This family’s whole-hog renovation was a rocky road but they’ve emerged with a beautiful home designed ‘100 per cent’ for them ‘and zero per cent for resale
Meet + greet
Vanessa Rehm, 41 (stay-at-home mum and blogger at vanessarehm.com), Shane Rehm, 38 (chief engineer at Fisher & Paykel Appliances), Tahlia, 9, Aston, 7, and Beau, 4, plus Simba the cat.
Problem
- The family needed more space.
- The laundry was too small for a family of five.
- There was no defined entrance. The front door opened straight into the narrow space of the hallway.
Solution
- A new master bedroom with an ensuite was added along with an office for Vanessa.
- A combined laundry and mudroom was created, perfect for storing kids’ bags, jackets and shoes.
- A roomy entrance was added with a practical, polished-concrete floor and wide wooden steps leading up to the living space. The concrete visually differentiates this area from the rest of the house.
What lessons did you learn about renos?
Vanessa: There were a lot! Mostly, how important it is to dot the i’s and cross the t’s, as boring as that can be. Shane was really good at reminding me to think about the house we’d end up with, when I was fixated on things that hadn’t been done perfectly or weren’t how we’d discussed them with our project manager.
It took me about six months to fall in love with the house after moving back in. I’d got so used to noticing all the bits that didn’t end up how we’d wanted that I couldn’t see the wood for the trees. But once it felt like home again, I never regretted a moment of the reno. I just didn’t enjoy the process at the time.
Best memories in your new home?
Bringing Beau home from the hospital and then spending two weeks watching Breaking Bad with Shane while he cooked bacon and eggs on the barbecue and the baby slept for longer than a baby should. All our kids’ birthday parties have been hosted at home and they have been so special. Also: family dinners with delicious food, singalongs, and evenings by the outdoor fire.
Any styling tips?
Mix and match pieces you like. Don’t buy everything dirt cheap because it won’t be good quality. I don’t like the wastefulness we seem to have adopted from following trends. A nice home can be created on a budget – there aren’t just two extremes of super-cheap and super-expensive.
Total renovation spend?
Approx $350,000
Scroll down to see more of the Mangere Bridge renovation
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Kitchen, scullery and dining
Vanessa stuck to her guns over an all-white kitchen, but the best decision of all was adding a roomy scullery with a door.
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Shane’s guitar is taken down for “family singalongs around the chiminea”.
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Living room before.
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Living room after.
The corner couch works well in the small living area, providing more seating than a previous pair of sofas. A glass coffee table was chosen so it would ‘disappear’ into the space.
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The laundry in the new extension by the entrance also functions as a mudroom with storage for coats, shoes and bags.
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Bedroom before.
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Bedroom after.
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Bedroom after.
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Ensuite “Designer Katie Scott created the layout and we were really happy with her design. It functions perfectly and it’s so nice to shower in a hotel-feel bathroom each day,” says Vanessa. The rose gold tapware is echoed in the lights in the adjoining bedroom.
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A heritage-style pedestal basin in the family bathroom fits in well with the tiled dado and original matai floor.
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Floor plan.
Contacts
Kitchen and laundry cabinetry Kitchen Mania, kitchenmania.co.nz.
Appliances Fisher & Paykel, fisherpaykel.com.
Ensuite fittings and Buddy tapware Plumbline, plumbline.co.nz.
Ensuite design Katie Scott, ssdesign.co.nz.
Aluminium joinery and windows Fairview Windows, fairviewwindows.co.nz.
Front door Parkwood Doors, parkwooddoors.co.nz.
Existing aluminium joinery repainted by Systemex, systemex.co.nz.
Electrician Matt Carroll, MDC Electrical, 021 434 284.
Landscape design Ivy & Bloom, ivyandbloom.co.nz.
Words by: Debbie Harrison. Photography by: Vanessa Lewis.
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