Renovations, Relationships and Resale

Renovating and reselling a house is stressful enough without doing it in front of a crowd of 1.4million yet this is what young Victorian couple Josh and Jenna Denston have chosen to do. Not once, but twice. Once in their native Melbourne and once in Sydney.

Consider that the average open-for-inspection in Sydney would attract maybe 30 people on a good weekend, Josh and Jenna’s property will attract more than 10,000.

They’re part of Channel Nine’s The Block All Stars. The 26-year-old pair are best known for their sophisticated room renovations and their not-so-sophisticated rows on television. Though they claim to have settled down since their between-series wedding.

They’re renovating a house in the beach-side suburb of Bondi and critics have suggested their style is too south-of-the-border to win. Placing first for two of the three rooms to date suggests those pundits are well off the mark. They’ve had many learnings in their renovation journey, here are some for you to take away.

Cashin’ in cushions

Only spend money where it matters in resale. Buyers need to visualise the property’s potential and anything that doesn’t contribute to that noticeably shouldn’t be part of major decision-making or money-spending.

"We are going to use a lot less furniture, and the furniture we do use will be really good quality. We are going to spend more money on the flooring and the finishes as opposed to spending it on cushions," Josh explains.

"We are trying to take that cliche of colour and over-styling out of there, and try to do something a bit different."

Know your strengths

Prior to appearing on the television series, Josh and Jenna had already renovated their first home in Albury, and had moved to Melbourne to renovate a second house that they had just purchased at auction.

So by the time they first entered The Block, they knew their respective roles in the renovation game.

"I think there was a lot of pressure on us to win - Josh is a plumber, I’m studying interior design. Everyone said we were going to win, but it doesn’t mean that plumbers know how to style bathrooms. He might know how to hook up the pipes but it doesn’t mean we're going to win it. I think that we pulled it off and at the end of the day we just want a buyer to be happy.”

Jenna has the vision, Josh has the know-how. They know who ‘manages’ what.

Couples and colour catastrophes

When is comes to colour, Jenna rules the roost. But most couples aren’t fortunate enough to have an interior expert among them.

Inner-west couple Lindsey and Mitch Noble are renovating their unit in Summer Hill. They’re replacing carpet throughout with floorboards, re-doing all the storage and painting their walls (that were once home to a bird-and-cage stencil sticker and every wall claimed its status as a feature wall).

“We knew we wanted white but we were torn between my preference - I liked softer whites – and Mitch – he likes stark whites. After arguing at Bunnings and narrowing our choices down to four sample pots we went home and painted various sections of our walls,” Lindsey said.

They knew they wanted a clean palette. The problem was that Mitch has his heart set on white. Serious white. A white that evoked memories of dental surgeries.

She wanted a more beige-white. The solution? They trialled a bit of both on the walls and eventually settled.

“Once on the wall, it was clear which colour looked best (my choice). So we went back to buy the paint and of course were advised that it was the most popular white and even came pre-tinted. So essentially we would have saved time and the debate had we just asked about the most popular colours. Although perhaps that would have turned us off and we may have chosen a different colour had we known everyone else was using it.”

Failing the success of real-world testing, use professionals. A colour consultant is an expert and their opinion in well founded in more than “I like that one”. They’ll be able to reference existing furniture suitability, impact on light and resale implications. The real win? Zero arguments.

Music and moods

If Jenna’s production knowledge is anything to go by, replacing Metallica with Norah Jones might just nullify any boiling disagreements on tiles, tones and trestles.

"I think they (Channel Nine are) taking more of a light-hearted look at it (the bickering) and they're taking it more as fun, rather than evil, it just depends on what music they put in the background," Jenna says.

"If they put the doomsday music on in the background everyone thinks it was a violent argument, whereas if they put joking music or happy music on, everyone thinks it’s hilarious. It's amazing how they can change the situation with music."

Bathrooms sell

Josh and Jenna won the best bathroom in The Block All Stars, announced in late February.

The real estate rhetoric around rooms these days focuses not on bedrooms and decks, but on kitchens and bathrooms. Bright, warm, clean, luxurious and modern.

Ray White marketing agent Cameron Airlie said it was obvious Josh and Jenna had not spared a cent in the bathroom.

“They really understand high end finishings and the importance of a sleek, functional bathroom. Whoever purchases the property will have the opportunity to make their own mark on it.”

Josh, too, was pleased the judges could see the amount of thought and detail that went into the bathroom.

“The large stone bath screams luxury. Alongside the heavy use of marble, Space Furniture light fittings and pencil mosaic tiles - that set us back $220 per square metre - the overall sense in the room is highly luxurious.”

“We wanted a contemporary look that compliments the heritage and I think we managed to perfect that,” said Josh.

Judges and buyers may not think alike

Josh and Jenna became The Block’s most awarded couple with their kitchen and dining room in The Block 2011 series. But they didn’t win when it came to auction day.

They know now that buyers aren’t necessarily fans of the show and that the show itself, while exposing the property to a massive audience, may deter real buyers who don’t want to bid and endure the pressure of auction day on live television.

This time they are focussed on polish and sophistication, simplicity and buyer-insights.

Their real estate agent, Cameron Airlie, thinks the house they have produced should attract investors and downsizers alike.