Home for Fathers Day.

Mother’s and Father’s Day are easily two of my favourite days of the year, second only to Christmas.  A common thread across those days is that they bring the people I love the most together, and the day's importance means it trumps most other activities so everyone can attend. 

On Sunday night, we were packed in like sardines at Mum & Dad’s place- And it was awesome.  Between my parents, Aunty Naj, me, my three siblings, our partners (affectionately known as the tack-ons) and the twelve, now rather big, grandkids, the house was literally bursting at the seams.  

The maths geek in me surmised that we averaged just over 0.9m2 of floor space per person when calculated against their modest house size. 

The day saw Finska in the backyard while the sun still shined, a heated game of ‘killer’ on the dartboard in the back room, and deep discussions (yep- we talked referendum), all mixed in with laughs and memory sharing.  

You see, my fondness for the day has nothing to do with the size or flashiness of the venue and everything to do with people and connection.  Because a house doesn’t make a home, it’s the people and what you do within its walls that matter.  

In Home Build Mentoring, my clients sometimes learn that the size and style they dream of for their new home will be out of reach for their preferred budget.  This realisation can be momentarily down-heartening. But only momentarily, until we create a new vision that aligns their budget with their brief. This becomes a new and feasible directive rather than a compromise.   

You see, it isn’t the gargantuan size or marble benchtops in your house that make the event, it’s the people, as I was reminded on Father’s Day. If your project requires a little reduction in size or spec change, that’s okay. I would go so far as to say that it can make your future home and festivities even better!

P.S. A reduced footprint doesn’t mean a reduced quality of living.  Recently, my clients and I reduced the likely size of their future home by more than 50m2 by combining occasional-use spaces and reducing estimated room sizes from oversized to comfortably adequate—just a lazy $180k out-of-the-ballpark cost. 

Reach out when you’re serious about actioning your home build or reno project- I’d love to hear about your big plans!