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 johnson house scope

Dear Alex and your lovely, yet to be introduced wife!

Thank you for inviting me into your home and for sharing your plans for its make-over prior to sale. It’s a fabulous, generously sized apartment with a ton of lovely period features and I am very excited to be a part of its transformation, ensuring your family the very best opportunity for the purchase of your next home.

The following is a scope as I understand it, for what you have planned for the property. We can add, modify or subtract at any point, but this at least gives the beginnings of a road map to achieve the best outcome in readying the home for sale.

So let’s begin!

The entrance:

First impressions are critical. I didn’t photograph the gate and little path leading to the front door, but we can tidy the shrubs and open the house up a bit more with a couple of clever moves - a new sconce light and a paint job on the front door will go a long way to sprucing it up and beckoning the buyers! We discussed the importance of moving the bins, and I think a new house number too, will give the facade a lift.

With its classic federation dado panelling and weighty handrail, this has the potential to be an impressive entry point. Right now, it’s the wrong colour and the old gloss paint is way wrong! But it’s nothing a fresh colour scheme and new carpet can’t transform.

We can think about a pendant light above the landing, but I think with a new colour scheme and fresh paint, we are better to leave this space unadorned - ie, no art. We don’t want it to look fussy - we want people to get a sense of the spaciousness of the apartment from the moment they arrive.

The landing:

There is a lot of ‘stuff’ here - I’ve had four kids and I know just how ‘stuff’ accumulates. The hooks at the top of the stairs are great and the idea of a work station or desk is also totally logical. But again, we want people to feel the area is big - so a console table with a mirror above is going to be more your friend than a work station.

We clear all the stuff out, we replace the boring chrome cupboard door handles with lovely ones, we add a big vase of greenery on a console table and suddenly, you have a very different space. Colour, carpet, and lighting all will be addressed.

Living room:

The first thing to do is remove that huge tv. A purchaser will no doubt do as you have done and install their own tv there as though it was their own idea!! But a big black ‘hole’ where a fireplace once was, is not a good look, so I’d suggest a smaller tv on a bracket for easy maneuvering, beneath the aircon unit. (btw you need a better sparky to fix that!!!)

By reorienting the furniture layout, we can again give more of a sense of space. I’d remove the shutters and add sheer curtains and with our hugely improved colour scheme, we can really give this room the grace it deserves. The toys - I know - are a necessary part of living and if you guys are moving out, that will be problem solved. But if there is a chance you’ll stay a while, we need baskets well placed to store all the kids gear.

The pendant light is a gonner, too. A new stylish one will be on the shopping list, as well as some art to hang on these walls and down the hall to the kitchen. We will paint the bookcase and style with a mix of books and ‘things’.

This is an easy room to solve.

Master bedroom:

With plenty of natural light, this room too will be fun to transform. I know these photos aren’t fabulous, but they’re good for comparing post make-over when you DO know I’m taking photos!!!

I’d suggest taking out the shutters again in favour of curtains, because the windows are so lovely behind and without the shutters, there is a lot more light. No problem if you don’t want to do that but I feel like shutters are done to death and you can create so much more mood with curtains.

The bedhead will be ok with the new colour scheme but new bedspread, pillows, throw etc will make a big difference. We need to move the chests of drawers out and I’d happily source new ones from FB Marketplace for you, as you can find fabulous old colonial ones for a dime. A colonial cedar chest of drawers gives character, class and style way beyond any newer alternative at a fraction of the cost. Lamps, art, a few extra waves of my fairy wand and you won’t recognise this room.

Ensuite:

Terrazzo. Terrazzo. Terrazzo. I know the colour I’d want to use, I know the whole layout of this tired bathroom. We can get very clever about it so that it costs a fraction of what people will think. It’s all about the quiet budget…

I agree with you that we need to replace it - although it is perfectly clean and serviceable, it so dates itself and by replacing it, the impact on the value will be exponentially positive. People get freaked out with bathroom renos - it’s the most expensive room in the house to re-do, so it’s not surprising people balk.

But it needn’t cost the earth - with tradie mates and cunning shopping, we can do this much cheaper than anyone else could.

Second bedroom:

The first thing to say is that I think one bed says ‘two kids can live here’ without taking up the whole floor space. Let the purchaser think bunks!!! We paint, we style, we make it look lush, but two beds or even a double bed is too much. It could just as easily be set up as a study. Maybe that’s a question for the real estate agent, but either way, we need to increase the floor space. We can decorate it according to the way you decide to go with it.

If we were to re-do the bathroom here, we could potentially relocate the door for a better layout in the bedroom. We would do the bathroom in the same style as the ensuite, really working that budget hard to maximise effect.

Kitchen:

The heart of the house is always important to get right. If you don’t want to strip it out, we can style it up, but the cupboards really have seen better days and I think it would be worth considering spending the money on replacing.

I love an eat-in kitchen - the whole idea of a separate dining room is way out of style. We can create a feeling of a big and generous, light filled kitchen with those lovely trees out the window and the whole wall of glass doors. But the floor and the dark bench top really let the place down so it would be amazing to remedy that with some strong.economic decisions.

Summary:

This apartment is full of potential. It’s big, gracious and in a prime spot in the heart of Mosman village. You need to decide how much you’re willing to spend, but I would say that it would be hard to go wrong. Paint, carpet, fresh kitchen and bathroom and super clever moves, you won’t be disappointed.

I’d love to be a part of the journey!

Speak soon,

Henrietta.