July 21st 2020

Cramped, cluttered and entirely lacking in character, my challenge was to inject some personality into the tiny space, and find a way to get the most out of an extremely challenging floorplan.

Charlie and I were hamstrung by a budget that was as small as the floorspace, so there was a lot of paint and dressing to get this property over the line. I did get to flex my design muscles in a few carefully selected areas though…

With its weird ‘floating’ fridge freezer, the kitchen presented the biggest floorplan issue. By removing the traditional, non-functioning stove, and moving the hot. water service outside, I was able to relocate the fridge to its rightful position against the wall.

I kept Darren’s carefully crafted kitchen bench top, but we replaced the cabinet doors, added a tile splash back and introduced a new colour scheme across the whole kitchen.

The lounge room was tiny and consequently very tricky. I’d have loved to have made the hearth smaller but we couldn’t afford to deal with the knock-on effect that would have had on the flooring, so instead I painted the existing hearth, and replaced the VJ panelling behind the heater with more, contrasting, stone.

Then it was all about colour and lighting. There wasn’t much room for table or floor lamps in the confined space, so I used wall sconces which added character and provided a practical light source.

By repeating the VJ panelling and sconces used in the lounge in the hallway and bedroom I created connection and flow between the spaces within the home.

We were thrilled that Mary and Darren received such strong offers so quickly after the makeover, and were poised ready to accept, but Darren’s job offer in South Australia fell through at the last minute so they get to enjoy the property a little longer than most of our Selling Houses sellers!

For details on suppliers for our Turners Marsh makeover, head to the Selling Houses Australia website.