Ashley Dobson Home Renovation Project

It was always Ashley Dobson’s partner’s dream to buy a property and renovate. So when the time came that the couple were in a place to buy, they knew they had their eye on purchasing a “place that needed lots of love”.

The couple found exactly what they were searching for when they stumbled across a Glass House Mountains fixer-upper cottage. They bought the Sunshine Coast property and commuted to it from their Brisbane rental property everyday to work on renovating every inch of it – including the living space, laundry, main bathroom, en-suite and its exterior.

“We fell in love with this property in the Glass House Mountains and I quickly fell in love with the process. I’ve always been obsessed with interior design so I was up for the challenge,” Ashley says. “The first thing I did was sit in the middle of the empty house for a few hours and just imagine the space and what it could be. What walls I wanted to knock out, what colours I wanted, cabinetry etc.”

As well as booking in trades fast, Ashley adds that she and her partner thankfully had a fewhands-on friends that were able to dive right in to help them out with the reno. While the time crunch meant they were forced to get the show on the road when it came to renovations, it also meant that they encountered problems just as quickly.

“This was our first renovation and I think we were a little bit ignorant with timings,” she says. “The renovation took about four months but we had a few issues with trades. We moved in without running water and the bathrooms not being completed but hey, that's part of the experience!”

Ashley admits she learnt the hard way that planning ahead, particularly when it comes to booking trades people, can help to potentially avoid experiencing unnecessary challenges. “The most challenging part was hiring a tiler that didn't do his job properly, this really mucked us around with timings,” she explains. Ashley warns others embarking on a similar renovation journey that thoroughly researching trades and checking reviews is crucial, adding she “can’t stress that enough”.

“We were a bit silly and booked in a tiler last minute which we've learned good tilers are booked out for months. If you are planning to renovate a bathroom, make sure to book a tiler in asap!” she says. “Our tiler unfortunately did not include a fall in the bathroom so we had to rip all the tiles up, scrape the grout off our beautiful tiles (took days) and find a new tiler. Luckily our plumber recommended a tiler he knew and he did an amazing job.”

The couple opted for TileCloud Tiles and Yabby Antique Brass Tapware for their bathroom and couldn’t have been happier with the process and the result. “Before going into the showroom, I ordered samples that I thought would go well with the space,” Ashley says. “I wanted to go into the showroom before ordering everything so when we were in Sydney we had to stop in and have a look at different designs. I actually changed my design going in there so I highly recommend chatting to the team there! They were amazing.”

She adds, “The communication with the team was amazing. They were so helpful with any problems I had or any design questions. So many beautiful tile choices and I am obsessed with the antique brass tapware options!”