Journal
Inspired by Holiday Home Makeover with Rachel and Ryan? Here’s How to Create a Holiday Home Guests Will Love
Channel 9’s newest renovation hit, Holiday Home Makeover with Rachel and Ryan, has quickly become must-watch TV for anyone dreaming of transforming a tired beach shack or dated investment property into a stylish, welcoming holiday retreat.
Former Block favourites Rachel and Ryan bring their signature flair to the screen, tackling real-life projects that many owners can relate to—whether it's a poorly laid-out living space, mismatched furniture, or a home that simply doesn’t reflect the relaxed, elevated vibe today’s guests are looking for.
Our Review: Why We Love It
The show’s strength lies in how it balances big-picture vision with practical design solutions. Rachel and Ryan focus on functionality just as much as style—something we’re passionate about at Holiday Home Stylist. From improving flow between indoor and outdoor areas to creating cohesive colour palettes and selecting furnishings that are both durable and beautiful, the transformations are impressive and incredibly relatable.
What stood out most? Their ability to evoke emotion through styling. The homes they makeover don’t just look good—they feel like places you want to spend time in, make memories in, and return to.
Feeling Inspired? Here’s Where We Come In
If you’re watching and thinking, “That’s what I want for my property!”—we’re here to help.
At Holiday Home Stylist, we specialise in creating beautiful, functional, and guest-ready holiday homes that not only photograph beautifully but feel warm, welcoming, and memorable.
Whether you’re:
- Setting up a new short-stay rental
- Refreshing an older investment
- Or creating a retreat for your own family
We offer tailored design and furnishing packages to suit your space, your market, and your budget.
We take care of everything—from furniture selection and ordering to delivery, styling, and even the finishing touches like artwork, cushions, and locally sourced décor. Our designs are guest-focused and curated to boost online appeal, encourage positive reviews, and maximise occupancy.
Let’s Create Your Own Makeover Moment
Not everyone has the time (or the TV crew!) to manage a full transformation—but with our help, you don’t have to.
If you’ve been inspired by Holiday Home Makeover with Rachel and Ryan and are ready to elevate your holiday home, contact us at Holiday Home Stylist. Let’s turn your property into a place guests love to holiday in—and return to.
📞 0449171817
📧 Melissa@holidayhomestylist.com.au
🌐 www.holidayhomestylist.com.au
📍 Servicing Coffs Harbour, Gold Coast, and beyond.
How Property Staging Boosts Sales and Creates Emotional Connection with Buyers
In today’s competitive real estate market, first impressions matter more than ever. Buyers aren’t just looking for a house—they’re searching for a home that sparks emotion, captures imagination, and feels like “the one.” That’s where professional property staging plays a powerful role.
Whether you're selling a modern family home or a beachside retreat, staging can elevate your property's presentation, appeal to the target buyer, and ultimately lead to faster sales and higher offers. Here’s how:
1. It Helps Buyers Emotionally Connect with the Home
People buy homes based on emotion, then justify with logic. Staging invites buyers to imagine themselves living in the space. Through thoughtful styling, clever use of furniture, and carefully chosen décor, staging tells a story—of family dinners around the dining table, relaxed evenings in the lounge, or morning coffee in a sun-drenched courtyard.
By presenting the lifestyle, not just the layout, staging creates emotional engagement. And when a buyer feels emotionally invested, they’re more likely to act quickly and offer confidently.
2. It Highlights the Home’s Best Features
Professional staging draws attention to the home’s strengths—whether that’s a spacious living area, soaring ceilings, or indoor-outdoor flow. It enhances natural light, defines spaces (especially important in open-plan homes), and gives scale and purpose to each room.
Buyers may struggle to visualise how an empty space functions. Staging removes that uncertainty, showing buyers exactly how a room can be used—and what it can feellike.
3. It Minimises Flaws and Reduces Buyer Objections
Every home has quirks, but staging can downplay less desirable features by creating focal points elsewhere. A dated floor can disappear into the background when a space is styled beautifully. Awkward nooks can become charming reading corners. Empty rooms that once felt cold can become warm, inviting spaces.
When buyers see a home that looks “move-in ready,” they perceive less work, less stress—and more value.
4. It Sets Your Property Apart from the Competition
In a market filled with similar listings, a professionally staged home grabs attention online and stands out in buyer inspections. Stunning photography driven by curated interiors means more clicks, more enquiries, and more foot traffic through the door.
Staged homes consistently outperform non-staged ones in terms of time on market and final sale price.
