Organise + design your reno with these resources
Our TOP home design + renovation resources, room plans, colour schemes + templates, bundled to create the ultimate project pack to get you reno-ready.
Includes all the resources you’ll need to start planning your home project RIGHT NOW, to achieve your own interior designed home.
This home renovation bundle includes tools and resources to budget, plan colours + products, plan key rooms in your home, and tips to avoid big reno mistakes. Includes:
Budget Project Tracker, valued at $147 • Easily keep track of how much your project is costing.
Finishes Schedule, valued at $97 • Keep track of all your project details, such as finishes, colours and materials.
Bathroom Design + Measurements Cheat Sheet, valued at $79 • Lists all the bathroom layouts with dimensions you need to nail your bathroom design.
Kitchen Design + Layout Planner, valued at $97 • Lists all the kitchen layouts with dimensions you need to nail your kitchen design.
11 Bathroom Designs — Plans + Colours, valued at $789 • Plans and colour schemes for 11 designer bathrooms.
7 Designer Kitchen — Plans + Colours, valued at $553 • Plans and colour schemes for 7 designer kitchens.
Backlit Mirror Step-By-Step Guide, valued at $47 • How to create your own backlit mirrors, explained step-by-step.
Niche Step-By-Step Guide, valued at $47 • How to create a niche in your bathroom including dimensions.
With a total value of over $1856, this renovating and home design resource is SOLID GOLD! You’ll master your room layout, colour scheme and finishes, plus deliver your project on budget, achieving your own perfectly functional, designer home like a PRO.
The Renovation Budget Tracker is a renovation budget template pre-loaded with over 200 items, from design fees and trades to tiles, tapware and furniture. It lets you plan your budget before you start, then track your real costs as quotes come in and you start paying. It totals everything for your whole renovation and for each room, so you always know where your budget stands.
What’s inside the tracker
You're never starting from a blank page. The items are grouped into 10 sections, each one a part of your renovation:
Planning and Site: design, approvals, demolition, skip bins and equipment hire
Builder, Trades and Materials
Cabinetry and Benchtops
Tiles and Flooring
Tapware, Sinks and Fittings
Electrical and Appliances
Windows, Doors and Blinds
Outdoor
Furniture
Other Costs
When a quote comes in, you know where it goes. A tile quote goes straight into Tiles and Flooring.
Every item has a place for your estimate while you plan, and your actual cost once you have a quote in writing or have paid. If the actual cost is higher than your estimate, it shows in red, so you see it the day the quote lands, not when the money's gone.
If a builder is quoting the whole job, their total goes in as one line, and you only add what isn't in their quote, like your appliances or furniture. Items you don't need stay empty.
Short notes beside some items point out the costs that are easy to forget, like asbestos testing in homes built before about 1990.
A summary page adds it all up for you, by section, by room and in total, with your estimate and your actual cost side by side. Each item can be given a room, like the kitchen or ensuite, so you see what each room is costing you. Your contingency, the money you set aside for surprises, is added to your total at the percentage you choose. All amounts are entered including GST.
Who it's for
The tracker works for homeowners renovating or building, whether you're working with a builder or managing the trades yourself.
It's built for you if:
You don't know what your project will actually cost.
You've started planning, and costs feel like they're getting out of control.
You're juggling quotes and need one place to track everything.
I built this tracker for my own renovations and developments. It's what I've used to keep every one of them on budget for around 20 years.
Kitchen, bathroom or whole home renovation budgets
It works for a single bathroom, a kitchen or a whole home, and for a renovation or a new build. If you're building, it also shows roughly how many square metres your budget can build.
Renovation budget template FAQs
Is the Renovation Budget Tracker an Excel spreadsheet? Yes. It works best in Excel on a computer. It also opens in Google Sheets and Apple Numbers, but some features may not work the same way.
Are prices included in the renovation budget template? No. You put in your own estimates and quotes, so the total is your project's real number, not an average.
How do I estimate renovation costs? List every item your project needs, then put an estimate against each one, using quotes where you have them. Then add a contingency for the unexpected. The Renovation Budget Tracker already lists over 200 items, so you start with the list. For typical figures, here's what a renovation costs in Australia.
How much contingency should I set aside? Set aside 10% for a new build or a home in good condition, 15 to 20% for an older home, and 20% or more for a heritage home or one in unknown condition. The tracker starts at 10%, and you can change it. Here's what to set aside in your renovation budget.
What happens after I buy? It's sent to your email straight away. Open it on the Start Here page, which shows you how it all works.
Can I get a refund? Yes, within 14 days. The details are in our terms and conditions.
Our Holiday House Renovation is featured in Australian Home Beautiful!
The October 2018 edition features our beach holiday home renovation.
Home Beautiful | October 2018
Home Beautiful | October 2018
“Cohesive Spaces: Perfect Match
By visually tying the bathroom and kitchen together, a sense of unity was created in a designer’s holiday home.”
Home Beautiful | October 2018
Custom-made
The concept for the custom pendant from Vivid Joinery evolved from the desire to position hanging vines above the kitchen island bench.
“I wanted a structure where I could suspend a plant, so I designed a sleek, boxed pendant which was functional but still had impact” explains designer and homeowner Ania.
For a harmonious look, it was clad in the same Polytec Natural Oak Ravine laminate used on the joinery, with the second pendant commissioned for the ensuite to achieve the same effect. To complete the scene, faux vines that were sourced from Interior Gardens provide trailing greenery and, best of all, are maintenance-free.
“Spaces need to be beautiful and easy to live with, particularly in a holiday home, and we’ve achieved that - when we come here, it’s all about relaxing!”
For 10 years, interior designer Ania and her husband Les had been visiting the small beachside town of New Brighton, in northern NSW. And it was while on a weekend drive that the pair spotted a vacant block for sale. Wasting no time in snapping it up, Ania drafted the plans and enlisted Les’ skills as a builder to create a contemporary holiday house.
“I wanted it to have that relaxed feel where you could come back from the beach with sandy feet,” explains Ania, who runs interior design company Zephyr + Stone with her sister, Kasia.
A pared-back palette laid the foundation for effortless cohesion throughout, particularly between the kitchen and bathroom, with the starting point of the renovation being the kitchen, which overlooks a sea of trees.
“I wanted to create a connection with the outdoors, so I opted for a clear glass window splashback with lourves either side to bring the light, greenery and ventilation,” says Ania.
Inspiration for the colour palette was also drawn from the location, with the light oak floor tones reminiscent of the warm, grey shades seen at the beach at dusk.
“I carried the same oak flooring throughout and injected more warmth with Polytec Natural Oak Ravine laminate on all the joinery in the kitchen and ensuite, and wrapped it around custom pendant lights, which are a feature in both zones,” says Ania.
Sticking to classic white, grey and timber finishes, the ensuite- enveloped in large-format grey shell stone tiles - also echoes a subtle coastal theme. Functionality plays a key role, too, with abundant storage helping to keep easy-care surfaces sleep and clutter-free.
“True to it’s name, the colour of the large-format shellstone tiles in the bathroom resembles crushed shells on a sandy beach” - Ania
