Andrew Winter will be joined by new presenters Wendy Moore and Dennis Scott as production commences for the 14th season of the popular LifeStyle Channel renovation show. It’s hard to imagine not one but two new personalities on the show!
Photo: Nicholas Wilson
FOXTEL today announced the replacements for Shaynna Blaze and Charlie Albone after they both left the show. Production starts next week with the Selling Houses Australia team scouring the length and breadth of Australia’s heartland, bringing their inspired ideas and expertise for interior and exterior makeovers.
Shaynna’s replacement, Wendy Moore, headed up Australian Home Beautiful as editor-in-chief for more than 12 years, combining her expertise in interiors and design with a strength in communicating with a passionate audience. With interior design and makeover projects also under her belt, Wendy became a judge on Channel 7’s House Rules for seven seasons.
Charlie Albone, Andrew Winter and Shaynna Blaze were known for their banter and chemistry
More recently, she took on the role of Group General Manager of FOXTEL’s LifeStyle Group overseeing all aspects of FOXTEL’s iconic LifeStyle brand including LifeStyle, LifeStyle HOME, LifeStyle FOOD channels and FOX ARENA. She will reportedly continue in this role alongside her Selling Houses filming commitments.
Dennis Scott will be the new resident landscape expert, bringing a wealth of experience in sustainability and a passion for designing functional and uniquely Australian outdoor spaces. Dennis owns Lush Landscape Solutions in Brisbane and previously had an NRL career which spanned ten years. It began in 1996 when he played for the Brisbane Broncos. He then joined Canterbury-Bankstown in 1999 for the next six years, then linked with Craig Bellamy and the Melbourne Storm for two seasons in 2005 and 2006.
Announcing his NRL retirement following a long battle with injury, Dennis made the tough transition to a career after sport. He undertook a mature age carpentry apprenticeship at his friend’s construction company. It was during this time where Dennis turned his hand to landscaping. He fell in love with it and realised his dream of starting his own business.
Charlie left the show late last year and replaced Jason Hodges as the landscaping expert on Better Homes & Gardens. Shaynna followed suit earlier this year and continues to be a judge on The Block. The end of an era indeed!
FOXTEL’s Executive Director of Television, Brian Walsh, said: “We welcome Wendy and Dennis to the Selling Houses Australia team who will bring their wealth of expertise and their own unique personalities to our much-loved flagship series with Andrew at the helm. With people spending more time in and on their homes, Selling Houses will continue to connect and thrive with our audience after an already incredible successful 13 years.”
Andrew Winter said: “I am actually a person that has always liked change… I mean I can’t even keep a house that long. The timeline for Selling Houses Australia has been completely thrown with everything going on in the world, and I have been waiting impatiently and can’t wait to get back out there. I am really looking forward to working with Wendy and Dennis and welcome them to the team because we are so ready to hit the road.”
Selling Houses Australia is produced by Warner Bros International Television Productions (WBITVP) exclusively for FOXTEL’s LifeStyle Channel and returns in 2022.
We love Charlie Albone, our resident expert on all things outdoor on sister site Reno Addict, and of course slightly better known for his role on the top rating LifeStyle show Selling Houses Australia.
In this episode of Interiors Addict TV, Lauren Ellis talks gardens with Charlie; everything from how to create a garden that suits your house, what formal gardens are all about and how not to make mistakes with colour! And don’t forget to watch to the end for Charlie’s number one gardening tip! Enjoy!
The LifeStyle Channel’s hit series Selling Houses Australia, has wrapped its seventh and biggest season yet and is already gearing up for another! Interior designer Shaynna Blaze provided practical advice for Australians navigating their way through the real estate market, from a million dollar waterfront mansion, a historic country pub and every home in-between that no one can sell and no one wants to buy.
Luxaflex Window Fashions, the leading blind manufacturer in Australia, was a major sponsor, providing a variety of custom-made window fashion solutions throughout the series. I caught up with them to provide some of the show’s highlights, and offer some practical advice on the best window fashions solution for your requirements, whether you’re looking for privacy, light, energy-efficiency or innovation. Here’s a few of my favourite picks from the season:
1. The ”waterfront wreck” from Gray’s Point had no proper bathroom, no balustrade on the balcony, no steps on the front door, and with a reserve of $1.4 million, it was in need of a major makeover! Shaynna requested Silhouette Shadings to soften the look and light in the bedrooms. I love these shades because soft vanes are suspended between two sheer fabrics, which can be opened for a full, soft focus view, closed for privacy, or tilted for the perfect light control. The white fabric on the back reduces glare and UV rays, whilst ensuring an uninterrupted view from the inside out.
