836 Sydney Road North Coburg, VIC, 3058
In 2018, young Perth couple Caleb and Bree purchased their second property, a 3 bedroom home in their dream neighbourhood of Parkerville. The appeal and practicality of this property, however, quickly faded after the arrival of their first child. With too many stairs, too few bathrooms and a poorly designed layout, the family decided it was time to cut their losses and put the house up for sale.
Unfortunately, they struggled with a lack of market interest, listing the property at $439,000 without a single offer, despite having paid $463,500 for the home only two years prior. Even though the Perth market had been rocky for several years, the dramatic drop in value was surprising and had Andrew questioning whether it was the Perth property market or in fact the house itself.
With a very limited budget of $20,000, Shaynna and Charlie really had to get creative with this makeover in order to transform the property. It may seem a simple change, however, Shaynna started by repainting the interior a pale grey colour, which created a warm and more inviting feel to the home.
Despite her preference to keep the existing floorboards, water damage in certain areas from the couples living arrangements rendered it impractical and in need of a change. The flooring was replaced with a vinyl plank, creating a clean and natural feel with its muted timber finish.
The addition of a toilet to the original 'shower-laundry' room made it a functioning bathroom on the ground floor and was great value add to the property. Shaynna's addition of a false wall worked to hide the plumbing and blended seamlessly into the room, while spraying the tiles white helped to make the space feel open and bright.
As the house lacked the indoor-outdoor living layout that buyers today seem to love, and without any room in the budget for bifold doors, Shaynna cleverly decided to paint the room which lead out to the backyard in a light teal colour. This ultimately helped to brighten up the space and create a vibrant transition between the two areas.
Relatively speaking, the kitchen layout wasn't too bad to begin with; however, it was in desperate need of a cosmetic update. By spraying the splashback tiles and benchtop a 'Natural White', they neutralised the space and created a sense of simplistic order, all while staying in line with the allocated budget.
As the home was situated high off the ground, privacy wasn't an issue and so Shaynna opted for the sleek and simple Luxaflex® Roman Blinds in the living, dining, garden room and master bedroom. The choice of translucent fabric for the living, dining and garden room blinds created a soft and homey feel, whilst the blockout fabric opacity for the master bedroom blinds, provided much needed light control.
The finished styling of this property was crucial as it helped to define each space within the home and provide potential buyers with a vision of how everything could come together. Shaynna carefully selected furniture pieces, artwork and accessories that complemented the new flooring, paint and window coverings, as well as the natural environment that surrounded the house.
With the limited budget he had to work with, Charlie decided to focus on the front of the home and the ways in which he could improve the property's street appeal. Work included cleaning the facade, painting the railings and gutters a subtle 'Christmas ivy' green, building a new step by the front door and updating the porch lights and garden beds
A new front door in a natural wood material was also installed to reflect the surrounding environment and define the entrance. These simple and cost effective improvements helped to elevate the front facade and give the tired property a much needed refresh.
A lot of manual effort went in to improving the backyard as Charlie removed all of the existing plants, cleaned the retaining wall and manicured the surrounding trees. In order to enhance the surprisingly flat terrace in this sloping bush block, Charlie also had some new turf laid to create a safe, play friendly garden - a feature which would hopefully appeal to potential property buyers and their families.
Young couple Caleb and Bree were always realistic when it came to the current value of their home. After just a few weeks on the market, their Parkerville property sold for $440,000. Although this was less than what they originally purchased the property for, they couldn't have been happier with the sale.
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The products in this episode were proudly supplied and installed by Luxaflex® Window Fashions Gallery Dealer Chelsea Decor, Kalamunda WA.
