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This time we’re not just touring a beautiful, completed home – we’re taking you behind the scenes of a dramatic renovation journey in Pererenan, Bali.

Interior designer Romina Baldomir (from her namesake studio) and homeowner Eva open the doors to Rumah Buaya, a once bare-bones villa that has been lovingly transformed into a home full of soul, colour, and stories.

From the early stages of a stripped-back open-plan shell, through the obstacles (including a 6-week contractor holiday and warped wood), to the final breathtaking reveal – this is a renovation journey like no other. Every space has been reimagined:

* Bedrooms with mezzanine levels and clever privacy solutions
* Bathrooms refreshed with brass finishes, marble, and handmade tiles
* A kitchen island clad in green onyx that anchors the living space
* A funky powder room with four-coloured ceramic tiles – Eva’s favourite room!
* Custom hand-made furniture sourced from Java and beyond

What makes this home truly special is how it reflects Eva’s life lived across continents – weaving in touches of Africa, the UK, and the Caribbean, all tied together with her signature colour palette of orange and green.

The result? A once-ti
Transcript
00:11Hi, my name is Romina and I'm the Creative Director of Studio Isla, the interior design
00:16firm involved in this home renovation. This project belongs to our client Eva.
00:24Hi, my name is Eva. I am the homeowner of this home called Rimabawaya, which means crocodile
00:31house in Indonesian. Yeah, so I was looking around for lots of properties. I didn't want
00:38to lease land and build fresh. I wanted to renovate because I felt like a more exciting
00:45project.
00:52Let me show you what project we're working on at the building.
01:01This is the property, which is in Great Bounds. The client just hired us to do a full renovation.
01:10The house is in about four aras, which is great, great size. So right now we have a very
01:17open plan and we have to enclose the entire property. The house downstairs has a kitchen,
01:25an existing kitchen that we're going to try to keep as much as possible in terms of the
01:30structure. So I'm just going to show you what's upstairs. So as much as we love the views,
01:44we need to provide privacy. So we're trying to find a solution to enclose the entire upstairs
01:53with also having the possibility to be open as well. Okay, so this is one of the bedrooms.
02:04They're both very, very decent in size too. The views also are very, very special in this
02:10house, which both has also a mezzanet level upstairs. We are thinking to maybe do something
02:18different for each. Okay, this is one of the bathrooms. What we're going to do here is just
02:24retype everything. This is also very, very low. We make it very, very difficult. So we're
02:32going to change that. We're going to change the shower area. So this is going to be probably
02:38one of the biggest makeover in the house. This is the second bedroom. Like I was saying before,
02:50we have very special and unique elements like this balinese door as well. Right now has a very
02:58like reddish kind of finish. So what we're going to do once again is just sand it down and probably
03:05just
03:05keep it very, very natural, but we're going to try to keep it the way the way it is as
03:11well.
03:15We've gone through a lot. There is a lot of details in this house and it takes in Bali,
03:19things sometimes take longer. But one thing that every time someone walks in, they feel like this
03:26is really a home. Yeah. And that there is so much energy and love put into this home. And I
03:32feel like
03:32that's the special that it's so special. Hi, welcome back to our renovation project. You were here when
03:43we first started the construction process. That was about, I would say, eight to nine months.
03:50And I'm going to take you through the different materials that we've chosen and what's happening in
03:56each room and what's going to also happen next. Be prepared for what's the obstacles. Yeah. Don't
04:10expect everything to be fine. You'll be promised that everything's going to run smoothly. But there
04:15are a lot of holidays that you're not ill about. Like contractors going away for sometimes six weeks.
04:23Yeah. And you come into the house and no one's here. When you've been told the house to be done
04:28in two months. You know, it's be hopeful but expect lots of obstacles. This is the powder room on the
04:37ground floor. So we have gone for handmade ceramic tiles. We wanted something a little bit funky,
04:46a little bit different. So we combined four different colors. All these walls are going to be wrapped
04:52around with wood as well. So this is going to feel very, very warm. If you follow me here, the
04:59kitchen
05:00island has been installed. The onyx is absolutely beautiful. We are waiting for the construction
05:07team to finish this area to start installing the kitchen cabinets at the back and then continuing on
05:14the installation for the countertop and the splash back. There is so much happening here in the outdoor
05:20area. So this is the existing pool and we're going to keep it. We might change the materials, but the
05:26actual shape, the avocado shape of the pool is going to be kept. They are building right now the barbecue
05:32area. So we are going to have some doors here. So the bar is going to be kind of like
05:38within the
05:39interior of the house. So it's a very easy to access to. And there's so much happening as well upstairs.
05:45I'm going to take you through. When you guys were here last time, this was all open. So what we
05:54wanted
05:54to do, we wanted to enclose these upstairs area, but without losing any light coming in. But also
06:04we wanted to provide privacy. This is the guest bedroom and bathroom. The tiling is almost completed.
06:13They're going to start installing the marble flooring.
06:21We are now in the master bedroom, which I am so excited about. We enlarged the, we kind of like
