The Renovation

In June 2007 Amanda and I brought an original 1970's house in need of renovation in Berowra at the start of the beautiful Hawkesbury River, an hour north of Sydney. Amanda needed space, I needed a change and we both wanted our son, Hewitt to grow up out of the city and surrounded by nature. Plus it was cheap!

Although Amanda is a landscape designer and has renovated previously we were both extremely naive about the extent of renovations we were taking on. I was sure the house would be finished in 6 months and we would be entertaining family and friends on the deck by the pool by Xmas. Ha! It's 3 1/2 years later and we are still spending every weekend digging, hammering and sanding and every last cent we earn on timber, pipes, paint, nails, the list goes on. Renovating is hard work, renovating without surplus cash is harder!!!

So why write a blog 3 years down the track?

Yesterday we made a decision - let's set ourselves a challenge, re-finance and with a budget of $30,000, (after paying off the 3 maxed out credit cards and personal loan) complete the renovations in 6 weeks.

We are definitely over the half way mark, in fact it may be 75% complete, it's hard to say because as we've finished something in the past 3 years we forget the original state it was in. But if you think this is a small task think again, we still need to complete the laundry, en suite, front lounge room, flooring and pool (that's right all with $30K!).

I also have to admit that the major part of the reno so far has been carried out by Amanda's bear hands. I am a theatre director and I'm sure those who know me will agree that my strength is my vision. I am very good a standing back and seeing the outcome in my head, I'm not so good at participating in the outcome unless I am instructing others how to create what I see.

But all that is about to change. As of tomorrow I am project manager, designer, carpenter, landscaper, painter, brickie and labourer. I will post a schedule of works and before and after shots daily for you to check out.

Let's do this...

L x