Yes you are right, oskuee, the cost of this renovation was commensurate with its location in a prestige suburb of Sydney. Having said that, the budget was not limitless, so we chose to retain and enhance the bones and style of the original house by making 'simple' changes, rather than reinventing the whole house's look & layout, which would require more extensive and costly changes. This is how I usually approach renovations, to get the most out of the client's budget, no matter what the size or cost of the project is.

Hi Wendy, and thanks for the luck! We didn't get planning permission. As it's a transportable structure, that's not necessary. The house isn't anywhere near finished yet, so it's not something we can really travel with at the moment. Could be on the cards for the future, though with this particular house we're actually looking to sell it once it's finished. Definitely sounds like a good way to spend your life :) D.R. Developments, we're actually in South Hurstville, so not far from you. We basically need help to finish waterproofing and cladding the exterior walls, roof (flashings etc.), re-doing the interior walls and floors due to water damage and sorting out the solar electricity and plumbing systems. Once all of that's done, I'm going to be building the furniture for the internal fit-out myself, which I'm very excited about!

executing Owner Builder projects these days really is consolidated to projects that can be self funded - banks and building surveyors are becoming increasingly cautious when it comes to owner builder projects and fair enough too...... Experience/knowledge aside, unless you are retired, on long service leave or have a passive income and have money in the bank, it's questionable whether you'll overall save money when you factor your own time and risk into it.....after helping several clients with owner builds, and doing a couple of my own, (& I know what I'm doing) my opinion of this approach has shifted significantly over the past 15 years or so..........as a general pattern, it starts off as exciting, but the projects are harder to finish, and when the money runs out there's a big risk of being caught in no man's land where you've spend more than anticipated, the jobs unfinished but you need more money to finish it properly to either re-finance of release funds somehow...... My advice (for mental health!) is to approach these projects and engaged with this industry as professionally as possible with clear packaged proposals. Sure build some flexibility into the contract say for choices on finishes etc, but I'd now confidently advise people the best approach for construction projects, to minimise risk and for a most smooth process, is to "front end" investment in comprehensive design, documentation & specification that can then be clearly packaged/presented to a (reputable) builder who can then fix the quote and execute the construction stage far more effectively and efficiently than someone "having a go piecing it all together for the first time", regardless of whether you may have some close industry contacts as support.... Best of luck! Cheers PD :)

my very basic suggestions include losing the external front steps and have a front porch with front door and entry foyer downstairs and access to under the house from the garage and have a simpler staircase (NB there's a lot of furniture and groceries and rubbish that have to go up and down stairs so all the stairs should be more comfortable and direct) with square landings and no angled steps original upstairs entry area could now be used as an office but you need to add furniture to the family dining area and alfresco to find the best use of floor space and doors, the powder room needs to be more private so i would lose the extra ensuite upstairs and make the rumpus room into a multi purpose space with sliding doors and ens upstairs has more than enough space for generous hallways, bigger bedrooms, more storage, a shared family bathroom, a living area and/or office and grouping the ens and wiw (with twice as much storage and dressing area) on the south west allows better access to the views from the toilet shower and master bedroom