Rich and Meaningful Friendships Are Built on Renovating
I’ve spent a few days in Melbourne pushing our project to completion.
While waiting in my favourite cafe for Wonder Woman Renovator Mary to share lunch.
I reflected on the time spent with friends and family during my trips and how much they have deepened connections.
There’s been time for deeper conversations with some extraordinary women.
It has led to more intimate conversations than would generally transpire.
Renovating has been a constant thread in my lifetime of relationships.
It makes the relationships richer.
Here is why:
Vulnerability as Connection
Renovating forces you to show your unfinished sides—both in property and personally. When friends enter what looks like chaos (exposed walls, makeshift solutions, decision fatigue), it creates a unique intimacy rarely found in polished social settings.
This shared vulnerability creates bonds that typical social interactions can’t match.
The Gift of Skilled Attention
Unlike casual socialising, in renovating friends to bring their unique talents to your project. Every day this week I have had a Wonder Woman come to the site and contribute her unique brand of expertise.
Yesterday Jane of Property Styling School turned up just as I grappled with decisions around styling furniture to buy on a tiny budget. She didn’t just provide ideas; she shared exactly what dining table she buys from Ikea for small spaces, the perfect Temple and Webster sofa, and the exact colour to choose.
At the project’s end, I felt some decision fatigue, and her meticulous eye for staging eased the load.
Generosity Revealed
Renovating reveals dimensions of friends that remain hidden in everyday social settings. One aspect I appreciate is the women who turn up to simply support with nothing to gain personally. There is such a generosity of spirit in these women.
Many renovation friendships evolve into business partnerships, creative collaborations, or advisory relationships precisely because you’ve witnessed capabilities in your friends that would never emerge socially.
Legendary renovator Cherie Barber declares that she eats problems for breakfast, which is precisely what it feels like. Each day, I look at my list of unresolved challenges and place the most urgent or difficult ones at the top.
When a friend turns up, I get to share that problem. There’s something about problem-solving under pressure that reveals character and creates trust in accelerated ways.
It’s not that I can’t manage alone, but just like the song says, it’s way richer to “get by with a little help from my friends.”
