Renovating with a baby: insanity or perfect timing?

Tim and Cassandra Kavanagh thank their lucky stars their baby Ron will “literally go to anyone who puts his arms out to him”.

“He’s super cruisey,” Cassandra laughs.

“Our family loves looking after him.”

It’s a good thing, too. Tim and Cassandra are mid-way through the renovation of an ex-government house in Downer, the second stage in what will be a three-part process.

Stage 1 was the complete demolition of the interior of the three-bedroom home, Stage 2 (which the family is currently in) is the front yard and front facade, while Stage 3 will be the extension of the home. The result will be a modern four-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom home, in Canberra’s coveted inner north, by the end of 2023.

While they’re not the only Canberrans who’ve seen huge potential in an ex-government house and decided to renovate, they’re probably only one of a handful brave enough to do so with a baby.

For Stage 1 of the renovation, Tim and Cassandra – who both grew up in Belconnen –- had just eight weeks to get the house Ron-friendly. They’d leave their baby sleeping with Tim’s mum and head to the property at night to tear down walls, rip up flooring and completely expose the skeleton of the house.

They had just six weeks within that eight weeks to re-erect walls, lay new flooring, restore the roof and get a working kitchen and bathroom in.

“I have no idea how but we did it,” Tim says.

“It definitely helps that Cass is an incredible project manager and I own [electrician business] Elect Solutions!

“By the time we moved Ron in, the interior was about 90 per cent complete.”

Now in Stage 2 of the renovation, Cassandra washes clothes from a makeshift laundry out the back. (The current kitchen will become the new laundry / mud room in Stage 3.)

Despite the challenges, Cassandra is absolutely in her element. She’s launched her own Instagram page, Collaborative Design Co, detailing her renovation journey. And while she enjoyed the building process when the couple bought their first home in Watson’s Mount Majura development in 2018, she “adores” renovating.

“There's something really cool about bringing something that's a disaster back to life,” she says.

“So Tim and I are on different teams: for our next project, Tim would love to buy something, knock it down, rebuild, and I'm very much about bringing something back to life.

“It’ll have to be scissors, paper, rock to decide!”

Cassandra’s advice to people considering renovating while they have a bub?

“Planning and patience,” she says.

“It’s so much easier if your family lives close.”

Tim: “Our families have been our saviours, they helped us with demolition and took waste away - small things that made a huge difference.”

“It's really stressful but such a cool challenge,” Cassandra says.

“Also, I think our relationship has gotten stronger, and it's really cool being able to have Ronnie around and be a part of it as well.

“Ultimately, you’re creating something for the future of that little person which is hugely motivating and inspiring.”