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ot an awkward space that can’t be solved with furniture? For Christchurch homeowners Simon and Chelsea, that space was the old dining room. They had ‘tried to make it work’ ever since they purchased their 1990 home four years ago. Enter: bench seating.  With the job now done and dusted, Simon explains to me over the phone just how awesome it’s been chilling out in their new space, sitting in the sun on weekends and sipping their morning coffee. As a fellow chilled out, sun-loving coffee drinker, I knew we had to capture those idyllic scenes for this story. So, our photographer Alana and I went round one Saturday morning with high hopes of two things: sunny weather, and their cat Elphie making an appearance. After a warm welcome, we walk through the kitchen where we’re graced by gorgeous natural light from the high-ceiling skylight, and the sweet smell of freshly brewed coffee. To appreciate the space as it is now, let’s take it back a step. The dining room, before a

There’s nothing like waking up to a gorgeous garden. That’s now the case for Chris and Rochelle, Auckland homeowners who made good use of their time throughout lockdown doing prep work for their garden redesign. It included plenty of digging and pulling-up, but there was one job left on their garden-scaping list that was a little too big to undertake themselves. The Problem The new design of the garden patch featured a structural garden bed which required a retaining wall, something that Rochelle says was too much for their skillset. “We knew we needed someone to do the last part of the job,” says Rochelle. The garden edging had previously been lined with bricks, but Rochelle was looking for a timber look. With an open mind and a flexible approach, she was hoping to bring the design to life by making the most of the existing area. The Solution Aside from seeking someone who had the skills to build the retaining wall, Rochelle also wanted someone with landscaping

It's an unconventional story about home reno, dating and travelling NZ. On a foggy Christchurch morning, Mary and Geoff are cosily seated in the living room of what once was a Ritchies school bus. Geoff gets up to welcome me through the manual folding door and I’m immediately greeted by the warmth from inside. The 11 metre vehicle is now home to Geoff, a luxury tour bus driver who has made it his mission to convert the 1986 Hino Blue Ribbon into a house bus fit for travel. The border closures have left Geoff without work, but he’s chosen to see the silver lining. From touring with bus loads of people to now just two, Geoff says with time on his side, he is most looking forward to the freedom. “Just the freedom to stop and explore,” Geoff says. Travelling with him is companion Mary, a retired teacher of 53 years and Vice President of the Christchurch North Community Patrol, who says it will be nice to have some peace and quiet on the road. “And yet I can still run t

Behind every job there is a story. This one starts with a homeowner, and a vision to renovate her bathroom from an outdated 1970’s relic to a modern, clean, and functional bathroom. The Dilemma The story starts with Joanne and her first tradie, a referral from a friend. The tradie seemed great. The homeowner and the tradie agreed that Joanne would buy everything that was needed for the bathroom, and the tradie gave her a cost to install and renovate to her plan. Fast forward three months and the tradie was nowhere to be seen and uncontactable. With the goods for her bathroom waiting in Mitre 10 and a loan taken out for the project, Joanne was desperate to get the job underway. The Solution “I spoke to someone at work, saying I didn’t know what to do. I needed to have my bathroom renovated, and my colleague said, have you put it on Builderscrack? Then they showed me how Builderscrack works, how to log on and use the site. I put the advert on the next day, and within two