In this episode, she also installed Roller Blinds in the bathroom, in a new fabric called Atmosphere Translucent, featuring Sanitized® Antimicrobial Protection, which effectively reduces the development of bacteria, odour and mildew – ideal for bathrooms, particularly waterfront properties!
2. Recognised as one of the most energy efficient window coverings on the Australian market, Duette Shades feature a unique honeycomb structure, creating cells which trap air and act as insulation for your windows. The Duette Architella Shades Shaynna chose for a property in Monterey, NSW feature a neutral appearance from the outside, while on the inside, can feature one of many modern colours and evolving designer fabric ranges. In this instance, Shaynna chose a Duo-Lite design option combining Elan Translucent and Blockout Fabric in Linen colour, on the one shade, for the ultimate in versatility, privacy and light control. Other than keeping this front-facing family room warm in winter and cool in summer, one of the reasons I love this window fashion is because the 100% polyester fabrics are anti-static, repelling dust, and in most circumstances, light dusting with a feather duster is all the cleaning that is needed to keep clean! (Click here to see how the energy-efficient Luxaflex Duette Range of Shades work.)
3. Effective interior design means having a look that combines functionality and versatility, and Luxaflex Pirouette Shadings deliver just that – the functionality of privacy and a controlled view all in one, with a beautiful fabric appearance. Shaynna chose Pirouette Shadings for a property in Greenwich, NSW, to provide privacy in the small bedroom. The Pirouette Shadings feature soft, horizontal fabric vanes attached to a single sheer backing, controlling light and allowing you to look out in a new unique way that doesn’t compromise on privacy. With a sophisticated look inside, the sheer back of the Pirouette also offers functionality by way of reducing glare and harmful UV rays.
In the parents’ retreat, Shaynna chose roller blinds, which are suitable for small, large, narrow or even bay windows. In this instance, they are operated with a classic chain drive, but the whisper quiet Qmotion remote control motorised option is also convenient and affordable. QMotion Technology includes durable batteries hidden in the roller tube, meaning there’s no need for an expensive electrician!
Last month, the lovely Charlie Albone, Selling Houses Australia’s resident gardening expert, agreed to answer a few reader questions. We were going to pick a few, but he was kind enough to answer them all! Here are the Q&As below. Thanks Charlie!
Question: Hi Jen & Charlie. My partner and I have built a house on an amazing waterfront block and have done little bits to it landscaping wise but feel it has some much more potential then were seeing – it’s also a slightly larger block and steeply sloping at the back to the water so it’s hard to know how to get best use out of it and have it look the best possible way it could? We want it to be a fun space yet contemporary and low maintanence!! We don’t ask much do we? We’d love to hear your thoughts??!! Thanks, Mandy & Brendon .
Answer: The trick with sloping sites is to try and create some usable flat areas with terracing. By using retaining walls you can make flat areas that you can then give some purpose – areas for lawn, entertaining, storage, kids play area etc. These areas can then be linked together with meandering pathways. I like to plant heavily around the paths so the areas appear to open up as you travel through the garden. No doubt at some point in the site you’ll have to put in some steps, it sounds like you have the space to make these wide and deep which will add a sense of drama and additional spots to stop and sit, relax and enjoy the plants and view around you.
Interiors Addict is teaming up with TV gardener Charlie Albone from Lifestyle Channel’s ever popular Selling Houses Australia.
If you have a gardening dilemma or would like a little green-fingered advice, please ask your questions in the comments below. We’ll pick some questions to answer at the end of next week.
Best known as the popular co-host and interior designer on Lifestyle Channel’s hit show Selling House Australia, Shaynna Blaze is joining belle magazine’s Neale Whitaker and real estate king John McGrath as the new judge on The Block. I spoke to her on the eve of the much anticipated new series, in which she’ll be adding a female perspective.
Shaynna Blaze is the well loved female face of LifeStyle Channel’s most popular show, Selling Houses Australia. Not bad for her first TV gig.
She recently ran a colour masterclass on Ten’s The Renovators. As she points out, free to air TV has been slow to catch on to what has been a hugely popular genre on Foxtel for years.
“People have always loved renovation shows and free to air is just getting back into it,” she says. ”I think these shows will do two things. There’ll definitely be more renovation and improvements to homes as we hit a flat spot again in our real estate market and secondly, it will put the focus back on creating a home and a beautiful space.
“Too often we feel we are governed by trends but renovation and design shows are about creating a beautiful and functional space no matter what style or trend. The importance of function unfortunately does get left behind on some of these shows as they focus too much on the entertainment angle.
“I do like all the shows for different reasons. The Block has been more about the personalities of the renovators and how their style is reflected in the interior, and sometimes your style isn’t what everyone wants to see which has encouraged healthy discussion of what people do and don’t like. The Renovators is all about learning skills that will get you a renovated house but like a lot of other people watching, I would like to see a lot more renovating and seeing them get stuck into the house. I would like to see how they use or fail with their skills in the actual work. All these houses are for sale and need a professional to oversee them, so why not show where people go wrong?”
