Darra | Now THIS is an Awesome Renovation

Author // Georgina Auton, Place Graceville

Melissa and Craig Watson have lived at 38 Darra Avenue, Darra since 2006.

In that time, they’ve raised a family and renovated the house to suit them perfectly.

We catch up with them about the renovations on the home and their time spent there.

House before (Image: Supplied)

House after (Image: Supplied)

What did you love about the home when you first bought it?

The home is on a large block with plenty of room.

It’s solid brick home that was cool in summer and warm in Winter.

It also had some fantastic period features like ceiling roses and cornice work. At the time, it was nicely priced at $249,000.

Bathroom before (Image: Suppled)

Bathroom after (Image: Supplied)

Can you tell us a bit about the history of the home?

I’m not much of an expert on Darra, but the house was built in the 1950s and one of our neighbours has lived in the street for over 60 years!  

We liked the location because it wasn’t too far from the city and in the middle of two different accessible roads to the city (Logan Motorway and Centenary Highway).  

It’s also on the south side with easy access to the Gold Coast and Northern Rivers where we spend a lot of time.

Kitchen before (Image: Supplied)

Kitchen after (Image: Supplied)

When you were looking at renovating, what did you do first and why?

In the beginning, it was more for health reasons than cosmetic.

The 30+ year-old carpet had to go, as well as the peeling wallpaper and interior paint.

It’d been a really long time since anything in the home had been updated, and it also allowed us to put our own spin on how it looked.

Lounge before (Image: Supplied)

Lounge after (Image: Supplied)

Which is your favourite room after the renovations?

Mine is the Bathroom and Craig’s is the dining room.

Before we renovated, there were a lot of things we had to consider, like making sure we restored the period features like the ceilings properly, what the central colour scheme was going to be.

We also had to make sure it wasn’t too modern on the inside for how it looked on the outside.

Now, it’s light, neutral and fresh - it has a really great feel to it.