Selling Houses Australia - Ascot Vale

The LifeStyle Channel's Selling Houses Australia Episode 8 Season 9

The Story: Professional couple Glenn and Joanna purchased what they thought would become their dream home. The property was down on its luck and desperately in need of some love. They embarked on a campaign of serious and expensive renovations starting with the recreation of the original front of the house. They also created a fourth bedroom with an ensuite and walk in robe.

Unfortunately, the couple split up leaving the kitchen, bathroom, separate toilet, laundry and family room unfinished. As the property is only half finished, buyers want it for a steal and are overestimating what it would cost to get it up to a liveable standard. Joanna says buyers cannot see what it could be, only what they have to spend.

The Problem: The house was just unfinished - everywhere!

The Solution: Finishing the house was the main objective. A new dining room and larger living space were created by shuffling a few walls around. New windows through the back section of the house were put in to keep in line with the updated front. This included a sliding door that now covered the entire back wall of the new lounge area.

Luxaflex® Roller Blinds in Designer Fabric Aria Translucent in the colour Tapa were installed throughout the lounge and kitchen areas. The grey tone of the fabric was the perfect match for the new grey paint and grey theming of the house.

Next was to move the laundry to the old bathroom area, and turn the adjoining bedroom into a beautiful brand new family bathroom. Pops of colour and a bird portrait in the bathroom created a traditional, yet quirky style.

The kitchen was gutted, and the positioning of the door was changed. Cottage style front door fronts on the kitchen cabinets matched the raw wooden shelving. By installing bigger appliance, this allowed for a large family room and greater functionality.

All stops were pulled out on the exterior, as it was technically a blank canvas. New paving, new garden, new furniture, new turf, new fencing and a new paint job. The ugly pergola was replaced with a Luxaflex® Ventura Folding Arm Awning with Trend Hood and Crank Control. The Ventura Folding Arm Awning offers the very best in Open Style awning market. It features a classic design in an elegant open style awning, the perfect compliment to the exterior of the house. The Dickson Arcylic fabric was a great match to the white exterior, and added to the quirky feel of the interior.

All Luxaflex® Window Coverings were supplied and installed by Luxaflex® Gallery dealer A&B Interiors in Williamstown, VIC.

Selling Houses Australia - Leongatha

The LifeStyle Channel's Selling Houses Australia Episode 7 Season 9

The Story: Kate and Mark met when they were both 17 years old and were attending two different high schools in Leongatha. They dated for 6 years before getting married and starting their family. They have two girls, Ayla who is 8 years old and Talia who is 6. Mark coaches the local AFL football team and Kate coaches the affiliated local netball team. Mark works at the local sporting store in the main street and Kate teaches at Leongatha Secondary College. They are both heavily involved in community activities and both call themselves 'sports nuts'

Kate and Mark originally built a house and then decided to sell it, because it was slightly out of their budget. They purchased 35 Brumley St 5 years ago and thought that they would be able to live in it for a few years and then sell it and get something bigger afterwards. Although they were happy paying a smaller mortgage living there, they have not outgrown the house. They want a property that has more space so that the two girls can have freedom to run around and yell and scream and do what kids do.

The Problem: The quaint house was in dire need of a facelift - inside and out. The house could not compete with the prettier houses in the area. The weatherboard look of the house looked drab, where the exterior did not have a 'wow' factor. The house did not have a bad layout, it just looked old and boring, and had no style.

The Solution: The layout of the house was actually quite good, so all that was needed was a punch of colour and style to create some personality. A bold colour scheme at the back of the house was used to echo and compliment the new exterior colour scheme. The dark timber trims on the interior was left to echo the dark trims of the exterior and create a nice and simple feature to bring in warmth.

Luxaflex® Wood Essence Blinds were installed throughout the house. Wood Essence Blinds provide a practical alternative to Timber Venetian Blinds. They are perfect for high-humidity areas.

Wood Essence Blinds provide the look of real wood combined with the quality and durability of advanced technology that is resistant to discolouration and warping. Wood Essence Blinds were a nice compliment to the timber look of the house, and added a nice contrast to the flooring and dark trims.

The colour Snow White with the brown timber frame of the window created a nice focal point within the rooms. The major positive with having Wood Essence Blinds in the bedrooms, in particular the kid's room is that the blinds are virtually low maintenance. Because the slats can be easily wiped clean with a damp cloth, finger prints and dirty marks are easy to get off.

The drab exterior of the home was not competing with the much prettier homes in the area. An exterior paint job of a pastel green created a fresh new look, so did the addition of new plants at the front of the property.

All Luxaflex® Window Coverings were supplied and installed by Luxaflex® Gallery dealer Olympic Blinds in Edithvale, VIC.