Shaynna was keen to run the colour masterclass on The Renovators because all too often people are terrified of picking colours for their home. “Whether it is painting, bed linen or furniture, there is such a fear of selecting the right mix of colours that the majority of people play it safe with too many neutrals. That or they go crazy and overdo it and it’s like colour vomit!”
Her advice? “The best way to stop scaring yourself is work out the base of a colour. That means does it have more blue or red or yellow etc, and then use one main colour as your starting point. Slowly introduce one colour or neutral at a time that has a similar base to it and then build layers of contrasting hues slowly. Stop trying to do it all in a weekend as colour is affected by natural and artificial light and you need to look at the colour over a few days to see how it settles in the home. Until you train your eye, take it slow. Most people procrastinate for months, even years, to change the colour and expect it all to look perfect in a weekend. Take the pressure off yourself and take time with colour and enjoy experimenting with it. A couple of weekends with paint pots won’t be the end of the world!”
Shaynna, who has her own design business blankcanvas INTERIORS, went straight to college from high school and landed her first job as a designer for showrooms for a national company. She did most of her work in the retail and commercial sectors before taking some time off to be a mum and concentrating on her other loves of singing and art.
“I got back into interiors about eight years ago and it has been a huge ride ever since,” she says. “I am very lucky to be on an award-winning TV show, Selling Houses Australia, while creating some amazing interiors for my own private clients. I feel totally blessed!”
She’s currently filming the show’s fifth season. “For three years in a row we have been voted the most popular show on Foxtel! The show is about people struggling to sell their homes anywhere from a couple of months to several years (one lady had hers on and off the market for seven years if you can believe it!) and most of them have serious difficulties, whether financially or healthwise and they have to sell their home.
“Andrew Winter is the main host and real estate expert and my role as the interior designer and co-presenter is to get the houses ready for sale. Charlie Albone whips the gardens and exteriors into shape.
“This is more than just a makeover, it is getting behind the reasons why the houses don’t sell and giving solid ideas and tips to viewers for their own real estate campaign. I love working on the show as I am constantly surprised by how different every situation is and the homeowners are at such a vulnerable time in their lives as they open their homes and problems to us.” She freely admits to being “the sook and hugger” on the show. “During a three-day makeover I get quite close to the homeowners. I always leave knowing we are seriously changing these people’s lives and helping them to move onto another chapter.”
Shaynna spends a lot of time on the road, traveling around the country for filming. “The traveling is fantastic for a while but you do get a little jaded. I do treat the plane as a big bus and it is not until I get on a plane with my husband and see how excited he is to travel that I realise I do take it for granted.”
I asked Shaynna to share some tips for people working away from home a lot. “It is so important to make the hotel room where you are staying have a little ‘you’ in it. I used to take a scented candle but I am so paranoid of the sprinklers going off I have now resorted to good quality room sprays! I was given a beautiful Diptyque one (Mimosa) as a present and I spray it around the room as soon as I get settled. I also travel with a teapot and a three-stacker tin of loose leaf teas. Lemongrass & ginger, Moroccan green tea and chamomile are the flavours of the moment.
“It is important to take a few things that make you feel at home and to complete it I put on my comfy slippers (I’m really sounding like a nana now!). I spend most of my days traveling in designer heels or getting dirty in bludstones and painting gear so comfort when I get back to the room is number one for me (there might be a daggy trackie thrown in there too)!”
About half of 40-something Shaynna’s year is free of filming commitments and that time is all about blankcanvas INTERIORS (when she is busy filming she reduces her number of clients by half). “I have a great team to support me but it is important for me to know the jobs and have the connection with the client.
“I love working on jobs where the client wants to push the envelope a bit. Most are a little timid and want to make that change but are too fearful to make the change themselves. There is a certain energy that goes into a home and I like to tap into the client’s energy to bring that to life.
“A good client shows trust. They have employed us to put their home together and need to let us guide them into the vision. Most people start to see the transformation of their home only when the end is in sight so as designers it is also our job to be the best tour guide possible in showing them the potential of their home.”
As if she wasn’t busy enough already, Shaynna will soon be adding an online shop to her website. “I am finally getting my artwork onto prints, designing furniture and selling curios I have picked up on my travels. This is such an exciting time for the business as we expand into a new area.”
Shaynna says her own home suffers from a little bit of a split personality. “It’s part relaxed entertaining and part structured and dramatic. Even though these are polar opposites in description the reality is similar in that it revolves around simplicity, very little clutter and lots of black. I love black!”
