The Art of Renovation: Alex & Corban's Bungalow Revival

Last time we spoke you had just finished the renovation of your first rental property. Now on completing your second, how did it go this time around?
This time round felt a lot sharper with the direction already being established with the first home. We had created the look and feel that we wanted to carry through with, so the second house was easy to apply a similar colour and texture palette with some minor adaptions. This renovation was quite fun with the kitchen being a renovation rather than replacement/new, it made us think a lot about how to reuse and recycle, but make things look fresh and new.

You’re becoming a very well-seasoned renovator - what’s something you’ve learnt that you wish you knew earlier?
The best way to manage costs is make sure you are managing people well and not wasting their time by not having a well organised site. Ensure the different trades are well directed, and before they arrive to work ensuring you have all hardware and products on site ready to go. Plus, a clean and organised site is a safe and efficient site.

Tell us a little bit about the vision behind this renovation?
We wanted to make this home crisp, clean and an efficient use of space being a much smaller foot print.
The original space had four different types of flooring, making it feel quite chaotic. To make a greater sense of space, we planned to create a seamless look with flooring, and paired with neutral paint colours that creates a calming canvas to work with.
It also was originally a 2 bedroom home, and had a huge combined bathroom and laundry. We played around with the layout and were able to cleverly reduce the size of the bathroom- making a compact shower space with a laundry alcove, and splitting the rest of the bathroom to become a half bedroom- perfect for a cot room or study.
You will see the consistent story of green throughout the home, with the kitchen, bathroom tiles and cabinetry in the master bedroom. Green is my favourite neutral, but I know that it also makes people feel calm in a home space. I have loved layering the greens and textures used in the kitchen with the tiles, and a clean white grout for a simple contrast. 

Where are you drawing inspiration from?
I will often spend a good while on Pinterest before I start pulling together my own refined mood boards and designs to help direct a project. I love to watch what 'The Local Project' puts up, the projects that they cover are normally highly sophisticated and out of our budget, but I am inspired by the finer details and overall looks to help inspire direction for our designs.
Which interior design trends are you loving at the moment?
Love a bit of checker tile, but we are mindful that it’s one of those very distinct trends that will come and go. So applying it in a classic way is how we have approached it. Same goes with stripes, a lovely simple stripe in soft furnishings and wall paint for a dare I say it ‘Feature Wall’. I also am loving seeing teeny pops of Red coming through in interior styling, just a very small spot of it with a vase, or tapware or hardware can bring so much character to a space.

Do you have a forecast for any upcoming flooring or interior design trends?
I think that cobblestone and brick for flooring in entry ways, kitchens and bathrooms is creeping in as a trend. Pairing it with mid brown wide plank timber flooring and timber lined walls. I’m actually excited to be looking at applying this trend in our next project.

Where are your top places to shop and source furniture and homewares?
Tile People, Artedomus and Tile Space. The Slow Store, Ferm Living, and Good Form for a very special piece that tells a story.
What’s next for you?
We are working on a Beach House renovation project in Northland. A large Airbnb home that has accommodated many families on their summer holidays over the last decade. However it was originally built on a very tight budget, and after some heavy and happy use, it’s tired and needs an upgrade. We are going to work on it over the next two years, with stage one being the interior fit out, and stage two a re-thought exterior cladding and landscape design to suit how it is used. Very excited to be moving into this one!