Cherie Barber is widely known as Australia’s Renovation Queen™, so it’s not surprising that her own lovely Balmain home has been meticulously renovated.

Cherie Barber knows a thing or two about renovating, so when she saw a crumbling old shack, this seasoned pro knew it could be transformed into a bright, modern home.

Cherie has been a full-time professional renovator since 2001 and this property was the third project she ever undertook. But, unlike the other 25 or so houses she has bought, renovated and sold in the last decade, this one was always intended to be home for Cherie and her daughter Milan.

FROM THE ASHES
When she found it, the house was in need of a complete overhaul. In fact, it had been vacant for eight years and was in a serious state of disrepair. “It was literally a shack and had no internal toilet or laundry,” says

Cherie. “There was water damage in the walls and water marks on the ceilings and mould everywhere – and the kitchen and bathroom were unusable!” Cherie says. However, she knew what she was doing, and was determined to snap it up at auction, despite the fact it went $170,000 over the reserve. “When the auction hammer went down people were sniggering and making all sorts of comments, saying I paid too much and didn’t know what it was worth. One person even came up to me and told me I was stupid!” she explains.

But Cherie certainly had the last laugh. She’d done her research and knew the potential of the property and what it would be worth once renovated. She says that, in fact, she got a great deal, despite how far over the reserve it went, and would have been willing to pay even more for it than she did. And as she made $570,000 profit on it, it’s pretty fair to say she knew what she was doing!

BEGINNING AGAIN
What was once a dingy two-bedroom shack is now a spacious and breezy two-storey, four-bedroom house with two bathrooms and a study. Cherie went about the renovation in two phases. She began by doing a quick cosmetic renovation, spending around $30,000 to get it into livable condition in order to rent it out. She then lodged a development application for a full-blown structural renovation, which took about a year to come through. That was when the real work began!

“It was a four-month renovation and I virtually demolished the whole house except for the front few rooms. The house was stripped back and I rebuilt the lot!” Cherie says. And she’s not exaggerating – the build included pulling the roof off, adding a second storey, recladding the whole house, installing new floorboards, adding a new kitchen and bathroom, putting in air-conditioning throughout, fitting new windows and doors, erecting a fence and installing a new garden and paving. No small feat!

MODERN ELEGANCE
Although she has no intention of moving on, Cherie decorated her home in what she refers to as her ‘cookie-cutter template’, which she developed to be used in all of her projects – contemporary and neutral. “When I renovate I always keep in mind that the property could be sold, so I follow the same colour scheme and style,” she explains. After all, even though she loves her home, you never know what is just around the corner – particularly when developing property is your job! Cherie says it’s all about neutrals, which suits the majority, rather than going for a look that will only appeal to the minority.

“My style is contemporary neutral. However, what I try to do is personalise it by bringing in more colourful pieces in the decor. This really balances out a neutral scheme. I’ve got quite a colourful personality so it’s nice to show this through accessories,” she laughs. In fact, one of her favourite things in the home is a bright, cheerful cast-iron donkey from Matt Blatt in the living room.

Cherie’s decorating tips
• If you see something somewhere that you like, just copy it! Make it your own style.

• Develop your own ‘cookie-cutter’ template with a good neutral colour scheme.

• Cheaper fittings that you can modify or replace with ease are a great way to add personality and fun to an area. Cherie’s IKEA light fittings are a good example: they can easily be spray-painted to create a one-of-a-kind feature.

• Always think about how people are going to live in the house when you’re renovating. Large, open-plan kitchens and dining, plenty of natural light and an indoor-outdoor flow are always desirable.

• Overseas trips can be worth it when you’re renovating in a professional capacity. Bali and Thailand in particular are excellent places to source cheap stoneware, such as Cherie’s bath.

STORY SUNNY DE BRUYN
PHOTOGRAPHY RYAN HERNANDEZ
STYLING KIRSTIN RANDL KATALINIC