Where It All Began
Only a few minutes from the beach and school for their boys, Tully and Melissa Barnes fell in love when they found this heritage house in Glenelg North and set to work making it their home. With their family set to grow with the arrival of twins, they knew they’ll need more space and a whooole lot of storage with construction of a second story addition.
“Like some families unexpectedly they grow, and definitely that happened when the twins arrived. We didn’t really want to leave our home or leave where we lived, so we decided that we would just build that extra space on and make more space for the growing boys that were going to be taking over our home.”
The process of finding a builder wasn’t easy. With so many builders and construction companies to choose from they weren’t sure who would be the right fit.
Melissa and Tully contacted us feeling overwhelmed with the idea of renovating and a second-story addition for their home, and the idea of having to move to a rental was not going to work for them.
After asking plenty of questions regarding the process of extending and building a second-story addition, we arranged to meet and go through their ideas together.
Our clients had a vision, and we were honoured to be chosen to bring it to life.
The Process
Built to engineer specifications, our process for the build was:
- Master plans created by the architect and engineer and approved by Tully and Melissa
- Development and council approval
- Materials planning
- Site preparation
- Earthworks
- Foundations
- Ground floor framing
- Second-story floor installation
- Second-story framing
- Roof installation
- External cladding
- Internal works including insulation, plumbing, electrical work, gyprock
- Construction of staircase
- Finishing works including flooring, tiling, cabinetry, and painting
With as minimal disruption as possible to their everyday living, we installed temporary hoarding along with tough plastic sheeting to the open area of the existing home to minimise dust, debris, and weather as we worked (with their boys later adding their own touches of artwork throughout the build, very cute!).
It was important to Melissa and Tully that the extension and second-story addition retained the heritage feeling of the home and the existing house flowed seamlessly into the new extension.
Following this brief, we sourced and recycled used 90-year-old floorboards to match the existing flooring, which allowed for not only the same visual aesthetics but also similar acoustics underfoot when walking through the home, providing total continuity in the finish of the design.
The Kids Bedroom
Having kids usually means having lots of stuff but having four boys can be a whole other ball game! It means lots of storage and functionality are a must.
Wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling cupboards in the boys’ bedroom were installed, giving a much-needed home to all their things like toys, clothes, and school gear. To make doing the washing for four boys a breeze, there was also the inclusion of a child-safe laundry chute sending their dirty clothes straight to the downstairs laundry, how cool is that?!
The Parent Retreat
As busy parents and business owners, Melissa and Tully designed a parents’ retreat that dreams are made of.
A large window dressed with wall-to-wall sheer white curtains allows for lots of light, gold pendant lights from The Lighting Outlet in Sydney add a little touch of luxury, and for a big dose of wow you can’t go past the incredible floral wallpaper mural from Olive Et Oriel.
Moving through to the huge walk-through robe there is a nook providing 12 spaces for Melissa’s designer handbags, a beautiful gold arch mirror, and a Velux skylight with a remote-controlled blind.
Walking through the robe you are met with the ensuite fitted with a stylish timber vanity, black framed storage mirror, and on-trend black tapware and accessories.
The Home Office
Running a business from home means having a dedicated space to focus, but it also needed to be functional.
The home office was designed with plenty of storage above and around the desk and under the stairs. There are lots of cleverly hidden goodies like power points in cupboards to keep the desk clear and tidy and little fingers away from plugs and sockets.
THE LAUNDRY
With a family of four boys, you could imagine what it would be like to do the weekly washing:
- 4 x sets of school uniforms
- 4 x sets of sports uniforms
- 4 x sets of clothes from playing in the garden each day
Then there’s Melissa and Tully’s own clothes and work uniforms. Phew!
With all that washing, a functional laundry, again with a heap of storage, is an absolute must.
They designed a dream laundry complete with a child-safe chute from the boy’s bedroom, helping the kids to keep their room clean for mum and dad.
It also features wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling cupboards, overhead cupboards, a hanging rail, stunning herringbone marble tile splashback, stone benchtop, sink with black tapware, and a beautiful glass panelled all-weather aluminium door with a side window letting light pour into the room.
This extension and second story addition was a huge success, we’re so proud of our team for bringing it all together, and it was such a pleasure working with Melissa and Tully to bring this renovation dream to life.
If you’re considering a dream renovation, addition, or extension of your home
give our team a call – 0429 999 478
