How it all began ...

‘I have no renovating experience and no sense of style … but I’m IN!’ This was Lana’s keen-as-mustard response after receiving a call from Bonnie asking if she wanted to go into business with her and Erin, renovating houses. That’s the short story of how Three Birds Renovations began. It literally happened overnight. But our union and eventual success had actually been 15 years in the making – we just didn’t know it.

Bon and Ez grew up in the same area and have been best friends since they were teenagers. An unlikely friendship? Perhaps. A case of opposites attracting? Definitely. Bon was a spontaneous, warm, creative extrovert led by the right side of her brain whereas Ez was a self-confessed introvert, a cool as a cucumber left-brained woman who liked to plan everything in advance ... and in writing! If ever there was a case of yin hooking up with yang, this was it.

First go at working together ... success!

Their friendship endured through uni, Erin studied human movement and Bon physical education. After this, they put their friendship to the test by job-sharing a role in event management. You might wonder how a job-sharing caper could work with two such different personalities – turns out, pretty great! Their different styles and skills complemented each other perfectly, then and now; Bon designed the creative aspects of the event (in other words, made everything look beautiful) and Ez ran the operational side (i.e. made things actually happen). Little did we know that all of this experience was just a training ground for what was to come. After all, a renovation is pretty much one big event, right?

Then along came Lana in 2002, bursting onto the scene with her larger-than-life personality, loud mouth and all-round sense of fun. She was dating her now-husband, Jason – who Bonnie and Erin worked with, and she quickly completed our trio. If Bon is an extrovert, then Lana is a nextrovert. #nextlevel! Lana hustled away in a fast-paced sales and marketing career after completing her business degree and, as it turns out, her skills were the missing ingredient in the cocktail we were brewing.

Happy wife, happy life

Even though our work journeys pre-Three Birds were different, our personal lives are almost identical. Erin and Bonnie ended up marrying two guys called Nathan who were also great mates and played in the same footy team with Jason (before he met Lana). #smallworld #ourworld With every new milestone each of us reached, we created a shared life-tapestry unique to the three of us. We’ve clinked champagne flutes at our hen’s parties and lifted each other’s wedding dresses in toilet cubicles (as you do). Together, we’ve celebrated and supported each other through the births of nine children. And, between bubs eight and nine – #surprisebaby4forbon – Three Birds Renovations was born.

Our business was conceived out of a shared desire to turn our backs on the corporate world and build a life we loved. Even though we had the same desire, we were each motivated by different objectives: Erin was looking for a better work/life balance; Lana was in hot pursuit of a new business challenge and Bon was more than ready to live out her lifelong dream of renovating houses for a living.

Of the three of us, Bon was the only one that came close to having any proper reno experience. She had grown up with property-flipping parents, so her family home was always ‘under construction’. And just when the dust would settle and everything looked beautiful, they’d sell and she’d move into some new house (aka dump) that was ripe for a reno. So this is in Bon’s blood, but even so, there aren’t any certificates hanging on her wall. None of us is a qualified architect, interior designer or builder. We don’t even have builder-hubbies to turn to. When we started this [ad]venture we had Erin, the calm event manager, Bon, the clever but cautious creative and Lana, the crazily confident marketeer. Individually we didn’t have the recipe for success, but together we were unstoppable.

Of course we made mistakes and of course we asked our poor tradies more questions than anybody should be allowed to in a lifetime, but we set out to learn as much as we could, support each other, and get better with each project. And you know what? We have. In four jam-packed years we have renovated nine properties. To break things down a little, that’s 32 bedrooms, 18 bathrooms, nine laundries and 11 kitchens – and don’t even get us started on decks, extensions, pergolas, pools and gas-strut windows (you’ll find out about these beauties on here)! Each project has given us the opportunity to learn something new and build our confidence. Everything we know is self-taught and comes from our own real reno experience. Now we’re ready to share what we’ve learned with you.

We designed this book so you can read it in whatever way suits you best. That might mean devouring it cover to cover in one weekend or flicking through a couple of random pages while watching TV or sitting outside the school gates. Each chapter showcases a different home with a collection of our favourite pictures from those projects and our most valuable tips. You’ll be able to pick it up and learn something, no matter which page you turn to. Heck, you can even read it in reverse (like Bonnie would) if you’d prefer – it will still make sense.

We hope that you love this book. And we hope it helps you to uncover the opportunities in your own home and get excited about taking them on. But if, for some reason, you never make it past this page, here’s our single most important piece of advice:

Life’s too short to live in a home you don’t love (or at least like). Start thinking about what you could improve in your home today and don’t let perfect get in the way of better. If you seek perfection you may never start. Better is better.

Let’s do this – together. Bonnie, Erin and Lana