#lovemyamber winners Matt and Nat, who purchased their products from our Seaforth store, talked us through their entertainer's dream knock down rebuild, and what inspiration and factors guided their design decisions.

What sparked your decision to renovate/build, and what were the main elements you set out to achieve?
We renovated our previous home and sold it to buy a knock down rebuild property. I have always had a vision of my dream home in my head and we executed it perfectly.

What inspired the design? Did you begin with a vision, or did the design evolve throughout the process?
Yes, I have always had a vision but there was a good 18 months to 2 years of designing the house with architects, landscapers etc. We told them what we wanted and they worked out how to achieve it.

How did lifestyle and family inform the choices you made?
We have 4 children, one being 3 and a boy, we figured that we would need space to run, play and swim! We also love to entertain, we have a big family and lots of friends. As they say our house is an "Entertainer's Dream".

With so much choice available for indoor and outdoor tiling, what ultimately lead you to Amber? And can you describe your Amber experience?
 I was lucky enough to have Sharryn from Amber Seaforth assist me, wow so helpful!!! Sharryn went above and beyond as far as customer service goes. I texted her so many pictures of things I liked from magazines and she would send me pictures back with what Amber could offer. Sharryn provided advice on whether it would work, would it give me the look I was trying to achieve and whether the product would work in the areas I wanted it. We ended up with two tile types for all outdoor hard surface areas (Marble Tumbled Pewter Paving and Nero Granite Flamed Cobble Driveway) and we absolutely love it. The Madera Beige Timber Look Tile in the wine cellar fit perfectly with our style.

Our neighbours that watched our house go up were nothing but complimentary on how fabulous the house and landscaping looked, we sent those that asked Ambers way.

What is the best advice you can offer first time renovators?
Don't rush your choices, do your research and reach out to others that have done it before you for their lessons learned/what they would or wouldn't do again.

What would you say your 1 rule with transforming a small space would be?
Keep it minimal, less is more! Make it bright and use a mirror to make it look bigger.

What was the biggest learning from your reno/build?
Be patient, make sure you have good tradies, you pay for what you get, and there is a reason for cheaper. Make sure you put a big buffer into your budget. We didn't go over on the build it was all the little things before and after the build. 

Were there any hacks or tips that you learnt from your small space reno that you would love to share?
There was nothing small about our build… 

How long did the whole process take from planning to completion? 
We started our plans towards the end of 2018 and moved into the house April 2020.