Walking into a fully renovated home is most bungalow-lovers' idea of a match made in heaven. For Amanda Stewart, her more fundamental notion of a tailor-made home is one in which she has worked her tape measure and her scale drawing implements to specify a renovation that fits her furniture as well as her family's lifestyle.
Certainly Amanda and her husband Geoff did so here, arriving in December 2009 with three bungalow renovations to their credit and a well-honed collective eye for the big picture and the detail within.
Amanda set to work as soon as they saw the house, opening up the floor plans that came with the pre-purchase paperwork. "I drew the furniture to scale because I had to know where everything would fit," she explains.
As they worked on their new floor plan, she measured the wall between their lounge and their kitchen to fit their favourite couch. In the master bedroom she knew exactly where to position the feature wall to suit the proportions of the room and make space for a dressing room and en suite behind.
When their builders turned their attention to the traditional beam and panel ceiling in the room, Amanda, who works as a project manager for Property 3D, knew immediately that another beam would restore the symmetry.
She explains why all that measuring paid dividends. "There was no indecision. Decisions could be made on the spot."
In keeping with hers and Geoff's appreciation for scale and pattern, she chose a William and Morris wallpaper and matching fabric pattern for their bedroom because it was of the same era.
The exterior of the house had been extended, and all they had to do was rebuild the front veranda in traditional bungalow style.
Inside, they opened up the compartmentalised middle part of the house to create open-plan living and give a view from the front door to Centennial Park that lies beyond their tall, basalt rock rear boundary fence.
They removed a servery that pointed to early times when what is now Milly's bedroom was a formal dining room separate from the kitchen and the lounge.
Now, their home's heartland living area operates with a far less formal, more relaxed elegant efficiency from Amanda's kitchen that is out of sight of the main hallway. It's a seamless installation enhanced by cabinetry lacquered to match the walls and finished with engineered stone benches.
As well as seats at the island bench and around the dining table, extra seating in the corner bank windows flanks the doors to the reconfigured deck and split-level outdoor dining areas.
Throughout, dark-stained original rimu floors are a unifying feature, embraced by the bungalow windows and the sparkle of light through original leadlight windows including the porthole-style, nautical-themed fanlight in Joshua's bedroom.
Image 1 of 5: A couple's appreciation for design and interiors, and their love for renovation, is evident in this remarkable transformation
Amanda and Geoff, who is a banking consultant, completed this renovation in four months, staying with family in Howick and putting in after-hours time on site on the likes of stripping old wallpaper. "It's a quick way to do it," Geoff explains.
Now the home that their family never got to see in its "before" state is a drawcard for all ages. Amanda and Geoff have even rolled up a projector screen at the bottom of the garden for outdoor movie evenings with friends and their children, many of whom who live in the neighbourhood.
Now, this enterprising couple has raised the bar and Amanda's tape measure is working overtime to fine-tune their plans for a contemporary barn-style home on a 1.2ha lifestyle block at Matakana, north of Auckland.
