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Inside former The Block NZ winners Alice and Caleb Pearson’s latest passion project

A renovation pro tackles her most personal project yet – a forever home for her parents
Outdoor space of Alice and Caleb Pearson's latest renovation project
Picking furniture was a collaborative process between Alice and her parents. She was inspired by mid-century furniture and tried to achieve “a strong balance between what looks good and what suited their requirements”.
Photography: Babiche Martens

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Meet and greet: Alice (director of Pearson + Projects) and Caleb (development manager) Pearson, their children, Alek, Mika, Blake and Brooke, and grandparents Brian and Shona Goldsbury (retired).

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The property: 60sqm minor dwelling on a rural property in Hatfields Beach.

Exterior of the minor dwelling renovation by the Pearsons
Alongside the creation of the new deck, Alice and Caleb also upgraded the roof and updated all the guttering.

Alice Pearson loves her backyard. It would be impossible not to – the sprawling, rural property in Hatfields Beach is a sun-soaked paradise. With two dwellings on the land, it’s the perfect spot for three generations to live within cooee of each other.

The main house is home to Alice, her husband Caleb and their four children. Just a short stroll up the driveway is the minor dwelling that belongs to Alice’s parents, Brian and Shona Goldsbury. Previous owners wouldn’t even recognise the space, which underwent a drastic renovation led by Alice and Caleb.

The renovated living room with  brown leather couch and colourful cushions and wall art
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The Pearsons are no strangers to renovation. Having won The Block NZ in 2013, they spent the subsequent decade transforming properties and sharing their renovation tips with an eager online audience. They welcome a project with a challenge. “When we approach renos we are quite cost-effective in our approach and try to embrace the house we already have. Because it’s a minor dwelling you don’t want to pour a whole lot of costs in. It only has a certain amount of value,” says Alice.

This was the Goldsbury’s retirement plan, so there were nerves going into it. But with Alice and Caleb’s expertise, they took on the project, lovingly dubbed ‘The Parental Pad’, and created an entirely new space in five months.

Wooden dining table with black dining chairs. Two vases with greenery placed on table
Alice didn’t want any bright white walls so she painted the walls in the living area in Resene Calico.

Downsizing

The size of parents’ Brian and Shona’s new home was unlike anything they’d previously lived in.

“They went from a three-bedroom home to 60sqm,” Alice says. “It was a bit of an adjustment to accept that this is a small house, and they eventually came around to the benefits of small living.”

Once they’d lived there for eight months, they started to work on the renovation plan. There were two main priorities on the renovation agenda: storage and comfort. However, the whole project came with a few restrictions. “It was a prefab house, so you can’t build or remove walls. We were really restricted to the floor plan that we had.”

The renovated bathroom done by the Pearsons
The tiles in the bathroom are from Tile Depot.
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The bathroom was gutted and made more liveable, which included swapping out a bath for a shower. For storage, they went with a double vanity with cabinets.

In the two bedrooms, the issue of storage was resolved by creating two large wardrobes. Alice cleared as much furniture as possible to create floor space and the wardrobes were used for storing anything – no matter what it was. “The wardrobe in the study is for storage rather than clothes.”

Spare bedroom with a single bed and desk
The spare room doubles as a study. The wallpaper is Resene and the shutters were custom-made by The Refinery.

In the communal areas, their storage solutions became sneakier. Brian installed a secret linen cupboard in the living room that is cleverly disguised as a panelled wall. Alice loves the way it turned out.

“Visually, it looks amazing, and I love a design that solves problems and makes a negative into something quite memorable,” Alice says.

One thing she found surprising was how easy it was to find appliances that fitted the brief and adapted to a small kitchen. She ended up selecting the Haier Integrated Insert Wall Rangehood and Haier Compact Freestanding Dishwasher, which allowed for their favourite thing: more storage. “We found ways to handle storage solutions, like with our compact dishwasher. I didn’t even know there was an option for a smaller one, but this little, 45cm dishwasher is the perfect size for two people and meant that we could fit it in. Same with the integrated rangehood, which meant we had wall storage.”

Alice Pearson in the green kitchen with Haier appliances
The kitchen is from Kaboodle and the appliances are from Haier. Alice loved Kaboodle’s design process: “You get to design it yourself and Dad did a significant amount of online planning. Mum was very adamant she wanted a green kitchen, so we went really bold with the green and embraced it.”
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Alice is glad of the lessons learned from the challenge. “It’s my mantra to designers that most of the time, having problems or restrictions and finding solutions actually pushes your creativity.”

