Ship Shape

When it came to turning a 1920s bungalow into a stylish first home, skills acquired aboard a superyacht came in very handy for this New Plymouth couple

- Debbie Harrison

Keeping a superyacht in tip-top condition while it cruised in Europe gave Chris Pye and Sera Gibson a head start when it came to the skills they needed to ace their first home renovation.

“Chris was a carpenter onboard (he had previously been a marine cabinetmaker for a superyacht company) and I was a deckhand. Both of us were tasked with maintaining the superyacht, which involved lots of painting, varnishing and repairing bits and bobs, inside and out. It totally stood us in good stead for our home reno,” laughs Sera.

Fast-forward five years and it’s evident that the DIY skills the couple honed at sea have proved invaluable. Together they’ve transformed their New Plymouth abode from a dated, boxy 1920s bungalow into a stylish, open-plan family home – and they did it with very little outside help.

1| THE ORIGINAL HOUSE

When the house was for sale and they viewed it for the first time, the couple were struck by how grand it felt. It was a classic character-filled, three-bedroom bungalow almost in its original state, sitting on a 930-square-metre section. It needed work, yes, but the potential was obvious. It felt too good to be true and the couple left the open home convinced that they couldn’t afford it.

“We sat in the car outside debating it and then went back in for another look and to talk to the agent. The house was already awesome – it just needed some hard work and love. We just had to have it,” says Chris. It became their first home, and their first renovation.

2| ROOM BY ROOM

There was only one way to approach a makeover of this size: room by room. Sera and Chris lived in the house during the renovation, moving rooms as they went.