Thought you’d seen it all when we revealed Bonnie’s bathroom tiles? No siree! She was only just getting started. Bon’s gone to town in her laundry and powder room with an extravaganza of tiles in all colours, shapes and patterns.
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From our extensive survey (sample size of three!) you’re either a laundry person or you’re not. I’m a laundry person, Erin’s a laundry person ... Lana is not. She’s a workaholic (just not the domestic type!) so in her forever home she used the space that could have been a big laundry as a butler’s office instead #eachtotheirown.
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OK gang, if you thought you saw a lot of tiles in Bonnie's bathroom reveals... be prepared to be blown away this week. There's a tile party going on... and you're all invited!
Watch Bon do away with any 'rules' of how many shapes, sizes, colours and patterns of tiles you can use in one room. She's thrown caution to the wind and gone a little cray cray in her powder room and laundry. How many tiles is too many? #youbethejudge
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Guys, it’s this simple... ditch the TV and the kids will be out of your Adults’ Retreat faster than I chug down my first coffee of the day. Believe me, you’ll have the room to yourselves in no time! #funnybuttrue
The only problem in my house is that my husband’s not that sold on the no TV idea either. And without him, the ‘Nathan and Bonnie room’ becomes just the ‘Bonnie room’, and where’s the fun in that? Actually, don’t answer that – sounds like plenty fun to me 😉What’s he not getting about that amazing Spanish Door print (link) where the TV ‘should’ be? And what about all the D&Ms we could have lying back on those dreamy sofas sans TV blaring… #notgonnahappen
We know how you guys love a chat! So much so that sometimes we’re totally bombarded with questions on social media. We promise we try to answer but it’s not always easy to explain the juicy details when typing with fat fingers in a teeny insta comment.
So, we asked you what you wanted to know, and these were some of the questions that kept coming up….
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I always knew I wanted garden space within my dream home, not just around the outsides. Garden glimpses from every room! I’ve crushed on coastal courtyard gardens in Byron Bay and Bali for years - I can’t get enough of Bangalow palms and Frangipanis. So, internal courtyards were always integral to my dream home design. And a crash hot landscape designer to help me design them didn’t go amiss either!
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Spare a thought for the tilers that did Bon’s bathrooms – she pushed them to their very limits with curved ceilings, tiled ceilings, random colour patterns (is that even possible?) and a couple of last minute changes-of-mind thrown in for good measure.
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Have you ever seen a gorgeously styled home and then you get to the kids’ bedrooms and they’re a bit of an… ummm, well… #eyesore #bestclosethedoor?!
Not in Bonnie’s dream home! #nowayrose Once again, she’s knocked it out of the ballpark with her styling. This time with the bedrooms for her four boys. The kids love them as much as the adults… so, how did she get it so right?
I asked her to spill the beans ….
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Yes, yes it's true - most of the rooms you've seen so far in Bonnie's Dream Home have been a tad biased towards the adults in the house. But that's not because Bon built a home just for her, Nathan and their friends. No way Jose! This home truly is a family home and tonight's room reveals prove it.
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Some wise soul once said “never work with animals or children” – fair point I say!!! The mere thought wreaks havoc with my clean freak brain. But Bon’s a braver girl than I and happily welcomed Australian House & Garden magazine into her dream home to shoot the cover and feature article for their July Winter edition.
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Lana may have likened my outdoor area to being “whiter than a blizzard at Thredbo” in its early stages. But believe me, there was method in my monochrome madness! I just hadn’t finished yet!
It’s possible to create an all-white area, without it looking like a total white-out. The key is in mixing up the materials that you choose but keeping them all within the same colour tone. Start introducing different colours and your area risks looking like Nana’s patchwork quilt!
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The main living room is always going to be the most used room in our house. It’s a gorgeous open space, surrounded by so much natural light. Yeah, so much that my Mum insists on wearing her sunglasses while she relaxes on the lounge.
I wanted this room to be totally casual and inviting, but totally chic. Think relaxed but luxe… that’s a thing, right? Let’s call it ‘re-luxe’… sounds a bit like reflux. Urgh, no. But you get what I mean! This room needs to be comfy enough to relax in but durable enough for boys of all sizes to throw themselves on the lounge, put their feet up and relax while we watch a movie.
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My family and I pretty much live to entertain. We can think of nothing better than filling our new dream home with family and friends - eating, drinking, chatting #makingmemories. And what better place to do it than in the ultimate outdoor entertaining area!
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How do you create a coastal lifestyle when you're nowhere near the coast?
Rule #1 - create water views ... from every room
Rule #2 - strategically place palm trees ... like they were chess pieces
Rule #3 - hang a floating day bed .... for that Mrs-Sippy-Bali-Vibe
Rule #4 - create a white-out .... to rival a blizzard at Thredbo
Rule #5 - make sure there's enough seating ... for 200 people
Bonnie is opening the doors to her beautiful dream home so our Reno School students can see, touch and feel every nook and cranny of her home - and maybe get some ideas and advice for their own reno project.
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Oh là là! I could rave about French doors for days. I’m a massive fan and stick in them in everywhere I can. They’re a lovely design feature and look trés chic in almost any style of home. #sofrenchrightnow
French doors, by definition, are ““double doors with glass panes throughout their length” #thanksgoogle. Those gorgeous ones that you can push open together to maximise the double doorway width, or keep one closed to control the amount of breeze coming in. The glass panes filter light into the area, unlike traditional wooden panel doors. Not only do they look amazing, they’ve got far more to offer than just being easy on the eye.
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Yep, you’d be right in thinking us Birds have a soft spot for gas-strut windows. We’ve used them in all-but-one of our houses and just can’t get enough of them.
Why? These babies really are the bee’s knees. With a single nudge, they pop upwards and outwards as if motorised. When you’re ready to shut the window, I’ll admit, you have to use a little more effort but hey it’s a great work-out for your arms and in the words of Ice-T #putyourbackintoit.
So let me say again, we lurve a gas-strut window and think that you probably need one in your life too!
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For loads of busy mums and dads, working from home has become the new norm. As we juggle jobs and kids and busy lives, a home office, or study, can be a great inclusion to your home.
When I was designing the floorplan for my dream home, I knew I needed a study and it really needed to be in the hub of the home so I could pop in and send a few emails from my laptop while I waited for the water to boil on the stovetop. Or post this blog while I wait for the dishwasher to finish! #mumlife
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