Colour mad

There was one brief that Alice and Caleb had to stick to – colour was mandatory. They ticked that box in nearly every room, with the exception of the more conservative bathroom. The kitchen more than makes up for that.

“I love any type of green, but I love the vibrancy of their kitchen.” Because they selected it early in the process, it served as the base for the rest of the house.

Green kitchen in the dwelling renovated by the Pearsons

Alice’s colour choices blend seamlessly. “The green in the leaves of the wallpaper in the main bedroom matches quite closely with the green in the kitchen. Then, the desk in the study is a deeper terracotta that matches the wallpaper. I tried to create these little connections in each space with the colour.”

They found that the idea of having white walls to make the space look bigger just wasn’t what they wanted. Instead, they enjoyed the vibrancy and the energy every choice created. “Because we went so bold, you actually just had to embrace it on every wall.” Alice says. They ended up painting the white wall in the living room with Resene Calico.

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The great outdoors

The shining star of the renovation has been the outdoor deck. It was the last thing on their list, and completely changed the feeling of the house.

“The outdoors adds so much value to the way we live, but it’s often like, ‘Oh, we have to do the indoors first.’ We knew that if we wanted to claim any extra living room it would be for the outdoors.”

Outdoor area with an outdoor kitchen and barbecue
The full project took around five months. If Alice was to do it again, she would have started with the outdoor area.

Once they had building consent and professionals did the piles, it was all hands on deck, literally. “My dad and my uncle basically built it all. There was a registered builder who oversaw each step, but it saved a lot of money and was a cool feeling for Dad.”

A full outdoor kitchen was installed, as well as a permanent cover to allow for full enjoyment all year round. Alice gushes about the way the area has upgraded Brian and Shona’s everyday life. “For them, it’s opened up this whole world of being able to entertain, even though they’ve got a small house, and when you live where we live, you do want to be outside all the time.”

Happy home

It’s become the ideal living situation for everyone in the family’s little community. “The kids absolutely love it,” says Alice. “They walk up the driveway and my parents are there.”

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Alice Pearson with two of her children on the outdoor deck

Next on the agenda is Alice and Caleb’s home. The retro space they’ve christened ‘That 70s Reno’ will eventually be due a total transformation. “It’s maybe two years until we start doing our proper renovation. Until then, we’re slowly doing a cosmetic makeover just to make things a little bit nicer to live in.

“I’m enjoying the season of living in a house and dreaming of a large-scale renovation.”

Home truths

What did you save and splurge on? We saved a huge amount by having Dad and his brother do most of the building work themselves, including installing the Kaboodle Kitchen. We splurged on key features like the deck, the new roof, and by adding a beautiful new window in the kitchen.

Best lesson learned? Storage solutions can work in a small house! We also learned that you don’t need to completely overhaul an existing floor plan to make significant and impactful changes.

Any renovation or DIY disasters? The house itself was a bit of a challenge. Being a prefab, the walls were much thinner than standard, which made everything – from adding new plumbing to rewiring and installing new windows – significantly harder than expected.

What are you most proud of? What Dad accomplished with his hands and hard work. Even more, the way this home has enriched my parents’ lives – simplifying their lifestyle while creating a warm, cosy environment for them to enjoy their retirement. Plus, it’s wonderful having a space where the grandchildren can easily visit and make memories.

What’s one thing you’d change if you could? Honestly, I have zero regrets. The only thing I’d add is a spa pool on the front deck… and that’s definitely still on the table.

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Shop Alice and Caleb’s Hatfields Beach renovation style

Clockwise from top left: Art Deco Baroque Fans wallpaper, $140 (per roll), at The Inside; Rory cloche pendant, $399, at Mr Ralph; Marimekko Unikko hand towel, $44, at Bolt of Cloth; Byron outdoor lounge chair, $799, at Trade Tested; Star cross terracotta tiles, $149.90 (per sqm), at Tile Depot; Studio hi ball glass, $59.95 (for four), at Freedom; 300 Series Freestanding Compact dishwasher, $999, at Haier.

See more images of the Hatfields Beach renovation below

Main bedroom in Pearson renovated home. Feature wallpaper continues the green theme

Main bedroom

The wallpaper on the feature wall is from Resene’s Summer Wallpaper Collection and continues the green theme throughout the home. The carpet is by Godfrey Hirst.

Outdoor deck with outdoor chair and coffee table. With mustard cushion and blanket

Outdoor area

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Green laundry room in Pearson renovation project

Laundry room

They ended up slightly tweaking the laundry layout in order to fit more storage in.


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