Today we are catching up with featured renovator Sam Stone. Sam and her husband Matt, daughter Olivia and son Declan are about to tackle a pretty major renovation in Sydney’s inner west suburb of Five Dock.
Sam has been writing about her experience so far over on her blog A Life On Venus, and as I write this they have had their plans finalised and are nervously waiting for their Development Application (DA) to be approved.
Like a lot of people Sam has never tackled a major renovation before, so it’s been great to follow along and see some of the road blocks and obstacles through the eyes of someone with little experience in the field of renovating.
I caught up with Sam to ask a few questions about her experience so far, and this is what she had to say.
When did you first get the idea that you wanted to renovate, and what gave you the inspiration to do so?
A lot of people in our street are renovating and then when our neighbours started renovating and we began to see the massive transformation in their place we decided it was time to make some changes to our place too.
We had also been watching a lot of home makeover shows on TV and saw that it was possible to renovate your home to achieve the space that you want.
What kind of research did you do before you decided to take the plunge on starting the process?
We googled around onto Interior Designer websites and Renovation websites to try to find out what could be achieved in the space we have available. We talked to friends who have renovated to get their ideas and experiences.
What part of the process have you enjoyed the most so far?
The most enjoyable part so far has been working with the architect. He had some really great ideas and some we would never have thought of ourselves.
What has been the most stressful?
Definitely the DA process, waiting and seeing if we will get approval and if not, what do we do!
Given that you are yet to start construction, what if anything are you the most nervous about?
I think the budget is the biggest thing we are nervous about at the moment. How much will it all cost, can we afford it and will we possibly totally blow the budget once construction starts.
I have enjoyed following Sam’s progress so far and I look forward to hearing about what lies ahead in their exciting renovation journey.
I will be checking in with the guys again from time to time, so watch this space and make sure you stay up to date by also following along. We wish Sam and her family all the best with their renovation and hope they have an enjoyable experience.
Have you renovated before? If so how did you find the experience? Leave me a comment below and share your story as we would love to hear about it.
Cheers,
James Mason
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