The moment Josh and Jenna Densten first saw this run-down, yet picturesque heritage house, perched high up on a hill in Rutherglen, they knew it was going to be their future family home.

‘It just had stunning views and the previous owner had really looked after it well. It was immaculately maintained, except for the old house,’ Josh reveals in the latest episode of our podcast, TDF Talks.

Jenna had already ‘planted the seed’ about making the move back to regional Victoria to be closer to their family after enduring Melbourne’s lockdowns. So when they discovered the listing for the 1800s country house, surrounded by fruit trees, fresh air, and with an ‘epic shed’, they decided they were ready for the challenge!

Now that the home is finally coming together, the project manager and interior designer joined us for a chat about the challenges behind this major transformation, and their advice for anyone else tackling a renovation. Listen to the full podcast and find some of the best bits from their interview below!

Get your planning done early

Josh says they were lucky that the purchase of the property came with a planning permit to reinstate the roof, sweeping veranda and deck of the old house, so they were able to use their settlement period to start booking in trades to help get it to a lock up stage.

‘Even through settlement we put in the plans for the extension as well. So we actually designed it while we were living in Melbourne and then put it through council, so then we could just hurry that process up.’

Living on the site has its pros and cons

Another bonus was that the huge shed on the property had a certificate of occupancy, allowing the Josh, Jenna and their two daughters, Story and Freddie, to transform it into a comfortable (albeit temporary) family home, and live there while working on the main house. Jenna says they did ‘spend a bit of money’ converting the shed into a home, but having the option to live on site rather than rent elsewhere really helped take away some of the pressure to finish their renovation on a rushed timeline.

‘This one’s definitely been a bit of a slower burn and we’ve been enjoying our time on the weekends, more rather than just like working seven days a week to slog out the renovation,’ Josh adds.

Beware the ‘ridiculous’ increased cost of materials

Despite its dilapidated appearance, the old house was in relatively good structural condition, beyond some rotten floorboards and crumbling render. The more expensive part was building the new extension, containing a main bedroom, living, kitchen and dining. ‘The quote for the windows in the new extension came back at like $130,000, and we nearly fell off our chair,’ Jenna says.

Even for these seasoned renovators, recent increases in the costs of building materials have been a bit of a shock!

‘Everything’s so expensive. And there’s been delays on materials that were just once upon a time off the shelf, and you could get it immediate deliveries,’ Josh says.

How they saved money

In addition to Josh being very hands-on with the build, and learning how to render the original brick home (something that was initially quoted at $50,000!), the couple say one of their biggest learnings on this project was to be flexible with their plans, and not too attached to any one way of doing things! Reducing the scale of some elements of their design has meant big savings.

For instance – they shaved that $130,000 window quote back to just $50,000 by reducing their window heights.

Previously designed at 2.9 metres high, their sliding doors and windows fell into ‘commercial’ pricing, requiring much heavier window frames and mechanisms required to operate the windows.

By reducing this window height back to 2.4 metres, and adding a bulkhead above, the windows instantly became much more affordable.

‘Don’t go [more than] than 2.4-metres high,’ Jenna says. By simply changing their 2.9-metre windows to a more standard height of 2.4 metres, they managed to save about $70,000-$80,000 — something they recommend to all their clients in their pre-build consulting business, Plan Proofing.

Prioritise functionality and liveability

After renovating more than 10 homes together, Josh and Jenna have learnt that sometimes it’s best spending your money on the ‘unseen’ elements of your home – like double-glazed windows or good ventilation, over expensive design elements.

‘My advice is to really knuckle down on the floorplan and spend the time making sure that you’re building only what you need and within your means,’ Jenna says. ‘Try not to get carried away and not get influenced by what you’re seeing, and just really look inwards when designing your own home instead of looking outside.’

Their renovating mantra is ‘time is money’

Whenever the couple have felt caught up in the renovation and unsure about a design decision, Jenna says they’ve been reminding themselves that everything in the renovation costs money, which means more time working to pay for it, and less time spent enjoying life as a family.

‘Really every decision we make we’re like, is it going to add value to our lives? And if it’s just a purely aesthetic or purely something that’s not going to add that genuine value or happiness to our lives, we’ve realised “no, time is more important”.

Listen to the full episode with Josh and Jenna below, or find TDF Talks on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!