into business together.
Friends Bonnie, Lana and Erin made a $155,000 profit on this, their first renovation
Starting boutique renovations company, Three Birds Renovations, their first project — just finished a few short months ago – saw them take on a challenge so daunting, many veteran renovators would have run a mile!
Before: master bedroomAfter: master bedroom
“The house was in terrible condition,” explains Lana. “Every room was filled almost to the roof with rubbish. We even had to guess some of our measurements because we couldn’t get the tape measure across the room. It was extremely dark inside and the front yard was so overgrown that you couldn’t see the house from the street and school kids had to walk out onto the road to get past! One neighbour over the side fence even had the unfortunate view of the same bed sheet hanging on the Hills Hoist for 10 years. Almost daily we would have people honking their horns and stopping their cars to tell us how much they loved what we were doing. It was an unexpected perk!”
Before: kitchenAfter: kitchen
Knocking down almost every wall inside the Castle Hill home (in Sydney’s north-west), the end result saw an open-plan design that was light, breezy and modern. Transforming the three separate rooms of kitchen, living and dining into one large space, they also stole centimetres from neighbouring bedrooms to create a luxury master suite. “We knew it was important to create a luxury master suite so we stole space from each of the other bedrooms and the hallway to create a parents’ retreat with ensuite,” says Lana. “This meant moving some walls less than 30 centimetres (which sounds a bit silly) but we were committed to creating the right end result rather than going with the easier or cheaper option.”
Before: loungeAfter: loungeAfter: lounge
Taking just six weeks to renovate, every single item in the house was changed, except for the floors. “Underneath all that stuff the floors were original hardwood, so we decided to sand and stain them. They came up beautifully in the end. And through a stroke of good fortune, the roof was in great condition and was already the exact dark grey colour we wanted, so no update was needed there either.”
Before: facadeAfter: facade
Running the whole project themselves, Lana admits they weren’t on the tools too much! “Our intent is to always book tradies to do the work, but when the budget gets tight, it is tempting to put your hand up to do some of the painting or landscaping. In the end, we laid most of the turf (and when I say we I mean our husbands!).”
Before: alfrescoAfter: alfresco
Having originally bought the property for $808,500, renovating it for $90,000 and selling it 10 weeks later for $1,055,000, they made a gross profit of $155,000: not bad for a two-and-a-half-month turnover! Inspired by their success, they have now completed a second reno — also in Castle Hill — which has just gone on the market. It’s equally, if not more, gorgeous! Check it out here before it gets snapped up.
