Beyond the Hammer: The True Value of a Renovation Specialist You might think a builder is all you need for a home renovation, but a true renovation specialist offers so much more than just swinging a hammer. While a builder excels at physical construction, a specialist provides comprehensive project leadership, guiding your vision from concept to stunning completion. They navigate design complexities, budgeting, material selection, and council regulations, keeping you fully informed and actively involved at every stage. It's about seamlessly integrating aesthetics, functionality, and compliance, ensuring your transformed space perfectly reflects your desires with transparency and collaborative expertise. Navigating the Kiwi Renovation Landscape: Local Expertise Matters Undertaking a renovation in New Zealand comes with distinct rules and nuances, making local expertise invaluable. A specialist deeply understands the intricacies of NZ building codes, resource consents, and specific regulations that vary even between local councils. With years of experience, they are adept at navigating unique challenges, from seismic considerations to character home protections, having successfully solved a variety of issues in the past. This ensures your project is compliant and future-proof. Crucially, they also possess established relationships with trusted local suppliers and qualified New Zealand tradespeople, guaranteeing access to quality materials and craftsmanship that meet high Aotearoa standards.

Back in 2015 we wrote an article 'The Future of Kitchens: What will they be like in 2025?' and it seems only appropriate that now we've made it to 2025 we take a look back and see how accurate our predictions were compared to the kitchens we are designing building today.

What is a Granny Flat? And are they just for Grannies?

Keep in Character with the Neighborhood

Dreaming of a kitchen that's both a joy to cook in and a beautiful space to gather? A kitchen renovation can turn that dream into reality. However, it's easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices. To help you focus on what truly matters, we've identified the 7 must-have features that will maximise your kitchen's functionality, efficiency, and overall enjoyment.

Too many people plonk a table and six chairs in between the kitchen and living room and call it their dining area. But given that mealtime is the only time many families get together in one place at the same time, are we under-valuing the dining experience? Check out our top 5 tips to create a dining space that is inviting and functional for both everyday dining and the concessional dinner party or larger gatherings.

Extending the footprint of your home brings great physical, emotional and financial rewards. More space for you and your family and increased equity in your home are only two of those benefits.

We spend more than half our time in homes but we almost always go somewhere else for our health and wellbeing – the gym, a spa, a massage clinic. Why? Have you ever stopped to think about how your home could better support your family’s health? Here are our tips on revitalising your own space so you can revitalise yourself.

We’ve all done it – seen a piece of furniture or kitchen we like in a showroom, only to find when we get it home or install it that it just looks wrong. Or have you made a massive decorating mistake without even realizing it? There are lots of common mistakes to avoid. Here are 10 of them.

We’re not just talking about adding value here – but also that special something that adds your own distinctive style and personality to your home. In other words, making your living spaces come alive!

Renovating your house can be a great way to get your dream home and climb the housing ladder, but it can also be a trap for the unwary. It’s all too easy to make innocent mistakes and find yourself in a bottomless money-pit, as Tom Hanks and Shelley Long did in the hilarious 1986 movie, The Money Pit . When you renovate as many homes as we do, you get to spot many traps that unsuspecting homeowners have fallen into. Here are some of the most common renovation traps and how to avoid them.