The Reno Life

We have a very old home dating back to the 1840's and we require a bathroom renovation which uses the available space more effectively and contemporises the look and feel of this part of the floor plan. Katrina and Jesse have been so responsive to our brief - we now have the detailed plan which delivers good design, functionality and a cost-effective approach. Can't wait to get underway!

Jesse and Katrina did the designs and renovations for my old 1970s bathroom, and the renovation turned out amazing! It now will have many more years of use! 😊

Katrina and Jesse were amazing to work with for a major renovation of our family home. We bought a house in late 2019, knowing that the layout wasn't what we wanted from a family home, and that we would make changes down the track. We worked with Katrina and Jesse in mid-2023. Our entire engagement was over email and zoom, which was easy and quick. While we had a few ideas in our mind of things we wanted to change, we aren't designers, and we weren't sure about a lot of things. Instead of going to Katrina with what we thought we wanted, we instead all agreed to list the things we didn't like, and then prioritise into "must have" and "nice to have". From memory, I think we basically came away with being able to fit everything we wanted in. As per any renovation, there were compromises we had to make, but we were able to move the location of our kitchen, dining, laundry, lounge, and main bathroom, while also building in a new hallway, much needed storage, and a walk in butlers pantry. Katrina wasn't afraid to push back to us on a few things and really challenge our thinking, which in our opinion is what you need for someone one a project like this. Katrina and Jesse also asked a lot of questions, which was really helpful, because it included a bunch of things we hadn't even considered but were of course important to the early stages of planning. After a few revisions, we made it to a point where we were happy with the outcome, so it was time to save some $$! I will also note for someone like me (Matt) who doesn't visualise things well, the 3D designs you get from engaging with The Reno Life are amazing! Long story short, we engaged with a builder in early 2024 to look at the entire project. The concept plans from Katrina and Jesse made it very easy for them to know what we wanted to achieve, and start pricing up the project. We were are a point where we were able to afford the entire renovation to be done, so we engaged with a draftsman to draw up the plans to a level that is required by the builders and for council approvals, and started the renovation. We moved back in in late 2024, and have now lived in the house for over 12 months. I reached out to Katrina to share some photos, and realised we hadn't done a review, but thought it was a great time to do the review now because we have lived in the house for a while. It feels like a brand new house, and it solved every pain point we outlined at the start of the project. We went from having an extremely poorly laid out house, to one where we now have a well-designed open plan living and entertaining area, building in privacy and separation from the bedrooms and bathrooms, while also modernising the entire house from floor to ceiling. Oh, and having more storage. Much more storage (though somehow it still feels like we could do with more :D) It feels like we built a brand new home, and I know we wouldn't have gotten to this result without engaging with Katrina and Jesse at the start of the project to work through the early-stage concepts, and come up with a plan. Engaging The Reno Life was money well spent, and we'd do it again in a heartbeat.

How lucky were we to have met Katrina and Jesse. From the minute they walked into our home we knew they were “our people”. So down to earth and immediately made us feel at ease with the ideas we had in mind. Katrina came up with the perfect layout for our space and Jesse answered every structural question we could throw at him. The finished plan is perfect and we’ve already started on the lounge room. Can’t wait to show you guys the finished product. Thankyou x

Highly recommend! We contacted The Reno Life for feedback on a proposed extension as I wasn't sure about the draftsman's layout and Katrina was extremely helpful in reconfiguring the layout within our parameters to maximise flow and function. The generic 3D renders really helped me to visualise the space and clarify what I wanted. I really appreciated Katrina's supreme efficiency, honesty, and experience! I feel so much more confident going into the reno now.

Katrina and Jesse were above and beyond what we expected! We had a challenging renovation concept to come up with that involved making a multi-family floor plan more efficient and comfortable. We had obviously spent a lot of time thinking of all the possibilities, but we had no renovating experience, had no idea what was possible and what wasn’t, and so we contacted Katrina & Jesse. They are both lovely and approachable to deal with. Warm and professional. And the concept they came up with was something we would never have thought of in a million years, but was just so much better than any of the ideas we’d thought of ourselves. We were so impressed, and so encouraged by our experience with them. We totally recommend them!

Jesse has created a wonderful fresh ensuite in our home. Every interaction with him was great because he was honest, hard working and did what he said he would do. I highly recommend him!