What’s it like renovating a home with no experience?

Renovating is noisy, dirty and expensive work, and it’s common knowledge that there’ll be unexpected hiccups along the way. From the comfort of our couches, we’ve seen the pitfalls faced by teams on The Block, where even seasoned pros get put through the wringer. 

Yet none of that is enough to put off some rookie renovators, who – with no experience – decide to transform their own home with their own hands. Ever wondered what it’s like to go into such a mammoth task with all the gear and no idea? 

Kelli and Mick Lillyman are renovating their four-bedroom home in Schofields, 45 kilometres north-west of Sydney – a house that sat dormant for four years and that Kelli says “needed a lot of attention to bring the old girl back to life”.

The couple has been learning as they go. “We’ve been involved in every part of the renovation process from demo through to the finishing touches,” Mick says, noting qualified trades were brought in for plumbing and electrical.

 They dove right in by demolishing and replacing the main bathroom, kitchen and laundry all at the same time. Another feat was to rework the home’s layout to accommodate a second bathroom, which required them to build a new front entrance themselves.

Mick, a landscaper of 20 years, always wanted a project like this, hoping money saved on labour means higher profits if they sell. Kelli, an events manager, took longer to be convinced, daunted by expenses and the sheer workload on top of career commitments and parenting Alaska, now 6, and Huxley, 3.  

“Our challenges predominantly came in the form of living in the property during the renovations with two children five and under, and doing majority of the demolition, framing and finishing touches after the dinner-bath-bed routine because we were both working full-time,” Kelli says. Then, along came baby Bowie, now 8 months. 

“Throw in a pregnancy for good measure and the challenges seemed to ramp up.” 

They faced some unexpected damage that hadn’t appeared in building reports, including cracks in the concrete sub-floor and rotting framework from damaged waterproofing, pushing costs higher. 

After

Before

Kelli says there’s plenty of work besides the physical tasks: managing the budget (blow-outs did happen), and overcoming decision paralysis with endless choices available. 

“Who knew there is more than one shade of white? There are hundreds in fact, that all look different in different lighting,” Kelli says.   

They joined the Three Birds Reno School and consulted Facebook renovation forums for advice.

“Lived experience from others is priceless to avoid making the same mistakes yourself,” Kelli says, but also warns not to fall for cleverly-curated “before and after” posts that conveniently leave out the hard yards in the middle. 

“The romanticised view of achieving a beautifully finished home without the reality of the hurdles and challenges behind the scenes catch many first-time renovators off guard.”

Melbourne couple Cassie Gumm and Hamish Cahill are first-time renovators who discovered in their first week of demo-ing their Frankston home that even with appropriate checks, setbacks can bite.

Extensive termite damage turned up in both bathrooms, which “really threw a spanner in the works”, Cassie says, and was an expensive lesson in how unpredictable the reno game can be.

“We had to fully rebuild both bathrooms from floor joist to the ceiling joists, which came at a hefty cost as this was around the time of the timber shortage.” 

This renovation was a long-held dream for the couple, who gained a foothold in the Melbourne market in 2021 when they bought the four bedroom fixer-upper. 

Hamish, a plumber, and Cassie, a cook, have been making up for their lack of experience with plenty of enthusiasm, getting them through winter “with no kitchen and half a laundry” and enduring multiple delays.

“We thought we could get things done a bit quicker … but as all renovations go, we were delayed in almost everything we ordered and attempted,” Hamish says. 

The property had unusual complications from the beginning. Cassie describes it as a “hoarder’s house” which presented with tonnes of waste the couple had to remove before starting the transformation. They then replaced flooring, restored windows, ripped out and installed a kitchen, and sanded, primed and painted. 

The work isn’t contained to within the walls; the gardens, so overgrown that “when we purchased [the] house we had no idea what the front of the house looked like”, needed huge loads of soil and tree roots removed, “probably the most labour-intensive” job to date and still not completed.  

But they’ve found a tip for alleviating stress by sharing their ideas and plans with wise folks in their life, and most importantly, listening to their advice.   

“You don’t always see what the best solution or outcome could be,” Cassie says. “You never know who may have a bright idea, which could totally change a space for the better.” 

Cassie and Hamish have been renovating side by side for two years now but it hasn’t extinguished their dream at all. 

“The best part is knowing we are building our skills for the next [renovation], which we hope will be even bigger and better,” Hamish says.