A handyman trapped in the body of an accountant. A growing family and a lack of space. This is how our renovation story begins.

We decided we would like to try our hand at renovating. So we set down our criteria. Three bedrooms. Walking distance to the beach. Parking and an ability to add on. Then we started out on the house -hunting trail. Every Saturday we trawled through the good, the bad and the downright ugly that the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney has to offer. We looked and we looked and we looked. A just when we thought we couldn’t look anymore, we found!

And boy, what a find. We found we could write our names in the dust that smothered every surface. We found ghastly carpet, gutters held together with duct tape and our biggest find - a shaky deck and sandpit in lieu of a garden. But the location was great; it was very comfortable and had decent potential. We knew we had found our new home.

In the long run, we have big renovation plans – rendering the outside, adding a fourth bedroom and creating an open plan living and dining space. But there were things we had to do right away. So we got to work.

The first thing we did was to pull up the filthy, threadbare carpet. We were lucky enough to find intact wooden floorboards underneath, which we sanded and polished. And that is when we started to run into timing issues. We moved into the house in late November and trying to get things done at that time of year was challenging. We had to pull out a few favours to ensure the new carpet was laid before we moved in.

We also decided to give the house a fresh lick of paint. As part of Australian Renovations, we had the invaluable advice of an interior decorator paint consultant, which made the process of choosing colours much easier. I wanted to keep the wooden features while Craig wanted them gone, so having an independent third party eased the decision process. (I have to say the paintwork really looks fantastic but I miss my wooden doors!).

By far the biggest job was the garden. I called it a construction site – it was a health and safety hazard to anyone who dared to walk out.

In our wedding speech, Craig said he was “numbers and symmetry “ and I was “flowers and poetry”. So when it came it came to the design of the garden, Craig wanted a conventional, low budget garden and I wanted something a bit different – I wanted creativity and a wow factor. I was seeking a garden that would be the centrepiece of the house. After settling on a compromise, we found a designer whose vision we trusted. After a few sessions of discussion he came up with a fabulous design. And then there was the little issue of the budget – we were very shocked at how much a new garden costs. And Craig, being a CFO, wanted to keep a very tight hold of the finances. So after many more nights of tense conversations and a few concessions, we finally got down to a design that fitted within our budget.

That was the hardest part of the job. Once the work started, the LandArt team took care of the rest.

I had planned a big reveal of the garden for my birthday party in January, but alas, we partied away in the ‘construction site’ (and thank goodness, no injuries on the night). With our timeline shot to pieces (given we had finalised the design on Christmas Eve), the garden was finally ready for Craig’s birthday in April!

We are absolutely thrilled with the results and I enjoy and marvel at the garden everyday.

As first time renovators we learned many lessons. Get contractors/designers with a vision and process you trust. Double whatever time you thought you would need to complete the job and keep a tight reign on the budget. But most of all plan for the unexpected. We didn’t realise the bath leaked, the washing machine emptied to a pool of mud under the house, there was moisture leaking through the showers, the woodwork was decaying – the list goes on. But despite all of this, we absolutely love living in our new house.

For us, our renovation wasn’t just about adding value. It was about creating a home where lots of happy memories will be made. Would we do it again – definitely. This is not the end of the Goldberg renovation story – it is just the beginning. And we are really looking forward to completing the journey.

Leigh Goldberg