Shop 2, 20-38 Subiaco Square Road Subiaco, WA, 6008
Thirty years ago, Deb and her now ex-husband David bought a house set on several acres in Ipswich, Queensland. It was a lovely family home for many years, and the couple had already renovated most of the interior. However, after the marriage fell apart, Deb moved out and the property was largely neglected. The garden became overgrown, basic maintenance wasn’t completed, and there were piles of rubbish both inside and out.
Over eight months passed while the house was listed for sale, and it only had two offers, both of which didn’t eventuate. Busy running her own business, Deb simply didn’t have the time to dedicate to making the home more appealing to buyers. Yet she desperately wanted to sell so she could afford to move to the Gold Coast and start a bright, new future.
Though overwhelmed by the task in front of them, Wendy and Dennis soon hatched a plan to transform this drab home into an appealing country retreat.
Fortunately, a relatively recent renovation of the home’s interiors meant the kitchen, dining and living areas were all in good shape with bright, white surfaces that would easily appeal to buyers. However, the interiors lacked natural light, due largely to overgrown plants and other structures near the windows, as well as poorly sized and oriented windows. Wendy’s main task inside was therefore to brighten up the space installing new windows, and smart solar tubes in the ceiling.
The kitchen window was also replaced with a more practical servery style window, and the old sliding doors replaced with bi-folds.
To cover the two windows in the kitchen, the team installed Luxaflex® Duette® Shades in Calla colour. Each of these shades were selected with translucent opacity to ensure maximum light flow through to the interiors, while also enabling privacy from the outside. These sophisticated shades also add both luxury and practicality to the interiors their unique honeycomb-like cells trapping air for all-important insulation.
Throughout the living space, Wendy’s aim was to create a Ralph Lauren-inspired aesthetic that would appeal to rural buyers, with rich blue tones, luxurious fabrics, and comfy leather couches.
Luxaflex® LumiShade® window coverings were added to the dining room, in Mist Pure White colour. These vertical shades allow for beautiful light control, and their soft fabric enables a soft view through. You can also easily adjust the level of privacy and light to suit your requirements by rotating the fabric vanes halfway. Then, to block light, you can close the shades completely.
In the entry, Luxaflex® Pirouette® Shadings were used. These smart and very stylish shadings feature softly contoured, front-facing fabric vanes attached to a single sheer backing. During opening and closing, the vanes move in tandem which creates a fluid and graceful effect.
The three bedrooms of this home were already in relatively good condition, so just required some extra styling and furnishings to make them appeal to potential buyers.
As well as new carpet and paint, each bedroom also received new Luxaflex® Duette® Shades, in Calla colour, to ensure consistency with the living spaces. They were also selected in blockout opacity—to create peaceful spaces for sleeping.
Perhaps the biggest issue with this home was the fact there was no clear connection between the home and the surrounding acreage. The yard also had a lot of junk which needed to be cleared. The fences were damaged, the stables were rundown, and there was no clear entry to the front door nor a driveway leading to the garage.
Dennis was determined to address these issues and bring this property back to life. His top priority after removing several years worth of rubbish was establishing a boundary around the property, and creating a driveway and footpath to the front door. Overgrown and neglected vegetation was cleared to allow light to flow inside. The old, tiled roof was resprayed, and the busted-up guttering was repaired.
The facade of the house was already half painted, So Dennis decided to cover the old paint colour and extended the new colour around the house. A new arbour was installed to define the footpath and front door, and the old ‘carport’—which was actually a patio—was turned into a lovely outdoor entertaining area with an outdoor lounge and dining zone, plus an outdoor fireplace and pizza oven.
A Luxaflex® Evo MagnaTrack® awning was used to transform this space into another very usable and private ‘outdoor room’. This innovative awning has been engineered and tested in Australia to handle our diverse and unforgiving conditions, and is the most technologically advanced straight drop outdoor blind on the market. It harnesses the power of Rare Earth Neodymium magnets within its side channels to hold the fabric in place. This provides a smooth, flat finish with unparalleled strength.
“To screen off the outdoor area and make it feel like a natural extension from the kitchen, I installed Evo MagnaTrack straight drop blinds from Luxaflex,” says Dennis.
“They operate with strong magnets in these channels, keeping the fabric taut and tight even in the windiest of conditions. And they keep the heat out as well. With a quick press of the button, if the track’s ever out, they pop straight back in because of the magnet’s strength, making them ideal for this outdoor area. They'll make this a usable space even in the height of summer and give it a bit of privacy,” he adds.
The old star picket and wire fence around the residence was also replaced by a striking timber post-and-rail fence, returning some country charm to the front of the property.
A screen and garden were created outside the kitchen window to help direct the view from inside and distinguish the rural-side and the garden-side of the home.
The stables, which had fallen into disarray, were also cleaned out and levelled and the timber was rejuvenated. A fresh bed of clean straw was added to make the stables look inviting again.
With both the interior and exterior renovations completed, Deb’s home was transformed into a very appealing and bright country retreat.
It was once again offered to buyers—this time securing a sale price of $735,000, allowing Deb to afford the fresh start she was looking for.
If you’re interested in finding out more about the window coverings used in this renovation, please get in touch with the team at Luxaflex today.
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