The all black kitchen looks scary as. Maybe because there's no lightness in there at all.

The first time I met the White house, I was impressed with her grandeur and character having retained all her original features, but , she was tired and dark and in need of a little prescriptive care from the House Doctor - especially if her owners wanted to sell her for top $. She had strong bones and high ceilings and direct access to her own beach, all features that are highly desirable in the property market. With great clients to work with the White house was an easy fix and a simple rejig or the floor plan, a new kitchen, bathroom and a repaint was all the magic she needed to fix her real estate aches and pains. The results were so successful she attracted the attention of Your Home & Garden and stylist Natalie Hoelen. Kitchen Before Kitchen After Living Room Before Living Room After Kids Room Before Kids Room After Master Bedroom Before Master Bedroom After Let us know your thoughts below!

Hi all. Two questions re my living room in a very cool but neglected house in NZ. Property was architect designed, built in 1980 but with a very sixties vibe. So it’s an eclectic / Interesting mixture of mid century architecture (floor to ceiling glass, atrium, flat roof, trees) but with 80s appointments (bathroom colours and fittings, crazy paving, floors, garden hardscaping, etc) After being built (to a high standard) it looks like it was neglected by subsequent owners. We bought it three eyars ago and have replaced the roof, skylights, plumbing and wiring. All stuff that had to be done. We redid the front garden because it needed it but it was also the first project we did for lifestyle reasosn as well – because we wanted to not just because we had to. Nice feeling. Two Questions : First - we’ve been here a couple years, and not really solved the living room furniture layout thing. The room is long and relatively narrow. It’s generously sized, but it always feels a little empty. It’s like it’s too large for a ‘single’ seating zone arrangement, but not quite big enough to create two distinct areas. The reality is I feel I have three different possible things I want to ‘look’ at – the fireplace, the garden via the beautiful end glass wall, and, frankly, the TV and Hi Fi. So we tend to settle on an L shaped arrangement, with the open part of the L facing the window and TV in summer, and reversing it so it embraces the fireplace and TV in winter. So what would I like? I’d like to create an area for talking and an area for tv watching / family time where the sofa s closer, but I’m stumped on how to do that without being too far away from the fireplace in winter (brrrr) or being too close to the very large window and its torrents of sunshine in summer (too hot to be comfortable and furniture fades fast in NZ high-UV sun). Ideas and thoughts welcome. Second question : flooring I was a bit iffy on the (original) marble tiling when we moved in but I've grown to love it. I hate the carpet though which definitely isn’t original. I’d like to replace it but can’t decide with what. I’d prefer something that links the three zones – kitchen and entrance area with its marble tiles, living area (currently carpet) and outside patio (grey concrete tiles). More tiles are out – pretty sure three different kinds of tiles across the three zones would look odd - so I’m tossing up w simply replacing the carpet (what kind? What colour? Grey to match tiles or amber-y to bring down colour from the brick wall?) or installing wooden floors. I was leaning towards wood except when we went to the wooden flooring shop both design consultants suggested simply replacing the carpet would look better (they’re wooden floor salespeople??????) which makes me wonder if they are seeing something I'm not. All advice appreciated. It’s a beautiful house, and any improvements I make are about lifestyle not resale value. I’ll be carried out of this place in a box.

Thank you for your feedback. Personal taste will always impact on how one feels about design, architecture, art, even how food is presented. When renovating to sell this needs to be considered, however one cannot meet everyone’s taste. Your comments and critique are appreciated, especially in regard to the appliances. The client has renovated for sale in the past and this particular location allowed him to be more daring with the design in particular in regard to the staircase. He was positive that he would get the return on investment. We ensured that we picked the points of impact and ensured all other costs were minimized by updating ceiling, wall and flooring finishes with cost effective materials that are aesthetically pleasing and hard wearing. By making necessary repairs and updates, one can improve the property's overall appearance, functionality, and appeal, making it more attractive to a larger pool of potential buyers, as well as being able to set a higher asking price and have more leverage during negotiations with potential buyers. We do not believe that a paint job alone and sharing the ideas with the new owner would have assisted our client in making the best return on his investment.