How Rosa Projects renovated Ensemble Salon in just 21 days
- 15 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Twenty one days.
That's all they gave themselves to gut and rebuild an entire working salon, without shutting down livelihoods for any longer than absolutely necessary.
While working full-time and raising three young kids.
In the school holidays.
Sound familiar?
Bec and Paul, the couple who renovated a derelict 1920s Bungalow in Millswood under similar conditions, are back at it again.
This time renovating the corner shop they bought back in 2021.
The property they bought during South Australia’s Covid lockdowns, the same week their first home went to auction and their second son celebrated his first birthday.
“In true Rosa form, we do it all at once,” Bec says.
What started out as a salon for two stylists, working within a quick, budget-friendly fit-out, soon became Adelaide’s only purpose-built freelancer salon home to “nine talented hairdressers all working for themselves”.
It had the local corner shop feel. The community. The free parking. The great coffee next door (at Friends with Florence).
But the internal space just no longer worked.
“It was starting to look worn and tired and was never originally intended to house so many stylists,” Bec tells Place Journal.
“The space needed to be more intentional, more purposeful and needed to reflect us and our love for interior design and decor.”
Yeah, but why 21 days?
"Purely because this was the shortest possible time we thought we could get it done in,” she explains.
“We chose winter and school holidays so the salon would be quieter and everyone's businesses less affected by the closure.”
Maybe the right question is how?
“Divide and conquer,” she laughs.
“Lots of solo parenting while the other was at the salon.
“A few school holiday footy clinics and lots of patience.”
And, as we learnt last time, not a lot of sleep for Paul, who again did all the prep work and a lot of the renovation himself.
By day two and three, the first trades were in and the race was on.
New floors. 17 new mirrors. New stone benches. New bench seat by Con’s Upholstery. New everything.
“Boujee”, Bec says when asked to sum up the new space in one word.
"It doesn't feel like any other local salon, it feels sophisticated."
But they almost didn’t make it.
“There were a couple of trade delays towards the end that made the home stretch in the last few days pretty wild,” Bec recalls with a smile.
“We finished cleaning and setting up about 10pm on the Sunday night ready for clients at 9am on Monday morning.
“We were tag-teaming the kids so one of us could clean and set up.”
The kids aren’t in the way. They are at the forefront of everything Rosa Projects does.
“We constantly say in our house, 'we can do hard things',” Bec explains proudly.
“We try to involve the kids as much as possible.
“We know they will, and we will, look back on these days as some of the best memories.”
They really are quite the Ensemble.
Follow Rosa Projects to see what they do next!
Words: Jordan Pinto
Photography: Rosa Projects, Ashleigh Pinto
BEC AND PAUL'S TIPS IF YOU'RE DOING SOMETHING SIMILAR...
Plan and prep is the key. Also, tell your trades they have less time than they really do. We told ours we were closed for two weeks not three, keeping that third week up our sleeve.
Scroll across to see what the place looked like before and during the renovation
Comments