spaces volume five – how to live through diy renos

In SPACES Volume Five, we asked a few of our favourite folks for their tips on making a house feel like a home. Below, Bangalow couple Holly McCauley and Nich Zalmstra share their tips for surviving a DIY reno. (Apparently, living where you build is possible.)  To get more interiors inspiration, pick up a copy of the new SPACES online or via one of our lovely stockists.

Repurpose where you can. Nich: We actually turned the old wooden kitchen benchtop into a coffee table.

Be prepared to rearrange your space a lot. Holly: I’d spend a lot of my time organising the space around what Nich was working on. Like, if he was painting, I’d have to move everything off the walls and find room for it somewhere else. All up I rearranged the place about 50 times.



Have one day off a week from house stuff, so it doesn’t feel like you’re working on it all the time. Holly: Each weekend we take one of the days to get out of the house and do things; and the other we leave for doing odd jobs around the place.



Take your time. Nich: Do your research on costs, materials and what’s needed to make things happen before you start anything.

Painting anything can often make the biggest – and cheapest – impact. Nich: It’s relatively inexpensive and something most people are pretty capable of doing themselves, but makes such a difference.



If your place feels small, build a deck. Nich: Ours is about a third the size of our tiny house, and gives us extra room for family dinners, barbecues and space for Della to burn around.

Pick up a brand spanking new copy of SPACES Volume Five online or via one of our lovely stockists.