Custom home renovations in Melbourne
Spacemaker are the expert home renovation builders.
For over 50 years, Spacemaker has been operating as one of Melbourne’s most awarded and reputable home renovation and extension builders. It’s our specialty, and we feel privileged to have changed the lives of so many families for the better through quality renovations tailored to their lifestyles.
Design ideas and advice for your next renovation project
If you are considering a renovation, single storey extension, second storey extension or custom new home, Spacemaker’s friendly and knowledgeable design team can guide you through the decision-making process. We will provide innovative design ideas to meet your living requirements and budget. Most importantly, together we will confirm whether the most sensible option, both financially and practically, is to renovate, extend or rebuild with a custom new home. If a renovation is the right decision for your home, you can be confident you are in the best hands with the Spacemaker team. We can help you with:Every family is unique. Spacemaker’s creative home renovations enable our clients to remain in the neighbourhood they love, in a home that suits their lifestyle and needs. A well-designed renovation provides the opportunity for clients to realise the potential of their existing home and enjoy their unique space to the fullest without the need to move.
Are you making the most of your home, or has it outlived its use-by date?
Whether your objective is to create great spaces for entertaining, open plan living, light and bright living areas, zones for the kids or a parent’s retreat, a home renovation is often the best option.
Transforming your existing dated home to improve your lifestyle is an incredibly rewarding experience. Spacemaker’s talented building designers can vastly improve the functionality and value of your home, making the best use of the existing space to create a home you are proud of.
Home improvements can inspire your family to spend more time at home enjoying their new space. Updating your home with major or minor home extensions or home alterations as your family grows helps the family unit function together, providing room for get-togethers, as well as a private space to relax or study.
Renovations are the simplest and most cost-effective way to keep your family up to date with today’s housing innovations, technology and trends. Everybody wants style and comfort in their home to enjoy with friends and relatives.
Spacemaker will listen to your needs and come up with home renovation designs for you to consider and approve before preparing detailed construction drawings. You are in the driver’s seat every step of the way. Our experienced designers will then interpret your wishes and dreams to deliver the best possible outcome, ensuring you maximise the functionality and value of your home.
Moving house can be expensive, stressful and time-consuming. Relocating to another suburb can also be an emotional time for children, displacing them from their friends and school. Money spent on agent’s fees, marketing, stamp duty, lawyer’s fees and removalists could be channelled towards a custom-designed renovation on your home in an area that you and your family already know and love.
Renovating your home rather than relocating can be a less emotionally and financially demanding way to improve your quality of life.
It’s becoming increasingly common for people to introduce environmentally friendly modifications to their homes. Apart from saving money, energy-efficient home improvement measures, such as double glazed windows, low-cost lighting, insulation and water-saving taps, can reduce your carbon footprint and your family’s impact on the environment.
Many older homes were built with small dark rooms, each with individual uses. Other homes may simply be poorly designed, with impractical layouts and poor zoning that obstructs the flow of the home. Entertaining in style with friends and family is easy with open living areas that flow and are filled with natural light. Constructing an external deck or alfresco area with large external door openings creates a beautiful indoor/outdoor living space full of fresh air, allowing you to entertain all year around.
At Spacemaker we love creating amazing multi-functional spaces where our clients can entertain in style. We find that many of our clients are often the impressed friends of previous clients, who have come to Spacemaker to improve their own home. In fact, over 70% of Spacemaker’s work comes through referrals.
Many house renovations are simply born from necessity. If your house is not working for you, a home renovation could vastly improve its functionality, while at the same time ensuring old electrical wiring and plumbing is brought up to date and any unsightly old cracks in plaster are repaired.
A well designed and constructed home renovation by Spacemaker will increase the value of your home, maximising the value of what is often your greatest asset. A simple bathroom or kitchen renovation will boost the value of your home substantially and imagine the benefit of adding a beautiful deck and alfresco area to your home.
Renovations can be exciting and fun. Not only do you get to be the creative director of the project, you also get to see your creativity come to life in your home. Spacemaker’s design consultants work with you and build on your creative direction to design spaces your entire family can enjoy for many years to come.
