Charles and Dale have lived in their five-bedroom, three-bathroom Pymble home for 32 years and raised their four children there. But, with the size of the property and maintenance, it's time to downsize.
The pair are trying to do that, but there's just one little problem standing in their way - their son, Heath. The youngest of the clan, he is 37-years-old, and is still at home! He has it way too good, getting his meals cooked for him and a laundry service without paying rent. Attempts to shift him haven’t worked and while they love him to bits they’re now going to the extreme length of moving to an inconvenient location on the northern beaches, where he can’t catch the train to work in the city.
They’ve had the house on the market over a year with an asking price of $2.4 million. According to the agent this isn’t unrealistic given its size and the decent block but they’ve had a couple of offers in the low 2’s and are hanging out for more. The house itself is quite stodgy and conservative with a dowdy dated vibe and maintenance is needed. Can they move onto the next chapter of their lives Heath-free? Time will tell.
The home is over a hundred years old and with all the add-ons over the years it has a very odd floor plan and areas are mismatched in size. There’s also not a lot of flow. You could easily be overwhelmed by the size, but Shaynna overcame that by focusing on the main areas buyers want for modern family living – a great kitchen, family room and a stunning master suite.
Shaynna chose a great new addition to the living room doors – Luxaflex® Veri Shades. Not only whimsical and elegant, these soft sheers & vertical blinds hybrid are highly versatile. The vanes can be separated and anyone can conveniently walk through the blind for seamless indoor-outdoor living - the perfect choice for the French doors leading out to the revamped balcony.
The other problem area was the main upstairs bathroom – which is pokey to say the least. To open it up, Shaynna knocked down a wall into the adjoining bedroom and turned that area into a smaller study space. Across the hall, she also turned an old linen closet into a powder room with a toilet – meaning when the bathroom’s in use, you can still access the toilet.
Another pokey area was the kitchen which was also very dated. Shaynna got the okay from our engineer to knock down yet another wall adjoining the large living area and turned that into a modern open plan space.
Veri Shades were also chosen for the large bank of windows in the rumpus room, for their highly versatile light control properties. The individually curved fabric vanes feature an alternating light filtering and room darkening fabric panel, which offer a diffused view-through when open, softer filtered light when tilted, and full room darkening (with the dark toned fabric options) and privacy when closed.
Clean and sleek Luxaflex® Roller Blinds were installed at the back of the rumpus room, with a translucent fabric selected to help cut the strong glare from the backyard and balcony.
Clean and sleek Luxaflex® Roller Blinds were installed at the back of the rumpus room, with a translucent fabric selected to help cut the strong glare from the backyard and balcony.
Blockout Roller Blinds were required for the long span of windows in the master bedroom/walk-in-robe to shield out the backyard sun, while all other windows in the five bedrooms were dressed with subtle white Veri Shades to coordinate with the rest of the house. Veri Shades are a popular choice for all types of applications, with a coherent range of fabric and colour options to complement all home interior styles and living needs. A relatively cost effective soft window furnishing solution, Veri Shades can help to greatly modernise and a touch of sophistication to any space.
Faced with a sloping rear block and a jungle of vegetation, Charlie had his work cut out for him in the backyard. Opening it up, meant cutting back big time. Removing the weeds in the middle allowed buyers to see the boundary and appreciate the size of the backyard and what they’re buying.
Faced with a sloping rear block and a jungle of vegetation, Charlie had his work cut out for him in the backyard. Opening it up, meant cutting back big time. Removing the weeds in the middle allowed buyers to see the boundary and appreciate the size of the backyard and what they’re buying.
Another genius stroke was giving new life to the old dilapidated BBQ area, by putting in a new deck and plant screen for privacy. He also reused some of the old flagging to create another play space next to it. An old deck off the kitchen and living room was falling apart and looked old. So Charlie brought it back to life, re-staining, repainting and repairing it.
Fortunately, the front exterior was pretty decent and only needed a repaint. Being in a heritage conservation area, Charlie had to use colours approved by the heritage council.
The renovation was truly spectacular, and managed to attract an offer of 2.75 million. However, Charles and Dale were confident they could get more, preferring to hold on to their home for the time being.
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The products in this episode were proudly supplied and installed by Luxaflex® Window Fashions Gallery dealer Shades of Pittwater in Dee Why, NSW.
