RENO RECAP: 5 OF OUR FAVOURITES FROM 2023
Sharing the renovations of our amazing Reno School students with the world brings us so much joy. We’ve followed many of their projects from the planning phase to the move-in day and sharing the process along the way makes seeing the finished homes even more special.
ICYMI, in no particular order, here are 5 of our faves from 2023:
1) HEAVEN IN THE HUNTER VALLEY
Reno Schooler Janine and her hubby had lived on their property for over 33 years when it came time to renovate. They were tossing up whether to renovate their existing home or embrace their dream of building a brand new home on a favourite spot on their property, closer to the lagoon and a little more remote than their current home.
The latter won out but, in Janine’s words, "this new house had to tick a lot of boxes!” Her brief to the architect for the 4-bedroom, 5-bathroom house was “Modern Farmhouse meets NZ Lodge”. And we think she nailed it!
Janine generously shared her selections for her beautiful home on our blog. Click below for all the details
2) THE WHIMSY WONDERLAND
If you love a whimsical design, you’re mission out if you’re not following Chloe Brookman on socials. Since we featured Chloe’s family home last year, she’s already sold, bought again and completed her next magical masterpiece but it’s not too late to see inside the home we call the ’Whimsy Wonderland’.
Chloe credits her renovation inspiration to Wes Anderson film sets, English country gardens, Art Deco and the Mediterranean. In a bold design decision close to our hearts, Chloe sacrificed a bedroom to create the most magnificent void, added a spiral staircase to the first floor and then used the attic space to build a children’s playroom and family movie room - not one-inch of space has been spared in transforming this once single-storey house into an enchanting home.
Come for a tour of Chloe’s Coogee home - it’s candy for the eyes!
3) 150 YEARS NEW
When you go into renovation having completed both Reno School and Styling School… and being a Fourth Bird, we’re pretty confident that you’ve got this! #triplethreat
Even if the house you’re renovating is a 150-year-old farmhouse riddled with white ant damage and sitting on 200 acres at the top of The Great Dividing Range. The property’s in extreme drought. And it’s the dead of winter.
But Kristen’s a woman after our own hearts - she saw the potential in the 150-year-old homestead and rose to the challenge of a mammoth renovation. 18 months on, Kirsten shared her rural retreat, Athlyne Homestead, with us.
4) MAGIC IN MULGOA
The thing we love about ‘forever home’ renovations is seeing our Reno Schoolers through caution to the wind and really embrace what they LOVE in their vision board, rather than what others will likely love when it comes to resale. In Amanda Di Giglio’s case, it was a “monkey bathroom” (named after the fun pendant light), a navy blue kitchen and a pink tiled dog bath. We love it all!
“It didn’t really matter if someone else liked it or not because it was ours and there was not a thought about resale or keeping it neutral.”
Amanda shares her beautiful home with hubby, Chris and their two young children in the little rural village of Mulgoa, just 10 minutes from Penrith in NSW.
5) A FIRST FLIP WITH FLYING COLOURS
Victor Stassinis is one of our fabulous Reno School roosters and he’s been strutting his stuff with his very first renovation, a house flip in Frankston, Victoria.
Victor’s a full-time Real Estate agent and, along with his fiancée Christina, a first-time house flipper. Victor told us all about how their first project turned from new builds to renovation and how Three Birds Reno School helped them transform a derelict cottage.
The property was initially purchased with the intention of a multi-residential development. The site is an 840sqm corner block with an original 1950’s weatherboard that was in VERY bad shape. Initially, the idea was to knock it down and build 4 new townhouses, however after enquiring with Council and talking to multiple architects, the general feedback was that we would only get three dwellings on the block. This is when the idea of flipping the original dwelling came into it.