Living in an old house or within a heritage overlay doesn’t mean you can’t bring your home into the 21st century. Regulatory requirements can be complex, but Spacemaker is well equipped to handle any permit applications for you. It is a wonderful outcome when we blend a modern renovation with a home’s original features without disturbing the significance of the existing building.
Top tips for a home improvement project
- Invest in good quality items inside the house (think cabinetry, appliances and hardware) as they’ll make a huge difference to the renovations overall standard.
- If budget allows, do the entire project at once, to minimise costs and disruption over the long haul. Otherwise, tackle the area in the house where you spend most of your time first, then chip away at the rest.
- Plan ahead, especially if your family has changing needs in the form of growing children or ageing household members.
- Introduce natural light into the home wherever possible and maximise passive solar heating and cooling within the design.
- Introduce low energy lighting and other environmentally friendly additions to lower your operating costs.
- Create an alfresco space that will provide year-round indoor/outdoor enjoyment.
How to plan a major home renovation
Planning a major home renovation, such as adding an extra storey or converting a loft is exciting and can add significant value to your home and lifestyle, but it can be tricky to know where to start. Major home renovations require a detailed plan, which includes:
- Deciding on the goal you are looking to achieve.
- Gathering design ideas and inspiration.
- Outlining the work that will be required.
- Establishing a timeframe for works to be completed.
- Calculating a budget.
- Learning more about council permit requirements.
- Researching contractors and requesting cost estimates from architects and builders.
- Working with your contractors to ascertain a timeline for works to be completed.
- Making plans to accommodate your living arrangements while the work is being undertaken.
- Regular communication with your contractor to ensure the timeframe and budget remain on track.
Different types of renovations
There are endless ways to renovate your home. Minor renovations may include home energy upgrades, such as insulation improvements or installing double glazed windows. Larger home renovations may include internally remodelling your home, making over your kitchen or bathroom, converting your garage or loft into a more functional living space or adding single or second storey extensions to expand your home’s floor space. At Spacemaker, we are specialists in major home renovations and extensions including second storey extensions and complex home renovations.
Best renovation ideas according to house styling
At Spacemaker, we have renovated homes of all styles, from small cottages to large heritage properties.
For smaller homes that are limited in floor space, reworking the layout of the home to accommodate the owner’s needs is essential to improving the home’s functionality, as highlighted in our recently renovated Edwardian cottage in Richmond.
Homes that have limited access to light can benefit from adding extra windows and outdoor space to allow the home to be flooded with natural light, while period properties require detailed planning to blend original features with modern-day living.
How to renovate a mid-century modern home
Understanding and respecting the original character of a mid-century home is key to creating a renovation which honours and seamlessly blends period features with contemporary living. At Spacemaker, we are experienced in this form of renovation and are well equipped to handle the practical complexities and regulatory requirements that often accompany such renovations. To see some of our recent projects view our project gallery for inspiration.
Where to spend money on home renovations
When undertaking home renovations, you should be clear about your priorities and budget to help plan your renovation accordingly. If your budget is limited, consider focusing the renovation on the areas you spend most time in. If natural light is inadequate, invest more in lighting solutions or add larger windows to improve lighting and to create a feeling of openness. If your home is small, invest in storage solutions to make the most of your new space.
Consider clever investment decisions, including insulation and double-glazed windows. This could provide considerable savings on your energy bills in the long term.
A quality home improvements builder you can trust
Once you’re certain you’d like to go ahead with your home renovation, you will need to find a professional home improvements builder. Preferably a builder you can trust, who is reputable, experienced and offers design and construction services to help you navigate the entire process.
Before committing to a builder, be sure to ask a lot of questions, look at the builder’s portfolio of projects and see what previous clients have said about their standard of work.
Spacemaker is one of Melbourne’s most reputable and trusted design and construct full-service building and design companies. Our process, from the design stages through to budget estimates, can all occur in the comfort of your existing home at your leisure.
Once initial designs are developed and budgets have been confirmed, you can leave everything to our team of experts. From initially obtaining planning permits, then completing all documentation and delivering a quality renovation, Spacemaker is there with you every step of the way.
We are renowned for our quality and service. This can be seen in Spacemaker’s long list of award-winning projects and, most importantly, the many testimonials from our happy clients.
Why Spacemaker
The award-winning team at Spacemaker Home Extensions has been skilfully unlocking the hidden potential of homes across Melbourne for over 50 years.