06:29made the entrance a little bit longer. So you had a bigger space. We've created a walking wardrobe that
06:37goes here, which is pretty much ready to be installed. So we're going to have cabinets all around and
06:45we're going to have sliding doors with mirrors as well. It's going to be opposite the bed.
06:55I would say that it's going to take us about another two, three months to complete the project.
07:13Hello, welcome to Room of Wire. We'll start at the entrance. This is the foyer that was originally
07:22outside. We designed this room to kind of feel more like an English Soho housey vibe. And also to provide
07:32some storage. And storage, lots of storage. Storage, yeah, in this home. So this created an opportunity to
07:40give you good storage for all your luggage or whatever you want. You like cleaning, cleaning stuff,
07:47things like that. So this was really an outdoor area. So we enclosed it to provide a storage.
07:53And the stairs, these are also outside. I mean, the whole house was outside. But yeah, these were rebuilt as
08:00well.
08:05Here's the dining room, quite self-explanatory, I think. Also Rory's office at the moment, rather
08:13than a dining space. This was done in Java, actually. Yeah. As well as the chairs. The chairs came from
08:19a
08:20couple of inspiration photos from Pinterest. Yeah.
08:26Well, the kitchen island was existing, actually. So we kept this structure of it. And then we
08:32reinforced the concrete base. But we worked with the same dimensions. And it was a bit of a challenge to
08:41find the exact green on it. The wood was actually bending. Yeah. And they came in and they installed
08:51all new again. Yeah. But this has been my dream sofa design. It's so very comfortable.
09:05It was a little bit unexpected because you did mention you wanted a bar, but this actually came
09:10right after. Yeah, because in the bar, we were going to do, I think it was going to be outside.
09:15It was, and I said I wanted it to be enclosed because I didn't want something beautiful like
09:19this to be kind of soaked to the, yeah. It was a great place for him, Rory. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
09:26You want the barbecue to look like any other barbecues, I remember. You were like,
09:30I really want the barbecue to feel special. Yeah. And you went for this beautiful,
09:38handmade orange tile. Yeah.
09:44This is the powder room. I think my favorite room. Yeah, that was the whole process. And actually to
09:49try find the colors that we wanted, it was really, really hard because they're all individual pieces.
09:58And it's all custom. And originally, I think from the renders, I was shocked when I saw the actual
10:02tiles where I was like, oh, they're really bold. Do I want these? Yeah. And they're perfect.
10:18Well, initially I was, because the door was red almost. Yeah. And I was like, oh,
10:24maybe we should get rid of the door. And everyone said, don't you dare. Absolutely.
10:28Very happy with the door. I've actually, I've had this poster in every house I've lived in since
10:40I was 20. But I've scanned it, enlarged it and framed it or changed the side of, yeah. But it's
10:47always been with me. This is custom. Yeah. These tiles are handmade as well, are they?
10:54This is, no. These ones aren't. These are the holly ones. No. It goes to the kind of like London
10:59underground as well. It is. Yeah. Yeah. Brass fixtures were very much 100% for me. Yes.
11:06We were probably going to go for something more traditional style wise, but it didn't make sense
11:11budget wise. Yeah. This is also custom keys. Yeah. That we designed to fit the space. This is also
11:18travertine from cream travertine with a lot of storage below and also storage
11:23integrated here and blends really well with those green tiles. I love they can be actually
11:30something so bold with something a little bit more neutral.
11:38I think it was a combination. I think initially I said that I wanted to have a feeling of,
11:43because I've lived abroad most of my life, I wanted it to feel sort of like Africa, a bit like
11:48the UK,
11:49a bit Caribbean-y, colonial-y, if you're enough to say that. Yeah. Yeah. So I wanted it to feel
11:56like me
11:57in the house and kind of tell a story of my life, I suppose.
12:03Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. She came with a strong concept and a very clear idea and a very clear vision.
12:09And then it became a collaborative process. And together we develop a beautiful home.
12:32The most rewarding is to see a project, to see the final product even way better than how envisioned at
12:41first.
12:41You know, seeing something being executed or, you know, being finalized in a much better way.
13:01We based the entire color palette of the house of her initial references. And from there, you know,
13:08it was our job to develop a little bit farther.
13:10Orange and green is quite a prevalent color duo in lots of elements of my life.
13:18Yeah. I often put them together, so it makes sense that it's here.
13:22Yeah. I said, I'm not going to do it again for a long time.
13:28You'll do it again.
13:28And then I'm like, I'm so, maybe I want to do a jugglo next. See?
13:33Here's a few down there.
13:34It always happens. We always say, no, every time I'm going for a renovation,
13:38just every time someone goes for a renovation, they're like, no, I'm never going to do it again.
13:43And then it happens. And you know it happens.
13:46I think when you've got that creative side, you'll do it.
13:50Also, I want to say that it's been a pleasure worth it.
13:52Thank you too.
13:54She's been a wonderful client and very patient, which I do appreciate.
14:03I want to be as involved as I was sort of allowed to be. I wanted it to be my
14:09baby.
14:10Yeah. It was my baby. It still is my baby.
14:12Yeah. And I think that's the magic and the beauty of this project.
14:15I feel like every time we work with clients who want to be involved,
14:20but also give us creative freedom, which you did give us creative freedom.
14:25That's when the magic happens.
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