Anita and Cameron Wallace have a common property conundrum: do they renovate their cramped family home or do they sell it?
Cameron is keen to keep the memories this family of five have enjoyed in the three-bedroom house alive and stay.
“I love this house very much. We’ve spent such an important part of our lives here, bringing up our children in this place,” says Cameron.
Yet Anita feels they should have moved years ago and is fed up with the property’s warren-like network of rooms and lack of space.
So should Anita and Cameron open up the separate living spaces to create a modern home, or are they better off moving?
Andrew Winter and Neale Whitaker hosts of Love It Or List It Australia take a look at the property and offer their advice.
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The Wallaces live in the leafy suburb of Donvale which just 19km from Melbourne’s CBD.
The median price for a three-bedroom house like this one is currently $968,000. Their current home is valued at around $1.12m.
The split-level property dates back to the seventies. It has small rooms in an odd layout, says Winter who believes the Wallaces could buy a better home.
“This is really, really tiny,” says Winter.
“It has low ceilings, a narrow corridor, poky kitchen and some kind of kiddie room,” he says.
Winter believes this family of five has simply outgrown the home.
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At the moment, the family are often squeezed into a small living area.
“It’s certainly the weirdest house I’ve seen in a while,” admits Whitaker.
Reconfiguring the home will be “a real challenge” he says, but the current space can be maximised and opened up to suit the needs of a modern family.
A brand new, spacious kitchen would make a big difference. Picture: Love It Or List It Australia.
“The key will be creating two big communal areas so the whole family can blend when they want without tripping over each other or the treadmill,” says Whitaker.
By creating a new informal living area with an open-plan kitchen and skylights plus adding a new laundry with more storage, this house would be transformed.
A master bedroom like this would provide a retreat for these parents. Picture: Love It Or List It Australia.
The second more formal living area would open up the current lounge room to create a much larger space with more natural light, giving the family another living zone.
“By blocking in the door to the entrance, they now have two distinct zones – one for living, one for dining,” he says.
This house might pull the pair in opposite directions but one thing Cameron and Anita do agree on is the property’s location.
They both love it. So will they stay or will they go?
Watch Love It or List It Australia now exclusively on Foxtel’s Lifestyle to see what Anita and Cameron did with this home.
For more Love it or List It Australia videos and expert advice go to lifestyle.com.au
