When building, renovating, or even just decorating a home, most people think first of how they’ll style large spaces such as their kitchen, living room or master bedroom. The humble entryway is often overlooked as a key design area, even though from a style perspective, it’s actually one of the most important rooms in the house.

You only have one chance to make a stunning first impression, so it’s important that the first area your guests enter feels welcoming and reflects your personal style. Additionally, a well-styled foyer can affect your own mood – making you feel happy and comfortable as you arrive home or head out for the day – or not.

In this week’s episode of Selling Houses Australia, Shaynna pulled out her well-used sledgehammer to open up what was a small shack into a light, airy coastal retreat.

The challenge
Steve and Serena desperately needed to sell their beachfront home in NSW’s Dolphin Point in order to fund their youngest son’s ongoing costs to treat a rare medical condition. Even with breathtaking views, the lack of maintenance, confusing layout and retro styling massively deterred buyers and no offers had been made on the property in the last 12 months. With this surfing family stuck in a whitewash, the Selling Houses team had their work cut out.

How to wow buyers with space and light
Having a home with a rabbit-warren layout is one of the biggest turn-offs to buyers. And in these days of open plan living, it’s become a very old-fashioned way to live. Shaynna’s biggest task in this home was to tackle the layout and add some serious style to t

In this week’s episode of Selling Houses Australia, Shaynna flaunted the power of smart lighting to transform a hippy home into a cool coastal retreat.

The challenge
In order to live a more sustainable lifestyle, yoga loving David and Margie wanted to relocate from their 4-bedroom Central Coast home in Bensville to a smaller house. But the badly renovated kitchen and dated interior was putting off buyers more interested in modern living than good karma! Shaynna and Charlie used all their renovating smarts to create a beautiful, contemporary coastal home.

Facade Before & After

This blog was written by guest blogger and Design School founder Jenna Densten.

Dreading the winter blues? Many of us experience mood shifts during the colder, darker days of winter – me included! But luckily, we’ve found there are easy ways to boost your spirits with the right lighting.

When Josh and I design any home, we look to create a haven that evokes feelings of softness, warmth and relaxation – styling with the Naturals trend is our perfect antidote to the craziness of the outside world.

Setting the scene
Natural styling using neutral tones is becoming increasingly popular in the interior design scene this year, as is touchable textures and organic shapes. In my eyes, using these colours in combination with the right lighting throughout our home sets the scene for relaxed living. For our most cosy Winter yet, I’ve selected a few new lights for our home that fit our style while keeping us happy and healthy.

The

In this week’s episode of Selling Houses Australia, the team was tasked with transforming a dated, purple nightmare into a house a cut above the display home competition.

The challenge
Frances made a rushed purchase and realised her too large, too quirky, too expensive home in NSW’s Queanbeyan was a high maintenance mistake. Priced nearly 50% over the suburb median and with more quirks than quality, there’s not a buyer in sight! Time for Shaynna and Charlie to perform another not-so-minor miracle.

Facade Before & After

Why the Hamptons look never

This week’s episode of Selling Houses Australia saw Andrew, Shaynna and Charlie fighting dust, heat and the ravages of family life to turn a home from bust to boom!

The challenge
Molly and Tom bought their 5-bedroom home in Mt. Isa at the height of the mining boom, but since then, the market’s headed south and so has the state of their property. With the couple still asking for top dollar, Shaynna and Charlie had to dig deep into their bag of tricks to get this family out of their property predicament.

Changing the little things makes a big difference
The dining room was tired and oppressive, but Shaynna showed that changing a few small things can make any room look brand new. She replaced the flooring, painted the ugly brown cabinetry white and added our Shore rat

Darker interiors make a bold statement and create a warm, inviting space, but it’s a fine line between gloomy and grand as the House Rules teams discovered in this week’s first whole house reveal.

Dressing Room by Lisa & Andy
What they did: An electric clothes rack and lush red wallpaper gave this room the ‘X-tra’ factor
Get the look: Install task lighting such as our Dalis spots and tracks in a walk-in robe. You

In this week’s episode of Selling Houses Australia, Andrew described this home in the Melbourne suburb of Mulgrave as a “crime against architecture”, and he wasn’t exaggerating!

The challenge
Frozen in time, buyers wanted no part of this ugly 70’s house with its kooky kitchen, hideous façade and tacky pop-top extension. With Anand and his family desperate to sell up and move to Queensland, this reno certainly tested the skills of Shaynna and Charlie.

Facade Before & After

One less wall, two

This season of House Rules has kicked off with a surprise win from first-time renovators (and surfer sisters!) Mikaela & Eliza, who impressed the judges with their amazing bedroom.

Tasked with turning a run-down warehouse house into a colourful, contemporary space in just 3 days, all the new couples got off to flying start.

On-trend black featured in all the rooms, with our Panorama pendant and Nevada