The reality of a reno: The Interiors Addict & Nest Designs Palm Beach apartment project

By Emma Blomfield

As we prepare to reveal the finished Palm Beach Apartment project (a joint project between Interiors Addict and Nest Designs) this Thursday, stylist Emma Blomfield tells us about the less glamorous reality behind the scenes of a top-to-bottom reno.

The Palm Beach Project hasn’t been without drama. If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook you will have seen a few of the issues that have arisen!

Firstly, the tenants in the apartment when it sold weren’t the tidiest, so the kitchen, bathroom and carpets had seen a lot of wear and tear. We got to work repainting and giving the apartment a bit of a facelift; that was relatively drama-free apart from the fact that the light switch cover plates were apparently imported from Europe so there were none anywhere in the country that would fit for us to replace them! We also soon realised once the tenants’ furniture was removed, that the carpets would need more than a steam clean so they were ripped up and replaced with gorgeous sisal in a chocolatey colour.

We had planned for the kitchen to be replaced the week before the carpets were laid but the kitchen company had double booked us and had to install a week later. Unfortunately the mains weren’t turned off before removing the old kitchen and overnight the dripping faucet leaked into the surrounding rooms and the brand new carpet was ruined. After much to-ing and fro-ing (48 hours in fact) a carpet cleaning company was called to come and dry the wet carpet. He turned up without the right machine so the carpet was left wet for a further 48 hours. If your carpet gets wet you have a small window of opportunity to get it dried or it’s ruined. Eventually, the kitchen company agreed to replace the carpet.

In the meantime, the kitchen bench was brought in to be installed and cracked just before it was put in place so add another 4 days of kitchen reno to the list. We were originally quoted 3 days to remove the old kitchen and install the new one but it ended up taking 2 weeks after the splashback was finally installed and the correct stove top was installed (the supplier sent the wrong size first).

Another thing you can never rely on is lead times from suppliers. Most suppliers were fantastic and after picking some alternative products because others had sold out (that was time-consuming in itself) from when we first worked on the initial moodboards, we had the bulk of the furniture delivered on time. Unfortunately, the coffee table and side table from West Elm have never arrived despite being paid for in full. We were told a 2-week wait but that turned out to be 6 weeks and after following up 4 times, we were eventually told there were none of these coffee tables anywhere in the world nor were they able to tell us when there ever would be again! So the coffee table saga continues. In the meantime, we purchased a lovely rustic-looking table from Freedom.

Oh, and don’t ever count on anyone who says they will deliver on a specific day, and don’t even think about asking them to call ahead. Because they won’t. The pod chair on the balcony was to be dispatched from a Sydney warehouse and should have taken maximum one hour to arrive to the apartment. We received it 8 days, 9 phone calls and 3 emails later.

So, a reno is never without some drama and frustration behind the scenes and we wanted to share the reality of that with you! Despite all these setbacks, we’re all ready to reveal the finished apartment this Thursday and look out for details of how you can win a weekend away there via Instagram!

For more details on the apartment or to book it, visit Beach Stays.

–Emma Blomfield is an interior stylist at Nest Designs.