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.

Interior Design Insights: Afloat in Berlin

Written by Lynn Malone, exclusively for Luxaflex

Traveling through Europe during the western hemisphere spring, I stayed in some fabulously designed hotels and resorts but wanted to find holiday accommodation out of my everyday walk of life. Searching online for Berlin accommodations, I found just the ticket:  a modern houseboat berthed on the Spree River, East Berlin.

It was my first visit to Berlin and I was duly impressed by the liveability of the history-rich city, its embrace of cutting-edge design, fashion and food; and the resiliency of its people. Arriving in Germany after spending time in Italy, Spain and France, I was reticent to take on yet another tongue-twister language - at minimum learning to speak the basics in each country such as 'hello', 'please' and 'thank you'. Asking a friendly Berliner how to pronounce ‘hello’, the response was ‘hello’. Great! This is going to be easier than I imagined. Not only are cosmopolitan Berliners fluent English speakers – from taxi cab drivers to merchants and restaurant staff but equally important they delight in assisting foreigners with language translations, directions and to share their respective accounts of Berlin’s history – specifically, fascinating recollections of when 'The Wall' came down in 1989.

Given English is my only fluent language, I tend to play it safe when selecting accommodation in non-English speaking countries. As example, when staying in a hotel there is a concierge or hotel management to assist with directions and general logistics. Visiting Berlin, I felt within my comfort zone to step out and expand my horizons.

That said, from an interior designer perspective, hotel guest room interiors are inspirational for residential design ideas – the attention to detail in the bathrooms; specifically the connectivity between the bathroom and sleeping area.  In this context, the Berlin houseboat literally 'rocked my design boat' with its innovative, practical design solutions and pristine waterfront location.

Other than floating on water, the houseboat shared similarities to a funky inner city studio apartment: compact with space at a premium; innovative selection of materials, finishes and furnishings; and adjacent to neighbouring units. With the exception of the swaying light pendants as a motor boat passed by on the river, the houseboat 'Black', with its next door neighbour houseboat 'White', was no different.

'Black', my home for a three-night stay, was sleekly designed and adeptly named referencing its colour palette. Entering the houseboat through a ceiling to floor warehouse-styled sliding door, the foyer leads alternatively to the living area or bedroom wing thus creating a walkway around the perimeter of the rectangularly shaped interiors. A log fireplace is the centrepiece of the living area backdropped by river views and flock of swans that nest nearby.

There is comfortable lounge seating and area rugs underfoot partially covering the black stained marine grade plywood floors. A well appointed yet compact kitchen came complete with an integrated sink, dishwasher, generously-sized oven, four-burner induction cook top and integrated refrigerator/freezer; plus all the small appliances, kitchen utensils and dinnerware to suit a disconcerting home chef and ideal for entertaining. Customised joinery in the bedroom including night tables and headboard wall, an ample bank of wardrobes and concealed laundry. Graffitied coloured back glass walls in the adjoining bathroom were a stand out complemented by an effective use of clear mirror and discretely positioned towel rails to maximise usable space.

Running the river frontage of the houseboat was a timber deck with more than adequate space for outdoor seating and a barbecue. The glazed exterior window wall gave way to vistas across the river to the city skyline and the Berlin TV Tower, the city's tallest building.

'Black' was an exceptionally comfortable holiday house and exceeded expectations; however, there was one amenity lacking to enhance its indoor and outdoor liveability:  an outdoor folding arm awning.  An awning not only provides protection from the outdoor elements such as harsh sunlight and inclement weather but visually extends the indoor living area outdoors.

If it’s an outdoor awning that will make an indoor-outdoor extension to your home, look no further than the Luxaflex extensive awning range. One of my favourite is the Garda folding arm awning.  Keeping with the theme of 'Black', Luxaflex has a wide array of fabrics to suit its decor and many more colours under the rainbow to suit yours.

Black and White houseboats

Suite 030, the platform for high class apartments

Website:  suite030.com