Meet NZRenoTok winners Shiray and Gillies Kaka

Season one of NZRenoTok kicked off with a bang as four teams undertook a six-week challenge to completely transform their homes. A variety of content creators became renovators for the duration, all bringing vastly different skill levels and properties to the table. 

Often challenging but always intensely rewarding, the journey entailed many ups, downs and sleepless nights as the teams worked tirelessly to refresh different spaces, focusing on a different area each week. Adding to the task at hand, they were also responsible for filming and editing their progress and sharing it on TikTok. 

The public were seriously invested in this unique renovation reality show format, and they didn’t hold back with feedback in the comments! With more than 24 million views over the course of the series, NZRenoTok quickly became the most popular local digital DIY platform.

Resene helped the teams out, not only with paint and painting products, but often saving the day with invaluable advice from the team at Resene ColorShops. 

Despite calling themselves the rookie renovators of the show, Shiray and Gillies Kaka took out the top spot – alongside MasterStroke regulars The Current Place – for transforming their Lockwood home. 

We chatted to Shiray and Gillies about the process and what they loved about working with Resene. 

Can you tell us a little about yourselves and what you do?

We’re both rugby players. Gillies is semi-retired and is working as a teacher aide, and Shiray is pregnant so on sabbatical. 

How would you describe your home before NZRenoTok?

Cosy, small, old-school, veeeeeeery Lockwood.

And how would you describe your home now?

Open, bright, welcoming and ready to be filled with new memories.

How would you describe your renovating style?

We wouldn’t say we have a renovating style – we just left everything until the last minute, got super stressed and were forced to make a decision with the time constraints!

What did you enjoy most about the NZRenoTok experience?

Spending time with Gillies and seeing what we could create together.

Huge congratulations on your win! How did it feel to take out the joint title?

We honestly didn’t even mean to win! After seeing what the other teams were creating, we were just happy to finish our spaces within the time frames! So to have our community vote for us each week and help us win is something we’ll always be grateful for.

What was the biggest lesson you learnt along the way?

Never be afraid to ask for help. There are so many awesome people in the renovating space that are willing to help. 

What was the biggest challenge of the journey?

Probably Gillies being at his job during the week and having to work around the hours he was at home.

What was the most hilarious part of the process?

Our building and painting skills, definitely! All the mistakes we had to try and fix had us in fits of laughter every day.

What are your favourite Resene colours and why?

We love Resene Palm Leaf – it made our kitchen and laundry look so good!

Which Resene product did you enjoy working with the most and why?

Gillies is OBSESSED with Resene FX Chalkboard Paint, if he could paint our whole house chalk he would!

What did you enjoy most about working with Resene ColorShop staff?

Megan and Rachel at the Resene ColorShop Tauranga were our saviours! They went above and beyond to help us and were always on call whenever we made a mistake – and there were many. 

Did they share any valuable painting advice and if so, what was it?

Painting the kitchen was a big task for us but they made it such an easy process. They even named/numbered the paint tins so that we knew which order all the paints went in. When we move on to the next project I’ll definitely be using them again!

What space were you most proud of and why?

We’re most proud of the lounge/sunroom. Every time we walk into the house our faces light up because we can’t believe what we created. When sitting on the couch it’s a great reminder of the six weeks we had as well. 

What are your three best tips or hacks for any budding DIYers out there?

• Ask questions, and lots of them! Whether you ask Resene staff, Mitre 10 staff, YouTube, Google or ChatGPT – ask, ask, ask.
• Try your best to have a plan. You’ll probably change your mind 100 times, but it is helpful!
• Just start. Just give it a go and start, little by little, one job at a time.

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