With a dedicated team of expert industry professionals, Spacemaker works collaboratively with customers, carefully pairing client’s needs and ideas with innovative designs and solutions. We deliver highly conceptualised home improvements, home renovations and home extensions that are completed on budget and on time.
Spacemaker’s professional service has been widely valued, with most of our work coming from recommendations and returning customers seeking our specialised service and many years of experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
Some homes are located within heritage areas, while others are listed individually. Heritage restrictions are in place to protect the heritage aesthetics of buildings for future generations to come.
Maintenance and renovations can generally be undertaken on a heritage home, however certain restrictions will need to be complied with to the satisfaction of the relevant council.
Spacemaker Home Extensions take care of this process for you and can offer advice and assistance with permits and approvals.
Each council in Melbourne has its own restrictions and requirements when it comes to home renovations. Our advice is to speak with us directly to learn more about the planning permits required in your local area before commencing with your renovation project.
Generally speaking, yes. Home equity loans that include renovation costs are available for eligible individuals. Alternatively, if you have a home loan with an offset or redraw facility with funds available, you could be eligible to use that to fund the cost of the renovation. In other circumstances, if you are planning a large renovation project, it may be viable for you to consider a construction loan. As everyone’s personal circumstances are different, our recommendation is to speak with your bank or mortgage broker for advice on the best way to finance your renovation project.
Yes, you will need home insurance during renovations, as this will provide you with financial cover for any unforeseen mishaps. If you have existing home insurance, check with your insurer that the planned renovation will not invalidate your policy and ensure that you have sufficient cover in place.
As a general rule, there are a number of steps involved when planning a home renovation project. At Spacemaker Home Extensions, we can help you at every step. The main factors you will need to consider when working with any builder include:
- Be clear about the aim of the renovation. Whether you are renovating to stay longer term or have plans to sell in the future, being clear on the goal of the project will help you prioritise tasks and stay focused.
- Confirm whether a renovation is the best financial option for your home.
- Understand any building and town planning regulations that need to be complied with for your project.
- Create a timeframe for how long you expect the work will take and speak with your builder to understand what may cause any possible delays.
- Speak with your builder about the benefit of using a design and construct builder as an all-inclusive option, or alternatively engaging architects and other third party external consultants.
- Plan your budget and organise your finances.
The Victorian Building Authority states that if you are undertaking any building work on your property, you may require a planning permit, a building permit, or both. If you are considering a renovation, speak with us for advice about planning permits as we can take care of this process for you if you are completing your renovation project with us.
There are some restrictions on building works in Melbourne and this differs between councils. Some of these restrictions relate to the type of building work that can be conducted and the time of day works are carried out. Other restrictions relate to permits that may be needed. Speak with us directly if you have questions or concerns about building restrictions in your area.
Home renovation loans enable you to borrow money to undertake your home improvements. These can take the form of either secured/unsecured personal loans, mortgage finance, construction loans or green home loans. The type of loan you need will depend on your personal and financial circumstances, along with the cost and scale of the renovation you are looking to undertake. Some loans have specialist additional features and flexibility to accommodate renovations, whereas others may be more restricted. We recommend you consult with your bank or mortgage broker for advice on the best home renovation loan option for you.
According to the Australian Tax office (ATO), you cannot claim tax deductions for renovation costs on your own home. However, the ATO states that if you are running a business from home and have made renovations, these may be considered capital works. You may be able to claim certain deductions over a longer period of time. If you are renovating an investment property, different tax rules apply, as this would be considered as a business activity. Our advice is to check with the Australian Tax Office or your dedicated tax accountant.
Speak with Melbourne’s award-winning home renovation builders
Using innovative and yet practical designs, Spacemaker is a Melbourne home renovations expert you can trust to deliver a seamless, stress-free service from conceptualisation to construction. Our experienced team listens to your needs and vision to develop a quality renovation to fit your budget. Our knowledgeable design and build consultants will work with you to effortlessly blend practicality with creativity, significantly maximising the potential and enjoyment of your home.
With projects ranging from $150k to $2m, Spacemaker are experts in undertaking major home renovations. When working with us, you can comfortably sit back and enjoy the process.
Talk to us about creating your dream home with an extension or renovation today.
