Maddison and Tim - Real Life Reno

Maddison and her partner Tim renovated their coastal home in a beach side town in QLD in the beginning of 2022. Using our Mornington limestone look ivory (currently unavailable- check out our Mornington Limestone look tiles as an alternative) paired with the Albert Park Vanilla gloss subway they have transformed the house into the perfect weekender!

What spaces did you renovate?
We renovated the entire house! Inside and out!

What motivated you to renovate?
We have always dreamed of having a place down the coast and when this one came up, it certainly wasn’t love at first sight. But, we knew that if we could buy it for the right price we could make it our own by doing a renovation. We knew that the amount of work it needed, would scare people. But for us, it was a challenge we were totally up for!

Were you living here at the time of your renovations?
No, but we camped there a few nights throughout the reno. We setup our swag in a spare bedroom and got back to it the next day to save us commuting back and forth from Brisbane.

How would you describe your style?
I’m a Buyer’s Agent – so I view things very much through that lens. My style varies and is usually specific to the house and the local market. So, for this house it was a modern, neutral coastal theme. In my experience, renovations are easier when you honour the style and existing elements of the house. Even though it’s a home for us, I think re-sale and marketability are always good to keep in mind so that you know you’re spending money on things that matter to the broader market.

Talk us through the process you took in the planning stages of the renovation!
We definitely drew inspiration from a lot of different projects we had seen in person, on pinterest and Instagram. There is so much information out there and people are quite generous with showing where they get things and that definitely helps. We actually relied on TileCloud quite a lot when choosing tiles because there is a lot of great finished photos that really helped us get a feel for how things would look in our space. On this project though, we were pretty bound by materials. We had to choose from things we knew were ready and available so that we could meet our tight deadlines.

Were there any delays? How long did the renovation take?
It took about three months end, to end. The guys put in a huge effort with us to get things done. Our only delay was when we changed our tile design after we placed the order and had to order some more, but thankfully TileCloud were very speedy! I really agonised over the bathroom layouts and use of tiles to get the balance I wanted. We settled on tiling up half way with the floor tile and we are really happy with the result – it gave us the boutique beach hotel feel that we were looking for, without breaking the bank.

What was the most challenging part of the renovation? Did anything go wrong? How did you adapt?
We were pretty lucky with this renovation, with very little going wrong. We did come across some asbestos in the ceiling, which was a costly little surprise.

Were you juggling a career as well as overlooking the renovations?
Yes! I am in property and my partner Tim is in Commercial Finance, so we certainly had a lot on our plates for this one. We have really pushed ourselves to as much as possible while we are still young and free!

Did you and Tim butt heads over the design at all?
We are very competitive, so naturally we butt heads. But design-wise we are usually on the same page. Our big picture goals are always pretty aligned, so the small stuff is easy to get through!

Did you come into the TileCloud showroom to look around at tiles? Did you order samples?
No and no! I think that’s why it was so difficult for us to make this decision. We went to a lot of the traditional retainers and looked at tiles but nothing was really working for us. So, by the time we needed to order tiles it was too late for samples and taking our time. We just needed to pull-the-trigger!

Why did you choose TileCloud / What did you enjoy best about the TileCloud experience?
I had always followed TileCloud on Instagram and liked their selections, but the idea of ordering tiles online was a little bit daunting. Like with all online shopping, sometimes it’s hard to know what things are going to look like in person. But again, that’s where all of the finished photos and blogs really came in handy. Everything was really true to size, colour and the delivery process was really quick and easy.

Any advice for first time renovators?
Be organised and really get ahead of what you have to do next. Make all of your selections ahead of time and really nail your layouts before you get started. Most importantly always have fun and don’t kill each other!

Photographer credit:  https://sociallab.com.au/