Beginning a property make over can seem a bit daunting. Where do you start…more importantly where do you stop?
Whilst all of us would love to rip everything out and start again with a cache of high-end finishes and designer knick-knacks, more often than not that is not possible. It’s at this point many people give up. But it doesn’t have to be all or nothing to get great results.
Refreshing a Docklands crash pad for a country based client recently, this very dilemma was front and centre. The apartment itself was built in the early 2000’s without a single update during that period and was beyond tired. Think 90’s Australian boy band video clip…but I digress. Without the budget, a new kitchen, new bathrooms and new flooring wasn’t an option. It is a holiday home after all.
Fortunately, the carpet was in good knick but not exactly a forecast colour trend. Similarly with the window furnishings. Not bad enough to replace, but not up-to-the minute fashion either. Making the best of what we had was simply how this was going to have to work.
This may seem like a huge compromise. In fact it was the opposite. These constraints became the basis of the colour palate and the launching pad for the whole design concept. Using forest greens, leather, linen, stone and dark wood, the concept was to bring rugged, rural Victoria to Melbourne and give it a chic city-slicker makeover. Add some carefully curated decorator and new light fixtures to the dated kitchen and bathrooms (along with a much needed deep clean) and voila! What was once a problem was now a considered colour and design, transforming the space from the post long term tenanted apocalypse it was at the beginning of the refresh.
My point? It boils down to glass half full vs glass half empty. A problem vs an opportunity… plus a handful of other self-help metaphors you can choose from. Anywho, don’t be so quick to think “this is all too hard” and just give up. More often than not, a little bit of creative thinking can make any space an aspirational masterpiece…without inviting financial ruin. Life is too short to live in a space that brings you down!
Of course, if you’re really stuck this is where we can help! A consultation can be anything from the full enchilada or just a friendly nudge in the right direction :)
Dave
xx