WRAP YOUR EYES AROUND THE MAGNIFICENT MAGNOLIA HOUSE

When Charlotte and her husband sold their home in LA and moved back to Australia, they were “desperate” to tackle their third renovation project. Although Charlotte would have settled for an apartment or semi in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, they both agreed that they were up for a “big and juicy” reno and her hubby “wouldn't budge” on his desire to have a free-standing home.

“Given our budget, the only freestanding home in Bronte looked so ugly it brought down the value of the whole street. The back looked like an asbestos-riddled haunted house. It was a true dump. Or you could flip the coin and say it had the most potential.”

— Charlotte, Three Birds Reno School Student

The couple bought the home and embarked on a two-year renovation that ended up being “pretty much a Knock Down Rebuild”. It wasn’t their first renovation but definitely the first of this scope.

CHARLOTTE, WHAT MADE YOU SIGN UP FOR RENO SCHOOL?

We were determined to do this reno ourselves so I needed help with all the decisions I had to make; e.g. what should window elevations be? How high up should the tiles go?

I loved the colour education section of the course. I feel like so many of us are scared to use colour and that white is the safe option. For our next build, I will use this information and try and use as little white as possible.

I also LOVE the Facebook group and community that the Three Birds have created. It is beyond useful for so, so many decisions and I love sharing on there too.

TELL US ABOUT THE RENOVATION PROCESS

We hired an architect just to create the plans and then we got a draftsperson and builder to do the rest. I hired an amazing designer, Kristy McGregor, at some point as the decisions that needed to be made were beyond my knowledge/experience. My two girls and husband and I bounced from tiny home/apartment as we went through the two-year build. It was a nightmare of a build. I won't go into the gory details but let's just say we had a horrifying experience with our builder.

Then COVID restrictions hit at the end of our build just as we were about to cross the finish line. We could only have one trade on-site at a time. This meant that when there were only 1 or 2 weeks to go it turned into a month or two.

CAN WE HAVE A PEEK INSIDE ‘MAGNOLIA HOUSE’?

Absolutely! We now have a lovely 3 bedroom home with 3 bathrooms, a great garden and deck for the kids and dog to play in. We also have a little 'media room' with a projector hidden in the ceiling which comes down at the push of a button. We don't have a pool but we live a 10 min walk to two great beaches so we opted out for now!

It really is a dream to be able to build a home fit for purpose. Because the house was south facing we sacrificed a bedroom for a huge void up above the kitchen which ensures the bottom level is flooded with light. I wanted a design that wouldn't date. I was very caught up in all of the beach chic / contemporary coastal trends but ultimately wanted something a bit more classic and timeless and unique.

WHAT’S UP NEXT?

We are starting a new reno in Byron Bay which is very exciting. We’ll be using the Reno School supplier discounts for this one! You can follow us on Instagram: @magnolia.house2021