Decoration inspiration! Do up your home’s drab spaces fast with little cost

Being stuck within the four walls of your home for a loooong time can make you see things with a different eye – a more critical eye, as bits of furniture or a long-time layout get on your nerves or look more tired than you remember.

Perhaps self-isolation has got you thinking about a new look for some key areas of your home, such as a refreshed bedroom or a more modern living room? If so, what better way to put some new touches to your most-used rooms than by supporting true-blue Aussie interiors companies at the same time?

Luckily, if you’re not sure where to start, Koala has some inspiration available. The Australian company that’s getting rave reviews for its mattresses challenged The Block‘s 2019 winners Tess and Luke to restyle a bedroom and a living room to create cosy living spaces without spending much on fancy furnishings and using only Australian interiors and homewares brands.

(They may be young but the Cairns couple know what they’re talking about – Tess and Luke took out The Block last year with a gobsmacking $730,000 win after the Melbourne property the show tasked them with renovating sold for $630,000 over its reserve price!)

You can watch three short videos in which Tess and Luke transform some pretty average rooms into modern-but-comfy interior designs with a few simple steps.

But for a quick overview, here’s what happens. Of course, top on their list for a revamped bedroom is a Koala bed, complete with a mattress boasting Koala’s special Kloudcell technology that creates a comfort layer with just right amount of firmness and give. (Plenty of people with bad backs swear by Koala mattresses, which start from $750.)

Tess and Luke then quickly slot together one of Koala’s design award-winning timber bedframes (pictured below, from $800, or save with a mattress and bedframe bundle from $1,675), showing off how easy the frame is to assemble, and put the Koala bookshelf (starting at just $500) in place.

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Then it just takes some fresh sheets – in this case, Koala’s Tencel Eucalyptus-fibre sheets (available in a bed, bedframe, Cool-Gel memory foam pillows and linen bundle from $2,695) and some cute bits and pieces from local homewards store Inartisan and it’s done. Check out the before and after pictures below.

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When it comes to the living room, Tess and Luke choose the Koala bookshelf again, plus a Koala desk and Koala couch, with finishing touches from Saarde Home’s beautiful throws and cushions. If you’ve struggled with Ikea instructions before, you’ll be relieved to know that Luke manages to put the Koala desk together in less than a minute, while Tess has the bookshelf (pictured below in the tall and wide version) done almost as quickly. That’s because Koala promises that customers need zero tools to assemble its furniture, which is all made from sustainable timber.

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Pay just $300 for the desk and $1,200 for the three-seater sofa, which is available in Brushtail Grey and Bonnie Doon Blue. Tess chooses the soft grey colour, helping her transform the living area from “dark and gloomy to bright and roomy”. What do you think of the ‘after’ pic?

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If you’re tempted to do a home makeover of your own, it’s worth knowing that all of Koala’s products come with a 120-day, risk-free trial. Plus, Koala doesn’t charge for delivery and can deliver your new items at your home in as little as four hours if you live in an Aussie metro area.

Emiley, who owns Sydney’s Inartisan homewares store, says support from Australian buyers made a huge difference to small businesses.

“It’s been quite a rollercoaster with everything going on, of course, but there’s been amazing upswell of community support,” Emily says. “It’s going to be a tough couple of months but we’ll get there.”

If you need another reason to dress up your drab spaces, doing so with Koala furnishings come with one more little advantage. For every mattress purchased, the company adopts a koala and for every sofa sold it adopts a turtle through the World Wildlife Fund, so donating part of its profit toward the cost of restoring the habitat of two endangered creatures.

Click here to learn more about Koala, its super-popular mattresses, stylish furnishings and more.

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