From 1970 to 2019: A kitchen renovation in Clevedon

When homeowners Nikki and Chris first decided to renovate their kitchen and bathrooms, they contacted a few renovation companies before they landed on the right fit. Because Refresh Franklin provided them with a prompt response, great communication and came with experienced contacts - the couple quickly decided to work with the team on their home transformation.  
“We love this house, we love the location, the land is amazing, it’s close to work, and we feel like it’s perfectly positioned for the sun and views. But it was just so very 1970s!”, laughs Nikki. “The kitchen was very outdated and very dark."
When Nikki and Chris met with their local renovation consultant to discuss their ideas, her solutions to their kitchen and bathroom problems came as a welcome relief.
“When we decided to renovate, we had very little knowledge about the work that was required to achieve the outcome that we wanted. Working with the Refresh team made the whole process very easy as they had the knowledge and contacts to make our reno fast and easy.”

House renovation ideas

Nikki says their priorities included creating an open plan lounge and dining area by removing a wall, as well as updating their kitchen and two bathrooms. Once the renovation consultant and her team had thoroughly discussed Nikki and Chris’ ideas with them, a design was drawn up. Nikki says she really appreciated Refresh’s communication and experience during this stage. 
“We found that everything was clearly communicated and, when we had questions or wanted more of an explanation." 
“We really liked the approach, and that Refresh talked things over with us. Not only were they willing to listen to our ideas, they also made suggestions that we wouldn’t have thought of. Things like changing the switchboard, adding gas hot water and taking out the hot water cylinder - things we just didn’t have knowledge on, at the time.”

We haven’t finished with this house yet and we’ll be using Refresh again
Nikki says that, while managing the project themselves had crossed her mind, working with Refresh ended up saving her and Chris money.

Carrying out a house renovation with a Refresh Renovations franchise

“(The thing with) using a company like Refresh, rather than DIYing it or project managing it ourselves, was that Refresh already had the contacts. They already had relationships with the different tradesmen. They also knew the amount of people and the kind of people that would be needed. I think if we had been trying to project manage it ourselves it would have been a much longer process, just because we don’t have those relationships. A lot of the time, we wouldn’t have even known the right people to contact.” 
Nikki says another benefit of working with Refresh was that she could monitor the renovations online whenever she wanted to. 
“It was quite exciting because you could go into (Refresh’s online customer portal) and see who was coming and what was going to happen next. You could also communicate. So if you wanted to change something or you were a bit worried about the way something was working out it was a very easy process - rather than trying to phone call and pass it through a lot of different people.”
Nikki and her family are now enjoying their modern, lively kitchen as well as their functional, relaxing bathrooms. However, they look forward to making further home improvements in the future. 

Final thoughts

“We found the renovation consultant and the Refresh team great to work with,'' concludes Nikki. “We haven’t finished with this house yet and we’ll be using Refresh again."  
See part 2 of this project: From 1970 to 2019: A bathroom renovation in Clevedon

Get in touch

If you would like to discuss your renovation ideas with an experienced specialist, please get in touch today.