Knowledge is power – in life and in renovating. Jayne Kiely’s professional life has equipped her with property wisdom in spades. As a real estate agent and co-host of Location, Location, Location NZ, Jayne combines a passion for property with daily peeks inside the diamonds (both polished and rough) of Auckland’s suburbs.
“Part of the reason I got into real estate is because I love homes. I love architecture, I love seeing people renovate their homes – how it starts and how it finishes,” says Jayne. So when it came to polishing up her own property, the St Heliers home she shares with husband Paul and previously with her two now-grown boys, she had a solid idea of what she wanted – and what not to do.
Home Profile
Meet & Greet: Jayne Kiely (real estate agent and co-host of Location, Location, Location), her husband Paul (pilot) and Frank the spoodle.
The Property: Five-bedroom, three-and-a-half bathrooms, two-lounge, three-storey property with gym and sauna in St Heliers, Auckland.
All about that place
Though Jayne and Paul don’t regularly play the property market, changing circumstances and wants have prompted a few moves over the years. The couple have left a small string of beautiful renovations in their wake.
After a big Remuera reno, the family prematurely downsized. The space and potential of this home quickly seduced them. They were especially captivated by the shifting sky and the sparkling ribbon of bay water between St Heliers and Rangitoto.
“The views were beautiful, watching the weather blow across Auckland and the changing seasons,” says Jayne. For the homeowners, the pretty vista, exquisite light and great location more than compensated for any shortfalls in the house itself. “It was a bit of an ugly duckling, but it had great bones. We knew we had something good to work with.”
With two energetic teens to consider, step one was putting in a swimming pool and a bit of landscaping. Then Jayne says they put any further renovation plans on the shelf. Somewhat unusually, Jayne and Paul waited until their boys grew up and moved out before deciding to feather their empty nest. They embarked on a large-scale renovation that would give the home a fresh face and enhanced functionality for them. It also got the property ready to woo a new family in the future.
Turning a no into yes
“We took our time because we wanted to do it right,” says Jayne. The prolonged pause between purchasing and renovating allowed the couple to know the home inside out. They knew exactly where changes would make the most impact. Jayne’s day job also served as market research, delivering them a neat summary of must-haves for future buyers. “I know the ultimate wishlist for a family home, so we followed that brief,” she says.
Jayne knows the deal breakers for home buyers and the universal real estate icks that can stymie a sale. Thankfully, she was able to spot them in her own home. “It was basically a sound property, but there were internal decks and flat roofs, which can cause issues,” she says. “So we just took all the red flags away.” Adding a pitched roof and eaves solved this problem. Upgrades like double glazing brought the house up to a modern standard of comfort.
An extension to the top floor also tackled an aesthetic issue – more likely to raise an eyebrow than a red flag, but annoying nonetheless. The home originally featured two full storeys and one dinky little third
level. “The two storeys were really substantial, and then there was this sort of pop-up, which wasn’t balanced,” says Jayne. By filling in part of the massive top-floor deck, they were able to create a larger, more balanced top floor. This proved big enough to hold an epic main bedroom suite.
Falling in love
Red flags lowered, the couple turned their attention to more positive changes that would make everyday living a joy. The kitchen was redesigned as the centre of the home, adding a big island bench, social cooking spaces and a scullery. They also widened the deck and fitted it with a Louvretec roof for all-weather entertaining. They carved out quiet moments, too, giving the main bedroom suite a sitting area and a private deck for morning yoga or sunset contemplations. Jayne is a former Commonwealth Games track and field athlete, so it’s no surprise that wellness was a priority for the couple, who also installed a home gym with a built-in sauna.
Without compromising their own style, the couple kept future buyers in mind, too. For example, the kitchen is designed with longevity in mind. “You don’t want to go too avant-garde in a kitchen,” says Jayne.
A bathtub – actually two tubs – was deemed essential for a family home, and the backyard is landscaped to showcase the flexibility of the space, with a mini putting green that will impress buyers and somewhere Jayne can work on her short game in the meantime.
A day at the beach
One of Jayne’s pearls of real estate wisdom is to let the house dictate its own style, and with its proximity to water, including views of Rangitoto from the top deck, a modern coastal look was the perfect fit. Crucially, it also aligns with Jayne and Paul’s own style and their preference for clean and contemporary white.
Good friend and interior designer Debra Gardien brought her expertise, helping the couple to decide on defining elements of the renovation, from the vertical weatherboard cladding outside to the design of the entertainer’s kitchen. Fresh coastal tones convey the laidback luxury of a day at the beach, from the crisp white walls and shutters to the warm sand-toned timber floors, while outside, rustling palms around a bright blue pool spell “island retreat”.
Jayne’s tips for a saleable home
Make a good first impression
That first impression – it’s a cliche, but it’s true. People make up their mind whether they like a house within the first 15 seconds, I think. If you can give the house some street appeal, landscape the front entrance, have a beautiful front door, that’s really important.Let the style of the home be your guide
Pick the style of the house and go with it. If it’s a cottage, you can go cottagey; if it’s a modern house, go more minimal. And if you don’t have the right furniture [at sale time], just park up the stuff you’ve got and get it staged. It’s an investment, but property stagers can instantly evoke a mood. They’re geniuses.Renovate for your market
Know your demographic. If you’ve got a three-storey house, downsizers won’t want it, but it’s great for families so renovate to appeal to that demographic. For example, when you’ve got children, it’s really important to have an area for kids to hang out and for parents to have their space. Everybody wants that second lounge – even if it’s just a spot in the bedroom where you can sit and have a coffee without standing on Lego.Be mindful of changing fashions
If you’re going to go bold anywhere in a home, make it something you can change, not a permanent fixture. If you’re going to go bright, bold, brassy, remember it’s probably not going to be in fashion forever.
Sense of style
While the location set a breezy tone, Jayne and Paul introduced elements of contrasting cosiness. “I grew up in central Otago, so I’m partial to a bit of rustic stonework,” says Jayne. To satisfy her South Island soul, Paul clad the sitting room in shiplap boards. This introduced a touch of “alpine lodge” to the home, without compromising the coastal brief. Paul’s own style adds to the cosiness; his travels as an Air New Zealand captain allow ample opportunities to indulge his love of antique-store rummaging, and his vintage treasures contribute layers of interest and a sense of history to the home.
The result is a home that’s both universally appealing and a perfect expression of Jayne and Paul’s personal style. The “forever home” is a concept that doesn’t fit their reality – they will eventually downsize, but Jayne says, “I want this house, but a third of the size. If I could, I would just condense it down.”
Jayne’s home truths
What areas of your build did you save on?
We have walls of panelling [in the main bedroom and sitting room] that Paul did – he’s very good like that. We probably saved a bit because he could do a lot of
the finishing work.And where did you splurge?
Probably the kitchen. We didn’t hold back. The kitchen is such a focal point of everyone’s home – no matter how many lounges you’ve got, everybody hangs out in the kitchen, right? I just wanted to make it really welcoming with a massive big island for everyone to sit around.Best lessons learned?
When you buy a house you’re going to renovate, hang out for six months to a year and just soak up the house. Know where the sun is in the winter and the summer, and work out where all your favourite spots are before you renovate it.Most memorable experience you’ve had in your home (good or bad)?
While we were renovating and we were bedroom-hopping – we’d finish one room and move into the next room – I was standing in the spare bathroom getting ready for work and a saw came through the wall. The builder was cutting out a window or something. I was standing there in a towel, and he was like, “Morning, Jayne.” Luckily, by then, we knew each other quite well.
