Renovating with touches of luxury in North Shore, Auckland

The dream: updating and enhancing

Located off the street, this home is surrounded by beautiful established bush and it certainly a step away from the busy Auckland lifestyle. Lush and blooming with native trees, the environment provides an experience different from that of your everyday suburban street.  
Unlike the surrounding landscapes, the interior of the property was tired. The homeowners knew it had more significant potential - which is what led them to contact Refresh Renovations.
Put in touch with Ant Bayne and Johannes Jacobs (JJ), their local Renovation Specialists, the homeowners discussed their primary goals. Ultimately, they wanted to update their two upstairs bathrooms and create more space with better usability throughout the home.
But with that said, it was likewise vital that the renovation maintained the essence of the property’s natural surroundings. Ant and JJ envisioned a handful of significant changes that would completely update the home and enhance its character. Happy with the ideas, the homeowners moved straight into design development.

Planning the new design

When taking the homeowners through the process, Ant and JJ engaged an interior designer and architect early on in the planning meetings. It was a careful approach which they took to ensure the design captured every detail of the homeowners’ dream.
During this concept and feasibility stage, Ant, JJ, and their team carved out the full plans for renovation. The main areas for updating were the master bedroom, main bathroom, and a spare bedroom. However, towards the end of this drawing stage, the homeowners requested a final change; they wanted to upgrade the fireplace in their intimate living room. 
Though it was a last-minute addition, choosing to upgrade ended up making a remarkable difference. What was once an old fireplace became a modern installation with schist stone frontage. Beautiful, bold, and earthy; the feature truly captures the warm and cosy ambience of the smaller space.

The master bedroom: from dated to luxury

Untouched for decades, the master bedroom’s ensuite and walk-in wardrobe original design had seriously dated. 
There was carpet in the bathroom’s entrance, the tiling was old and worn, the vanity had broken drawers, and the wardrobe lacked functionality. Instead of utilising the sizeable walk-in space available, there were inadequate amounts of built-in drawers, and the homeowners were using movable shelving/shoe racks to get the storage needed.
To transform this area, it was vital to revamp with a contemporary design that would utilise the space and support modern living. This decision led to a beautiful renovation of the master suite.
In the bathroom, the previous tiling and carpet were torn out and replaced with warm-toned dark wood flooring. With the walls freshly painted white, this space soon became a perfect blank canvas to install features that kept in character with the property’s surrounding nature. These instalments included a dark chocolate wooden vanity, matching basins with organic shaping, and a deep bath for soaking in at the end of a long day.
For the wardrobe, the renovation team opened up the area by extending into unused space from the old bathroom and installing lighting that enhanced the room. Inside the space, the builders established several drawers and shelves to improve functionality. And on the outside? The renovation team completed the walk-in wardrobe with a large, luxurious barn door. Earthy in its texture, the feature makes a beautiful statement while offering privacy between the bedroom and utility rooms. 

Switching bedroom with bathroom

The largest change made was undoubtedly the renovation of the main bathroom and spare bedroom. 
Located on the other end of the upstairs area, both rooms weren’t utilising the space and were designed unsuitably for modern living. During the renovation process, Ant and JJ found that swapping the rooms around would offer a few more advantages (a big one including increased space).
Happy with the concepts presented, the homeowners went ahead with the reconstruction. This part of the overall renovation ended up completely exceeding the clients’ expectations. Spacious, modernised, and decorated with a natural-toned colour palette; the rooms are fit for urban living. 
Key features used in the new bathroom included LED Lighting and a floating basin which, together, increased the light and sense of space.

Recarpeting the entire home

The homeowners had moved out of the property for the duration of renovating. But soon before they were due to move back, they decided to additionally re-carpet the entire house. 
This simple change was well worth making as it completely revamped the home and established a modern feel throughout - not just in the updated bedrooms and bathrooms. 

Final results and future changes

The homeowners found the final results completely exceeded their expectations and were thrilled to move back in. Supported by Ant’s and JJ’s combined decades of expertise, their dreams for renovating the property became fully realised while keeping with the characteristics of its natural surroundings.
The entire project ended up running across 96 days and met the client’s budget of $156k - but this isn’t the end. The homeowners, excitedly, have a stage two in their renovation planned for the new year.

Would you like to discuss your home renovation ideas?

Get in touch for a free consultation with your local Renovation Specialist.