Bonnie’s dream home is in the bushy Hills District of Sydney and while this means a gorgeous leafy setting, it also means a few extra building challenges. As if building a forever home of mammoth scale isn’t enough of a task, part of Bonnie’s site is a BAL 40 rated bush fire zone. And with that comes a long list of extra boxes to tick to satisfy council requirements.
Read MoreSo, we were chatting the other day and Bonnie went and dropped the BIG question. What’s my favourite room in her dream home? That’s a pretty tough one… like who’s your favourite child or what’s your favourite meal. Ask me next week and I’m sure my answer will be different to today! Hang on, make it pizza, cold pizza… even it’s bad it’s good.
Read MoreI’ve always had a soft spot for the coast. Some of my fondest memories are of family holidays spent at the beach. And there’s no denying that those times had a big impact on my inspiration for my dream home. Even way back then I remember looking at all the big, white, coastal homes and thinking they were so beautiful. My dream home was always going to be white weatherboard, with palm trees, water glimpses and casual furnishings with pops of luxe.
Read MoreLandscaping’s always last on the long list of reno ‘to dos’ so it often bears the brunt of any budget blowouts. But there’s nothing worse than a gorgeous house with a ghastly garden. Or perhaps there is… a mud pit in the front yard ready for the kids to traipse through your newly renovated house 😱#cleanfreaksnightmare
Read MoreWhen it came to the exterior of Bonnie’s dream home, there were no prizes for guessing what material she was going to choose. She always only had #hearteyes for weatherboard. She’s dreamed about a weatherboard house for ever and this was her chance to bring her dreams to life.
Read MoreI have a confession to make, I have a crush on Bonnie’s roof. Don’t get me wrong, I’m really happy with my own roof and we have a strong relationship, but there’s no denying Bon’s new roof has caught my eye and knocked my socks off!
Read MoreWow gang, we can hardly believe it, tonight’s episode is the GRAND FINALE of Bonnie’s Dream Home reveal! Episode 9 is now live, featuring the front façade, barn and garden 🏡And that special moment we’ve all been waiting for when Bon’s family explores their new home #makesitallworthit #homesweethome.
Read MoreThought 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.
Read MoreFrom 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.
Read MoreOK 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
Read MoreGuys, 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….
Read MoreI 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!
Read MoreSpare 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.
Read MoreYes, 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.
Read MoreSome 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.
Read MoreLana 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!
Read MoreThe 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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