Selling Houses Australia - Baulkham Hills

The LifeStyle Channel's Selling Houses Australia Episode 6 Season 9

The Story: Michael is the sole owner of the house in Baulkham Hills, a boom area where properties like his are selling for over a million dollars. With retirement looming, Michael thought that this was his chance to cash in - but not everyone was as keen on his home as he was, and it just languished on the market.

Michael believes the problem is that his house is old and tired and is competing with many new builds. Also, the street number 95F makes people think that the home is on a battle-axe block. So it is time to transform his home from ordinary to extraordinary.

The Problem: Michael had done everything right to try to sell his property. He gave it a new paint job, a new roof, and it was clean and tidy. The main issue was that the house was just ordinary. In a saturated market such as Baulkham Hills, standing out of the crowd is essential - something that his house did not do.

The Solution: Transform ordinary to extraordinary by injecting some style into the house. This forgettable house needed a little floor adjustment to get the most out of it. The office in the master bed dressing area was moved, and turned into a room of its own. One of the doors leading to the garage was blocked off, making the office a room of its own right and not a walk through.
Now that the office was out of the dressing area, there was no need for a second walk-in robe. By demolishing this, the floor space and shape of the family room was increased.

Laminate was used in the kitchen, hall and family room, while all the luxury areas like the lounge and bedrooms were carpeted. This helped the floor plan flow and connected each area of the house together.

The kitchen had good bones, but looked tired. A massive respray brought the kitchen back to life. Luxaflex Duette Shades in LiteRise and Vertiglide operating systems in 20mm Architella Elan Translucent fabric (Daisy White) were installed. The Duette Vertiglide was the ideal solution for the kitchen sliding door. The fabric runs from side to side, vertically suspended from a single track system, therefore is the best solution for sliding doors or as a sliding room divider, whilst also providing superior energy efficiency in heating and cooling.

A modern palette of grey on the walls and bold tones in the bedrooms brought the interior up to date, and Luxaflex Duette Shades in LiteRise operating system in 20mm Architella Elan Translucent fabric (Daisy White) was the perfect neutral match for the bedrooms.

The light-blocking pergola was removed, and replaced with the Luxaflex Garda Folding Arm Awning to allow light into the house on those darker days. The Garda Awning was an ideal solution for sun protection over the expansive entertaining area of the backyard. With an oval design, the Garda awning added an elegant appearance to the Baulkham Hills home.

All Luxaflex® Window Coverings were supplied and installed by Luxaflex® Gallery dealer Master Quality Shades in Castle Hill, Sydney.

Selling Houses Australia- Stroud

The LifeStyle Channel's Selling Houses Australia Episode 5 Season 9

The Story: Ariana and Melissa purchased their Stroud property after Ariana got a job there with the NSW Ambulance Service. They thought it would be a nice place to settle. They have family in Newcastle and buying in Stroud meant they could afford a big property for the family they were planning.

The couple now have 3 boys under the age of 3. There is 3 year old Zac, 18 month old Eli, and 6 week old new born Tane.

All was going to plan until Ariana's job meant that they had to move to Teagardens. As a Paramedic, she has to be on call, which means the family have to live in the place she works. Ariana and Melissa are really desperate to get a sale and feel stuck with the house they own while living somewhere else in a rental.

The Problem: This house had an overall very good interior, but it just had a very old fashion look to it. which needed some modern character injected into it. The carpet was old and daggy, and made the kitchen, dining area and lounge area feel disjointed.

The backyard had a sloping garden, and a large deck which needed replacing - a beast of a project on its own. The shed created an ugly distraction from the deck/entertaining area, and needed to be hidden or covered up.

The Solution: Take the daggy out of the house by sprucing up the interior and exterior. The backyard had a sloping garden, so the old deck was replaced with a new one. Because the deck was so large, it was divided into zones for dining and lounging. A beautiful slatted screen was installed to hide the shed from the entertaining area of the deck, making it more appealing. By matching the paint at the front of the house to the back plus a clean and tidy up, the exterior was brought back to life.

Inside the house, only simple, but effective changes were made. The old fashion feel of the house was banished, injecting some modernism to create some character.

By taking out the carpet in the living/dining area and replacing it with modern laminate, it instantly created flow between the kitchen, dining and lounge areas. It also created the illusion of extra space.

Beach Roman Shades in Series B500 Translucent fabric (White) were installed in the lounge and dining area. Beach Roman Shades added that contemporary feel to the house, and was the perfect colour compliment to the grey and white tones of the house. Luxaflex® Beach Roman Shades are a great insulator, as they can extend past the window frame for full coverage, and the translucent fabric allows for natural sunlight to come into the lounge and dining area - creating the perfect ambiance.

B500 Blockout fabric in White were chosen instead for the bedrooms for privacy and coverage from the natural light. The Beach Romans in the bedroom created a timeless, yet contemporary look, injecting character into the previously dull looking bedrooms.