Selling Houses Australia uncovers country charm in Ipswich
Ipswich, Queensland
Selling Houses Australia host Andrew Winter described this home in Ipswich, south-east Queensland’s ‘most haunted suburb’, as a “house of horrors”, while its own owner Deb and her daughter Vivica referred to it as a nightmare! “We purchased it to run horses and raise a family,” says Deb, who after the breakdown of her marriage allowed the house to fall into disrepair; it needed to be sold to close that chapter of her life.
What the home did offer was the potential for a fantastic country lifestyle with the convenience of access to town. But when interior designer Wendy Moore and landscape designer Dennis Scott first stepped onto the property, it was an eight-acre challenge with no charm. They could see that the house offered something quite different to the rest of homes in the suburb, such as acreage and space that small suburban homes couldn’t compete with – but owner Deb had price expectations to match.
Wendy’s main task was creating that sense of home, and of the lifestyle a buyer could lead, with a particular focus on country style and love of horses. Most of the budget went to Dennis, who had 8 acres (and a huge amount of rubbish) to deal with.
Contemporary kitchen on Selling Houses Australia
Inside this home, it was dark, depressing, rundown and gloomy, but the two most expensive rooms in the house – kitchen and bathroom, of course – were not so bad! There was no connection to the bucolic surrounds from the inside of the home, so the majority of budget was focused on installing bi-folds, windows and blinds to make the most of the outdoors, and the house updated with paint, fresh blinds and some skylights to allow extra light to flow.
Crisp country living room style
“We needed to soften and bring character to the home,” explains Wendy. It was down to paint and styling to transform the interiors. Inspired by Ralph Lauren, she created a fabulous moodboard that included crisp navy and blue, white and brown as well as some leather accents, perfect for that country sophisticate look. The blue paint is Excalibur from Wattyl, and the rug an Atrium Barker Navy rug from Flooring Xtra.
“I wanted to create a Ralph Lauren vibe - sophisticated style leaning into strong blues, white and brown with leather accents for an upmarket country look” ~ interiors expert Wendy Moore
How to integrate a dining room into open plan
From storage zone to elegant dining zone set for entertaining, with chic and comfortable button-back chairs ready to host a crowd. This area also stars feature blue Excalibur from Wattyl, a crisp, modern take on country style that brought this home back to life and into the now.
A modern country take on bedrooms in Ipswich
This room had a serious identity crisis. Now, the master bedroom sings with dramatic style. A plush navy bedhead is offset by cosy bedlinen and a wall painted in Wattyl Potemkin, as well as Orsano Mantel carpet from Flooring Xtra.
Did the Ipswich home on Selling Houses Australia sell?
It sure did! Despite a softening property market, we’re so pleased that a buyer saw the value in so much land close to town which resulted in Deb's home selling for $735,000 very close to her asking price. She can now finally close this chapter on her life and move on.
