Звезды реалити-шоу «The Block» сэкономили $900 000, отказавшись от роскоши в пользу практичности

Former The Block stars Rachel and Ryan Carr have revealed a savvy design secret that’s set to save them a staggering $900,000 on their dream forever home. The reality TV pair were seven months into designing their $2.4 million forever home on a Sutherland Shire block when they made the call to dramatically strip it back, with pivitol tweaks setting off the entire budget-saving domino effect. After moving into the tiny one-bedroom house already sitting on the site, the pair said living in a smaller space completely shifted their thinking about what they actually needed. Rachel told nine.com.au they’d gone into the build assuming their forever home had to be their biggest and most impressive project yet, but day-to-day life in the modest home made them rethink that approach. MORE NEWS ‘Can’t fit a tennis ball’: Family fumes over new build ‘Devastating’: Nan forced to demolish family home ‘Nightmare’: Plumber’s $10k home repair warning Instead of pushing ahead with a sprawling design that would soak up their money, time and energy, the Carrs decided to strip the plans right back. The biggest saving came from one tweak alone: changing the facade, which Rachel said cut about $400,000 from the budget. That single decision kicked off a wider rethink, with the couple also reducing the floor plan, scrapping unnecessary luxury features and reassessing how every room would be used. “We’ve lived in both really big homes and smaller homes, and I think we thought because this was where we wanted to stay forever that this had to be the biggest home, and we came into it like that, we really moved in here with that mindset,” she said. “Then after living here … we just all feel calm, and I think that that’s made us realise, if we build the biggest house, it’s going to be so much work, we would have financially invested pretty much all we have.” MORE NEWS: Waste authority quietely bans dog poo from bins Rachel adds that a smaller floor plan wouldn’t just lower the upfront build cost, but also reduce long-term expenses including heating, cooling and maintenance. Among the changes, a separate guest bedroom has been replaced with a home office featuring a pullout bed, while a dedicated mudroom has been folded into the laundry to avoid wasting space. The kids’ bedrooms have also been reduced in size, with more emphasis placed on shared family areas they’ll actually use. The couple also canned plans for a luxury cabana, which was tipped to cost about $300,000, deciding the money would be better spent elsewhere. Instead, they’re focusing on practical spaces and affordable upgrades they can enjoy now, including improving a simple backyard fire pit area and adding monkey bars and a swing for their children. In total, the redesign is expected to save them about $900,000, with the project set to become a complete rebuilt as the current property is full of asbestos and mould. “I’ve really gone down a rabbit hole there, and I’m looking at the smartest ways that you can build your home these days,” Rachel said. “As builders, we want to do the double brick and the concrete, but to do things like that now is just so expensive. So, do we do a frame and then how do we insulate that frame to make sure that we’re building the most sustainable home?” The pair are now exploring more cost-effective building methods and materials as they finalise the revised design, while still aiming for a custom look. Once plans are approved by council, they hope to begin building at the end of January next year and move into a rental during construction. Rachel said sharing the decision publicly had resonated with many people who’d found themselves trapped by oversized renovation plans or worried about overcapitalising. “Once we gave ourselves permission to change our minds, it’s just lifted such a weight … So my advice is to give yourself permission to change your mind, even if that means that you might be losing a little bit of money now on plans or things like that, it won’t matter in the grand scheme of things if you keep pushing ahead and overcapitalise,” she said.