Lexi’s Pool – Simon and Felicity on their brand-new addition to the family

“It’s got a beautiful curve in the back corner of the pool. That’s the bit that stands out from your normal everyday rectangular pool. We’ve also got a little step like a bench seat you can sit on to have a drink and enjoy the sun.”

Simon is pretty happy with his new pool, and we don’t blame him. It’s a beautifully designed and functional Cronulla Pools pool, that’s changed the way his family do life.

“It’s designed mainly around the kids,” Simon says, “with a shallow end and deeper end. The boys can bomb in the deep end, but the bench seat is for our pre-schooler who’s learning to swim and can play there safely. It’s called Lexi’s Step. She actually thinks we built the pool for her.”

Simon said that he and his wife, Felicity, had plans to move from their duplex to a house with a pool in the next five years, but realised that they didn’t want to wait any longer for their kids to experience pool life.

 “Lexi is five, Seth is eight, and Joel is ten,” Simon says. “We just realised that now is the time the kids are going to use it. Knowing that it’s going to get a lot of use we kind of bit the bullet. But being in a smaller place, we weren’t sure if it was just a pipedream. That’s where Matt came in.”

 Simon made that first call in March, and hasn’t looked back.

“We never even spoke to anyone else,” Simon says. “Matt came on a recommendation, and we were in right away. The first question we had was, Can we even get a pool in this yard? Matt came and took a look and said, We can definitely do something here. Site Design + Studios did the design and we loved all their stuff.  They came back with a beautiful design, and we just love what we’ve got.”

 In terms of what Simon and Felicity wanted in a pool, quality was the absolute bottom line.

“We wanted a quality pool,” he says. “We didn’t just want a dump and run, where we had to figure out everything ourselves. We had other friends building with Cronulla Pools and they had only good feedback. They said, Cronulla Pools are amazing – go with them.”

Simon says that just having that confidence in the team made a huge difference.

“Our Project Manager, Tommy, has managed everything from beginning to end. It was a massive weight off our shoulders. The process was so smooth, and we didn’t have to worry about anything.”

 But of course Simon’s build wasn’t without its challenges – there were some major issues with deliveries that caused big delays.

“This year was obviously a bit different,” Simon says. “There were challenges around the logistics of lockdown. I’m sure we were frustrated, everyone was frustrated. The pavers, for example, had to come from Artarmon. We had to wait for them because we couldn’t go to the shops to pick things up. That caused massive delays, and held everything up.”

Lockdown also meant there were a bunch of product decisions Simon and Felicity had to make, particularly around colours, without actually being in a position to see the materials themselves.

“I mean, you go to pick a waterline tile just looking at a magazine,” Simon says. “You pick Beadcrete looking at pictures, asking people what they think and what they look like. This is why having the right people to rely on and trust is awesome. It’s turned out amazing, everything’s come together. It’s all about working with the right people and learning to trust the process.”

Simon describes the colour of their pool as a whitish blue. They chose to go with grey pavers, recommended by Johnny, and couldn’t be happier with them. They’ve also gone with a monument-coloured fence, a couple of shades short of black, Milboard composite timber for the deck, and they’ve also installed some plants, including an ornamental pear tree.

 “We’ve effectively renovated our entire backyard,” Simon says. “We’re very happy. Tommy took a before photo – there was just rubbish, dead grass, a trampoline. It’s very much a relaxing space now – you stand and look at the backyard and you just can’t help but smile.”

 Simon said one of the most important aspects for him during the build was the attention to detail and the regular communication.

 “All the tradesmen were incredible,” he says. “Their attention to detail is what makes it – all craftsmanship. And the communication was essential. To be sent a weekly email to tell us what was happening, to keep us updated, was great.”

Simon says their new pool has completely transformed their backyard.

“We can’t keep the kids out of the pool,” he says. “It’s so good to be away from the i-pad and TV. The boys spend the whole time running down the walkway and doing bombs into the pool. It’s turned the backyard from a not very useful space into this place where we just love to go for fresh air and sun. Our friends call it the Magazine Pool. You know, it’s awesome. The whole thing, I can’t believe it.  I just stand there and look at it – it just makes me smile.”

To get to know Johnny Derwent head here.

 To get to know our Project Manager, Tommy, head here.