Our big little budget

Meet + Greet

Kenny Hau, 29 (medical student), Nikita Hau, 28 (kitchen designer and registered nurse), and Freddie, 16 months.

When we say the Hau family are a hard-working bunch, we’re not exaggerating. Through savvy shopping, clever solutions and sheer hard graft, Kenny and Nikita have renovated almost an entire house with a budget smaller than what many would spend on a new kitchen or bathroom alone. 

Throw in the fact that during the renovation Kenny was also studying medicine, Nikita was working full-time and their son, Freddie, arrived after a complicated pregnancy that required a lot of coming and going from the hospital, and you start to get the idea that this family doesn’t shy away from tough stuff. At the end of the process the Haus had completely overhauled the interior of their Dunedin home for less than $20,000.

But let’s start at the beginning. In 2015, Kenny and Nikita moved from New Plymouth to Dunedin so Kenny could pursue his dream of becoming a doctor. Even though student life meant they’d be cash-strapped, the couple were also ready to start a family, so they set about doing what they could to reduce their weekly expenses. The biggest expense? Rent. “It became clear that purchasing an old, rundown house would be much cheaper than continuing to pay Dunedin's high rents,” explained Nikita. So they started their search for a home. 

1. The original house

After an unfruitful 12-month search, the Haus stumbled across a dated, dark, 1910 weatherboard cottage with a peculiar layout and blue-and-brown colour scheme. It was perfect. They viewed the house during Nikita’s lunch break, went back for a second look that night and made an offer the next day. Their plan was to rejig the layout for better flow and use of space, as well as modernising the interior. 

They intended to spend two years renovating, doing it room by room to minimise the mess and make it possible to live on-site. That was the plan – in reality, things hit fast-forward when they discovered they were having a baby. “Instead, it became a race to have the house as liveable as possible before our son’s arrival,” laughs Nikita. “Our poor midwife looked so concerned when we showed her the baby’s room, full of bricks from a removed chimney and missing half the floor!” 

2. The renovation

Budgets can quickly get gobbled up by labour costs alone, so Nikita and Kenny knew they had to roll their sleeves up and do what they could themselves. They also pulled in family and friends for working bees wherever possible. While other students spent their holidays relaxing or road-tripping, Kenny got stuck into DIY and Nikita joined in when she could. Walls came down, bulky fireplaces and chimneys were demolished, lino was pulled up, floors were fixed, and layer after layer of wallpaper was stripped. It was relentless, often back-breaking work. 

“When we look back now, we can’t believe some of the conditions we lived through, especially during our first snowy winter when the house was full of holes. But we had a strong vision of what we wanted to achieve, which got us through,” Nikita says. At one point, visiting friends were relegated to sleeping on a mattress in the kitchen as it was the only room (other than the master) that was weathertight. 

3. Opening it up

By moving the laundry into the sizeable bathroom, the Haus were able to make better use of the space, create the open-plan flow they wanted and give the kitchen a feeling of spaciousness. It was one of the few jobs where they had to pay tradies (a plumber and electrician) but it more than paid off. 

At $7,000, the kitchen was their biggest investment (other than a new roof), but as a functional space and the centrepiece of their open-plan living area, it deserved to be. 

At the other end of the cost spectrum, the most profound change was also the cheapest: when the couple purchased the house, a large fireplace dominated each room, making the spaces feel cramped. Removing these freed up the house, giving the couple some big, open areas to work with. “This was an awesome transformation which didn’t require any trades – just a hammer and hard work,” says Nikita. They were able to turn the space left by the chimney in the master bedroom into a walk-in wardrobe, giving them some much-needed storage. To solve the issue of storage in another area, the couple craftily upcycled an old wardrobe to hold cleaning equipment and products in their bathroom-cum-laundry. 

4. Décor on a dime

Nikita and Kenny have a knack for budget buys. Not only did they bide their time and wait for the right pieces, they were also unafraid to ask retailers to match quotes or give a better deal. “If you are renovating on a budget, don’t be too proud,” says Nikita. “We think people can feel ashamed to say they want something at the lower end as though this reflects on them somehow. But owning a house and renovating it yourself is a massive achievement and one to be very proud of.” 

New carpet and a fresh lick of paint in a neutral colour gave the couple the perfect backdrop for their decor. “We love a mix of vintage and new, colour and neutral, and pieces which don’t really appear to fit together but somehow do.” 

The couple took their time furnishing their house, collecting and upcycling second-hand items as they came across them. “Typically, we find a centrepiece and build the room around it. Like the vintage dressing table we found at the Hospice Shop, which we painted green – we’ve complemented this with plants and natural fibres,” says Nikita. 

5. The next move

Even though the renovation was brutal at times, Kenny is keen to dive back into another one. However, Nikita is reluctant to leave the cottage. Not only does she love this home, she can’t bear the thought of facing another on-site renovation… especially while she’s pregnant with their second child. “We are extremely proud to have created a cosy home in which to bring up our babies and we hope we can inspire others in a similar circumstance,” Nikita says. 

The budget

$19,145 in total for the interior, including:  

• New carpet throughout – $4,400
• Restoring original hardwood floors – $450
• New kitchen including installation, plumbing and tiling – $6,995
• Moving original laundry – $400
• New bathroom/laundry – $3,500
• New walk-in master wardrobe – $400
• Relining after removing chimneys/fireplaces – $600
• Painting the interior – $1,200
• New curtains and blinds, light fittings, door hardware and barn door – $1,200

Text by Debbie Harrison. Photography by Guy Frederick.

This article originally appeared on Homes to Love.