We have decided to renovate instead of moving at this point in our lives. After looking at other homes on the northern end of the gold coast we couldnt find any that were done to our needs or taste. So we would have to renovate anyway & they all had much smaller yards and with two young children our backyard is perfect at this stage. While the renovation may not give us all the extra space we would like ideally , it will certainly be lovely to have everything fresh & new again. If we survive this stage while living in it we may extend up in 12 months time.

Pictures show before the start of the renovations to the kitchen & family room. The outside shot shows just before the builders take out the door & windows to extend the wall out level, which will allow us to have a more open plan kitchen.

Just a mention ,when we received the quote for the kitchen it was going to cost $480 to remove the old one & when I asked what they did with it I was mortified when they told us they smash it up to take it out & it goes to the tip. Now the kitchen wasnt falling apart & with a new sink , tap & oven surely someone would be grateful for it , putting aside enviromentaly I couldnt be part of disposing of it that way. After not being able to find someone to donate it to in a short space of time my husband dismantled it without any damage to it & I decided to list it on ebay. To my surprise it went for $1025 to a family who had bought a house that was suitable to convert an area into a granny flat that needed a kitchen. A cheap alternative for them , my concious was clear it wouldnt be thrown into landfill & we have an extra $1025 to add to our budget.

Karyn