A 60s brick home renovation

This typical 60s brick home in Mansfield, Brisbane has been given a complete transformation thanks to building company Zou Build. We chat to Zou Build’s design and colour consultant Christal Fysentzou on this remarkable renovation.

BEFORE

Tell us about what this property used to look like and the major changes you made to it.
The property was your typical brick 1960s style home with original everything. The house was not legal height downstairs and all kitchen, living, dining and bedrooms were all upstairs. We came up with an innovative way to make the downstairs area habitable which enabled us to bring the living spaces to the lower level and maximising the existing footprint without extending.

BEFORE

BEFORE

What was your design inspiration for this reno?  
When renovating I always like to pay tribute to the house’s heritage in some way so with this one it’s a bit of mid- century-meets-coastal. The original design of the house had no connection to the big pool or any outdoor entertaining areas and Queensland living is all about outdoor entertaining so I really wanted to make the connection by bringing the outdoors in…

How long did the reno take to complete? 
6 months

What was the budget?
The retail cost of a renovation of this nature is around $350,000.

Which room/space was the biggest transformation and why? 
I would say the downstairs area. It was very dark and daggy and wasn’t even functional. Now it is light and bright and connects well to the beautiful outdoor space.

For anyone else renovating a house, what would be your biggest piece of renovation advice?  
It is always tempting to try and save costs by doing things yourself but often this amounts to extra cost and time. Always engage in a professional to complete the work for quality finish and to stay on track.

This home is currently on the market - check out the real estate listing here.