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Dec 05, 2023

This story is from the team at NZ House & Garden magazine.

Combine a builder with an interior designer and chances are their home will be a renovation success story. So it is with Sean, owner of Terranova Building & Renovation Services, and Juliet Coleman of Juliet Coleman Interiors who live on a Waikato lifestyle block on the outskirts of Cambridge.

Home, now superbly beautified and reconstructed in places, was once a tired old farmhouse in nearby Hinuera, 30km away. Juliet loves old houses and is well aware of the advantages of being wed to a builder. So, there was no convincing required when Sean returned from work one day saying some clients had offered him an old bungalow for removal.

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"We transported it here where it was plonked in the middle of a paddock. It took eight to nine months to renovate it enough to enable us to move in and continue renovating, which we’ve done ever since," says Juliet of the house they’ve owned for eight years now.

Once plonked, Juliet and Sean could properly admire its original flooring, high ceilings, wooden window surrounds and glass-paned doors. "But it was very tired and unloved, so it needed a full revamp," Juliet says. The house had also been moved in the middle of winter in very wet conditions – part of the roof was removed for transportation so the rain got in, making the house messy and sodden.

It's been a top-to-bottom (and sides) kind of renovation – a huge project that's involved re-insulating, re-roofing, re-wiring, re-cladding, and "removing a million staples" so as to replace old vinyl flooring and carpet. Spaces have been reconfigured, boundaries pushed out, interior walls altered and windows moved to admit more natural light.

A window from the dining room, for example, was moved to the south side of the house which needed as much light as possible. It's been a main player in transforming a once dingy bedroom into a "rather luxurious one with a lovely look," says Juliet. "Essentially, we’ve opened the house up."

Bifold doors now lead to the garden from the two living areas and main bedroom, and bifold windows act as a servery to the outside living area which is sheltered by a deep and elegant portico.

The old home has welcomed a new kitchen which includes a generous pantry with rural views, bathrooms, laundry, fireplaces, a double garage… and extra bedrooms. Two more have been added to what was once a three-bedroom home, although bedroom number five is used as an office these days, as two of the Colemans’ three children have flown the nest.

Despite all of the changes, the couple have retained the home's character and reused as much as they could. The timber floorboards, for example, have been augmented by those from an old school gymnasium – used in the new parts of the house, they’re an almost perfect match. Original ceilings have been saved in some rooms, with Juliet painting the dark, solid wooden beams white. Any new ceilings have battens and scotia to marry with the old.

Given their mum's profession, Natasha, 22, Joshua, 20, and Alexander, 12, have grown up accustomed to regular bedroom revamps.

Says Juliet: "As a child in South Africa, I was always changing my room around and my sister's too. I was just that way inclined – I’ve always put the effort in to create a home."

It's helpful that it's not solely Sean who's handy with tools. Juliet laid the subway tiles in the kitchen, scullery and bathroom, covered the bedroom headboards and painted the interiors. "My mum always had a paint brush in her hands, so it's probably ingrained in me to get on and do it," she says.

Colours range from green Resene Raptor in a bedroom, to warm light grey Resene Eighth Ash and a burnt black Resene Bokara Grey. Wallpaper is used in certain areas while grooved MDF creates an old-world feel in some rooms.

This UK-born interior designer's home reflects her upbringing; her father was in the British Army: "I have lived in various African countries, England, Hong Kong and here, so I haven't just grown up in one place and this has influenced my style and the mix of what I have accumulated over the years. There's a bit of all those places but it all somehow seems to work, and it certainly tells a story."

The need to be surrounded by beauty extends beyond the exterior walls. "I love gardening. It's so therapeutic. Our garden is an eclectic mix featuring a lovely cottage garden with mass planting in lots of areas, a little orchard, vege patches and a bit of a formal garden with clipped details. Forest pansy and olive trees, plus pleached hornbeam hedges, are among my favourite things," Juliet enthuses. Sadly the local population of destructive rabbits and possums don't seem to be fazed by the family's pets, Maisy the spoodle and Rose the cat.

There's also room on the 6000m² property for two characterful Airbnbs – one is a black-painted board-and-batten creation covered in creeper and another doubles as a showhome for Sean's side-line business, 70 SQ Designs, which specialises in transportable two-bedroom homes.

These are more strings to the bows of this busy couple. But after eight years, Juliet reassures herself that all of the jobs are pretty much done. "It's been a big job but there are no regrets. The character and soul that old places give can't be replicated in a new house. I don't want to do anymore. We just want to sit back and enjoy it."

Q&A with Juliet Coleman

A favourite spot to relax: We have a couple. One is our bed as it looks out onto the beautiful hills and garden. It's a calm and relaxing space, especially to curl up on a winter's day and read a good book. Another is the portico. We have a lovely garden and beautiful views so on a summer's day it's definitely the spot to be and it's a great space in which to have family and friends gather.

We love where we live because: Cambridge is a beautiful town to live in. We are on the outskirts so it takes five minutes to get to town. So, we have the best of both worlds – we live in the country surrounded by beautiful hills and it's only a very short trip into town. Cambridge is centrally located within the North Island so that's great as far as day trips go.

Best money spent: Buying an old bungalow and renovating it. It's cheaper than a new build and we got the character and soul of an old home, which we love.

Favourite decor piece: The fireplaces – we have a log burner in the kitchen/living/dining area and a gas fire in the other living room. They are a central feature in the rooms and give them a focal point while offering the benefits of providing heat. They are both differently clad fireplaces so add interest to each room.

A decor tip: Paint! It makes a world of difference to a room and gives a room a new lease on life… if you tire of it, just paint it another colour. It's a cost-effective way to spruce up a room.