Kinwolf Projects featuring Cloudburst Concrete™

Renovating to sell with quality finishes

Quality finishes make a difference, even when you are renovating to sell. Casey Scott from Kinwolf Projects shares his tips.

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About Kinwolf

A design and renovation company, Kinwolf Projects is a partnership between three friends – Casey Scott, Matt Crocker, and Scott Ligertwood – who are passionate about turning homes and spaces into something with a whole new lease of life, and a dwelling that inspires creativity and health. They work for different clients as well as complete their own buy/renovate/sell projects.

Photos by River Bennett

Kitchen designed by Kinwolf, made by Collective Joinery

There is a real skill in knowing how to turn an ugly duckling into a very saleable swan – and the boys from Kinwolf have got it down to an art. The trio of good mates, Casey Scott, Matt Crocker and Scott Ligertwood, gave this slightly tired and dark old house in Sydney’s north-west a fresh new look, selling it for a healthy profit in the process.

Casey explains that they knew the kitchen was always going to be critical for buyers. The team felt a lighter, brighter kitchen would be the way to go, as well as be more appealing to potential buyers. “It was originally pretty dark in there” he says. “So we started by throwing in two skylights.”

The existing window overlooked the neighbouring house, so they changed it to a slimline version doubling as a splashback on that side, by painting the fence and filling it with succulents. This obscured the view of the neighbours while still allowing plenty of light into the space.

Inside, the design is simple and elegant, using a muted palette and relying on a curved wall and textural elements for the wow factor.

We went white on everything except for the little details of timber to tie into our floorboards, but everything’s still got a matte texture to it".

Casey Scott

For the kitchen surfaces, they wanted to stay with the lighter palette, but play with texture. “We decided to use Caesarstone’s Cloudburst ConcreteÔ – it was the first time we used it and it was just unbelievable” says Casey. “I reckon it’s the best benchtop I’ve ever used.”

Cloudburst Concrete was used on the kitchen bench as well as the huge island and even as a splashback, extending up the wall.

The decision to choose Cloudburst was influenced by Casey’s sister, Bonnie Hindmarsh of Three Birds Renovations, who had recently installed the surface in her new home. “We were checking out samples and we chose it as one we liked, but we weren’t sure about it in such a massive slab.” says Casey, “and then Bonnie said, ‘Oh, I’ve got it in my alfresco area’, so we went out there and had a look. I loved it. I love the texture; it’s almost like a salty acid wash kind of feel to it.”

The quality of the surfaces in the kitchen was a big drawcard for buyers when they put it on the market, says Casey.

“You can skimp on things and use just cheap materials and probably still do okay” he explains, “but we’re trying to create a name for ourselves as well and do good quality work, so we don’t want to do that.”

“People absolutely loved the kitchen in this house. It was really big too. We’re doing a lot in the inner city suburbs such as Balmain, so we don’t usually put stools in our space that the kids can be at or that kind of element, but this time we did and it was really nice.”

And, although it was purely a profit/investment project, Casey says they were all happy to see the home end up with a young family.

“The people that bought it were a young couple and they loved it” he says. “It felt like it was going to be appreciated. They were really nice people.”