Serial renovator shares top five tips

Librarian by day, and renovator by night, Jess Singh has thousands of followers who she’s teaching by example, now that she’s onto her fifth reno, writes Sharon Stephenson.

Most people fall into one of two categories – they either they do a major renovation and vow never to do another one, or they start hunting down their next project as soon as the power tools are packed away. Jess Singh and her husband Sanjay, a police officer, are in the latter camp.

The New Plymouth couple have been renovating houses since they got together in their 20s. ‘‘We’re not house flippers, we’ve just seen opportunities as our family has grown,’’ says Singh, 38.

The couple and teenage daughters Mea, Leila, and Nala are now onto their fifth house. Their first, in Palmerston North, mainly just needed repainting but their second house in Whangā rei and the last three in New Plymouth have required major renovations.

Jess, who works three days as a librarian, caught the renovation bug so badly that she started training as an interior designer.

‘‘I didn’t quite finish the course but I learned the basics of colour therapy and lighting plans and that helped launch me into a career as a product stylist and content creator which I do when I’m not being a librarian.’’

It didn’t hurt that Singh, who started posting her renovations on social media seven years ago, has a sizeable following and has done collaborations with companies such as Bunnings and Dulux.

She has plenty of opportunity to flex her skills and knowledge on her current renovation, a 1910 bungalow. The couple bought it four years ago from its 95-year-old owner. ‘‘It hadn’t been touched in 50-plus years,’’ recalls Singh. ‘It was in a pretty bad condition.’’

They’re renovating it room by room, including opening up the kitchen, relocating the bathroom, rewiring, re-plumbing and adding a new roof. They’ve also landscaped the neglected section.

‘‘We’re lucky that Sanjay works six days on and has four days off, so he can spend four days at a time on a project, rather than just fitting it into half a day here and there.’’

‘‘We seem to have been renovating ever since we got together but we enjoy creating a beautiful, functional home for our family. I joke that Sanjay will probably divorce me if I ever suggest another renovation but I’m sure there will be one at some stage.’’

One of the most common questions Singh is asked are for her top five renovation tips. She shared them with Stuff.

‘‘My first tip would be to have

a budget that will see you through to completion of the renovation – and stick to it! But also make sure you have contingency funds. We’ve found with our current renovation that prices of building materials have increased so much we’ve needed to dip into the contingency budget.’’

Another tip from this veteran renovator is to ensure there’s at least one space free from the mess and chaos of a large-scale renovation. ‘‘We usually renovate the kids bedrooms’ first so they have their own sanctuary away from the mess that is the renovation.’’

Singh is also a fan of defining an overall vision or concept for the renovation before starting.

‘‘This helps to create continuity across projects. With our current renovation, for example, the concept was fusing modern elements into an older house,

retaining some of those older features and adding antiques, so a real mix of old and new. It makes it easier to create mood boards that help you select products, colours and finishes.’’

If you can, Singh suggests doing as much of the grunt work as time and skill allows. ‘‘We’re lucky that Sanjay used to be a plasterer so he’s very handy and does about 70% of the labour on our renovations. That includes demo work and running cables for electricians because the more you can do the less you’ll need to pay a professional to do it.’’

And Singh is a stickler for finishing one project before tackling the next. ‘‘It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when you have multiple projects on the go but sitting back and enjoying a finished space helps motivate you onto the next project.’’