Adelaide Kitchen and Laundry Renovation in Westbourne Park

Nestled in the inner southern suburb of Westbourne Park in Adelaide, is the home of Margaret Martin. A small house, built on a sizeable 1000sqm in the early 1950’s the home underwent a renovation in the 1980’s, with the addition of a family room, new kitchen and a tennis court.
Margaret was now keen to rework the floor plan at the back of the house to create a better sense of space and light and to establish a greater connection between the older front section of the house, and newer back section. The kitchen was in need of an upgrade, the one bathroom in the house was part of an oversized laundry and the living room and bedrooms needed some attention.
“Margaret approached us following an unsuccessful process with a builder where the budget had spiralled out of control. We explained our methods of design and build and that our approach allows for total control of the budget from the beginning, right through to completion,” said Nielen Prince, Renovation Specialist at Refresh Renovations, Adelaide.
“I happened to find Refresh Renovations online,” explained Margaret.  “I was doing a Google search one day, filled in the contact form and Nielen got in touch.


what Refresh Renovations delivered was aligned with what I wanted to achieve

The new dining room and kitchen design

The thing that attracted me was that in the testimonials, someone had written, I had a budget and they were respectful of that and stuck to the budget. I needed someone who could do that for me,” she said.
Following a review of the existing floor plan, it was clear that the current kitchen and dining room set up was not working. The dining room was accessed through a doorway behind the existing benchtop, the doorway made accessible by lifting up a section of the benchtop. In removing the doorway and adjoining wall, the room was opened up, to allow for the installation of the new Amorini kitchen in the old dining room area. The new kitchen was complemented by the addition of a MiroStone benchtop and new appliances
The oversized laundry, which housed the only bathroom in the house, was a remnant from the previous owner's hairdressing business where the clients walked down the side of the house and entered the “Salon’ via an external door.

A stud wall was built to divide this room in two and create enough space for the construction of an ensuite bathroom.

A new ensuite bathroom

“Nielen and his Construction Manager, Geoff came up with a great idea on how I could create an en-suite and separate bathroom. The decision to create the separate en-suite and bathroom was just the best thing ever,” said Margaret.
A fixed panel of frosted glass was installed to replace the external door and provide both privacy and an abundance of natural light to the new main bathroom. A feature wall of Rio Limestone Grey Tiles from Beaumont Tiles added texture and warmth to the design, and the addition of a freestanding bath, frameless shower screen, and new cornices completed the modern, luxurious feel of the new room.  With clean white cabinetry, the laundry was seamlessly integrated into the bathroom.

Installing luxury vinyl flooring

Flooring in the kitchen, dining and living areas provided an unexpected challenge and resulted in an additional A$6k variation to the budget. “While removing the existing black slate tiles, we discovered that the tiles had been laid on a concrete slab that was not fully dry. As a result, the concrete slab was brittle and as we removed the tiles, the concrete came away too,” said Nielen. “We had to apply a screed across the whole floor and screw boards on top to get a completely flat surface in preparation for laying the new Luxury Vinyl Tile floor (“LVT”),“ he added.
“That was an expense that I didn’t anticipate,” said Margaret. It was a situation where Nielen and Geoff absolutely looked at every option.  I was presented with all the alternatives and what it would cost. They really persisted with the flooring people, as Geoff was not convinced that some of the solutions would work. I feel confident that longer term we got the best result,” she added.

The LVT’s were laid throughout the kitchen, dining and living rooms, with new carpet installed in the three bedrooms. A fresh coat of half strength Dulux Classic USA throughout the house completed the look.

Overcoming challenges

A change of job early in the renovation meant that Margaret was interstate for most of the work. “I guess for me the biggest challenge was that I had moved interstate and I was trying to stay on top of the renovation remotely. What I found was by using the Refresh Customer Portal together with the constant communication I had with Nielen and Geoff, it took all the anxiety out of it.  I really did literally hand my house over to them,” said Margaret.
“It was another challenge having to make a lot of decisions when I came back to Adelaide and to cross fingers that it would all come together in the end. But it did. I felt that what Refresh Renovations delivered was aligned with what I wanted to achieve,” said a very happy customer.

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*All information is believed to be true at time of publishing and is subject to change.