5. It Maximises Perceived Value
Buyers tend to overestimate the cost of updates or furnishing an empty home. But when a home is beautifully presented, it feels “complete” and valuable. Staging adds polish and a sense of luxury—even to modest properties—helping justify the asking price and encouraging stronger offers.
Ready to Stage and Sell?
At Holiday Home Stylist, we specialise in luxury-level property staging designed to captivate buyers, elevate your home’s appeal, and help you achieve the best possible sales outcome.
Whether it’s a full staging or a hybrid blend using some of your existing furniture, we tailor each project to the home, the market, and the story we want buyers to fall in love with.
Want to discuss your home’s potential? Let’s chat.
Eco-Friendly Interior Design Ideas for your home
Looking to elevate your property's presentation while staying kind to the planet? At Holiday Home Stylist, we specialise in stylish, impactful property styling with eco-friendly solutions that don’t compromise on beauty or quality. Whether you're preparing to sell or simply want to refresh a space, our sustainable approach helps you make a lasting impression—responsibly.
Using eco-conscious interior elements made of renewable materials can play a large role in helping our environment and our health.
Choose Sustainable Fabrics
For curtains, upholstery and soft furnishing, there are widely available sustainable fabrics you can use. Choose fabrics or items that are made in Australia using hemp, bamboo, flax, organic cotton or premium merino wool. There are also many textiles made of recycled plastic products that help reduce landfill or plastics in our ocean.
Hemp fabric production uses one-twentieth of the water it takes to produce cotton with no toxic chemicals being used. Earthy natural hemp colours such as kale, rye, buckwheat and pink salt have a lovely linen-like appearance and the colours are right on-trend. Vintage linen fabrics feature a uniquely worn look and are super soft to handle are being made from environmentally sustainable flax fibres.
Premium merino wool is traceable to sources meeting environmental and animal welfare benchmarks and is socially responsible. Merino wool makes wonderful throw rugs and cushion covers that add texture and interest to a room.
Choose Rugs made from Recycled Plastic
For your next indoor or outdoor rug, consider purchasing one made from recycled plastic, giving new life to non-biodegradable material and reducing pollution in our oceans. Interior rugs made from recycled plastic are quite amazing and look and feel like wool. You can source these rugs from local stores. Outdoor rugs made from high-density polyethene are highly fade resistant and are perfect to add colour and comfort to your outdoor seating area.
Choose Safe Finishes
Paint or varnishes that add shine to raw material can be harmful to you and the environment. Many standard paints, including wall paint, contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which evaporate at room temperature in an off-gassing process that can last for several weeks or longer. As a result, VOCs can cause anything from nausea to kidney damage and they also pollute the air. To reduce your ecological footprint, choose non-toxic paint with low VOCs, such as milk paint, water-based paint, stains and sealants and latex paint. See our local hardware or paint store for availability and advice.
Choose Recycled Pieces
Instead of buying all-new furniture new, consider using recycled or second-hand pieces. Source good quality vintage lounges and chairs and have them reupholstered in quality Australian sustainable fabrics. By combining recycled pieces with new ones, you can add interest and depth to your room and give recycled furniture life for years to come.
Choose Eco friendly Interior Style
Some design aesthetics are more environmentally responsible than others. Minimalist interiors decrease your carbon footprint and can be applied to any interior design style. By decluttering and simplifying, you can not only create a more ergonomic and mindful setting but a more sustainable home. Scandinavian design is another minimalist style that uses earthy, raw and organic materials. Fewer items in the home ultimately mean less needs to be manufactured and this helps minimize the negative impact on the environment.
Choose Biofuel over a Wood burning Fireplace
Although we all love to sit in front of an open fire, in doing so we contribute to lowering air quality and polluting the environment. Ethanol burning fireplaces provide a beautiful ambience and cosy comfort whilst relying on a green source of fuel and reducing harmful emissions.
Choose Indoor Plants as Natural Air Purifiers
Pothos, also known as devils’ ivy, is a great variegated plant that will grow easily from cuttings in a water container or a pot. Sweet basil will also grow in water from cuttings if taken from a healthy plant and is useful in cooking and adding a green purifier to your kitchen.
Enhance your property's appeal with our expert styling services—now offering eco-friendly options to create beautiful, sustainable spaces. Contact us today:
📞 0449 171817
📧 Melissa@holidayhomestylist.com.au
🌐 www.holidayhomestylist.com.au
📍 Servicing Coffs Harbour, Gold Coast, and beyond.
