Shirley says she enjoys the community feel of Grey Lynn, the older style of housing and the suburb's green leafiness. She chose this home in this street because she liked the amount of land and she could see how she could make the home nice and private. "And I do like the wide street."
She set to work, changing the position of bathroom and laundry, adding warm rimu panelling in the new bathroom, putting down carpet, texturing and painting some of the walls. Outside, she landscaped and planted, put up fencing, demolished the old garage and put in the new, single garage plus the drive and patio.
"My father is a builder and he helped me and gave me lots of advice."
Coming in from the street, you have the porch entrance with the front door opening to the hall with the three bedrooms on either side, plus the lounge. Next is the dining room leading into the kitchen. Shirley says if she were staying she would look at making the living/dining/kitchen into one area, removing walls, but keeping the two fireplaces.
Behind the kitchen is the laundry, then the bathroom and sunroom with its door to the back yard. It's here that Shirley has laid out a sheltered courtyard with barbecue, water feature and the plumbed studio where she roasts her coffee.
There's more section on the other side of the fence beside the studio, with potential for a double garage off the drive.
The outdoor patio with palms and a water feature is Shirley's favourite area but she also enjoys being in the kitchen and the lounge. "I like the colours."
Shirley is selling partly because she would like a change of scene now that her grown-up daughters have their own homes. She's looking for an apartment still in the Grey Lynn vicinity - "somewhere I can lock and leave and go visit my new grandson in Brisbane".
She imagines a family buying her house "because the land is there for the kids and having the separate rooms rather than all open-plan is nice if you have children".
But she will miss her garden.
"It's nice growing things but, wherever I go, I can still grow things in pots. And the girls have said, 'Good on you, Mum, go and have a change'."
