Aimee and Jake - Real Life Reno

As Aimee and Jake chip away at the renos of their Gold Coast home, first to get a face-lift was their ensuite! Take a peek at this bright coastal/ scandi bathroom using our Palm Beach Grey Encaustic look tile, Newport Matt mini subway paired with the Brushgrove matt white tile.

Our Palm Beach Grey Encaustic look tile, Newport Matt mini subway paired with the Brushgrove matt white tile

What spaces did you renovate?
Our ensuite is the first room we have finished so far. We are super proud of the end result considering we are first time renovators! Next project: kitchen and laundry.

What motivated you to renovate?
As soon as we bought the house, we knew the old ensuite would be the first room to go. It wasn’t maintained by the previous owner and the shower door would get stuck trapping you in the tiny shower haha!

Were you living here at the time of your renovations?
We fortunately have two bathrooms so could renovate the ensuite without too much of an impact (although somehow the demolition dust made its way to every other room in the house).

How would you describe your style?
Maybe coastal, modern scandi. We obviously love bright and white with the warmth of timber and try to aim for a timeless design.

Talk us through the process you took in the planning stages of the renovation!
Pinterest was my go to from the beginning but a lot of inspiration and planning came from Instagram. I found that a lot of reno pages shared tips from their own experience and I could see what was more popular in Australian homes. The bathroom designed by Andy and Deb on The Block and was my initial inspo and I regularly stalked posts from TileCloud and Abi Interiors before I made final decisions.

Were there any delays? How long did the renovation take?
Our ensuite took 7 weeks only because we actually booked a holiday and so did our tiler so nothing was touched for about 2 weeks. We also tried to engage as many of our tradie friends as possible to save money so most work was done on weekends.

What was the most challenging part of the renovation? Did anything go wrong? How did you adapt?
We originally planned to have one long niche but once we gutted the room, there was a load bearing stud right through the middle of the wall. We decided to have two smaller niches (his and hers) and we are so glad we ended up with that solution! Our trades ensured everything ran pretty smoothly and we made sure we had all the measurements and information on hand for them. The hardest part was probably deciding how tall the niches were, how high to hang the vanity and where the towel rails/toilet roll should go. Highly recommend jumping onto the Zephyr and Stone website for their advice!

Were you juggling a career as well as overlooking the renovations?
We sure did! We both work full time and my partner Jake had also just started his own electrical business so it was a busy time but we knew it would all be worth it in the end.

Did you and your partner or family butt heads over the design at all?
We both have a very similar style and usually Jake is happy with my decisions but I really value his input. I’m impatient and Jake is a little more relaxed so that’s usually where we butt heads!

Did you come into the TileCloud showroom to look around at tiles? Did you order samples?
I wish we could have visited the TileCloud showroom as it was really hard to pick samples with so many beautiful options to choose from! I loved that we could see and feel samples before committing to our purchase. I also loved seeing real life projects on the website which really helped with the selection process.

Why did you choose TileCloud / What did you enjoy best about the TileCloud experience?
TileCloud offer designer/boutique products at such a reasonable price and we love supporting an Australian business too. The whole process from ordering to delivery is seamless and the customer service is exceptional. We will only purchase from TileCloud for our future projects.

Any advice for first time renovators?
Do as much as you can yourself (such as demolition) with the guidance of your trades! You don’t need a builder if you can manage the project yourself and save $$$. Oh and ALWAYS get multiple quotes, don’t just go with the first one you receive and look up their reviews too.

Keep up with Aimee and her renos: @ourwiltshirereno
Photographer credit: @imagebydesignphotography