The Bachelor Australia’s Laura O’Loughlin masterfully restored her 1920s cottage without losing its rustic charm, despite having never done a renovation project before.
Laura told Yahoo! Lifestyle that she binge-watched a bunch of renovation reality shows for inspiration, plus undertook “a lot of Googling and a lot of YouTubing”.
“I had zero renovation experience before this,” The Bachelor star said. “But I picked it up pretty quickly and I’m so proud of myself.
“Initially I kind of thought I could flip it, but then I grew too attached to it and put too much money and time into it to even consider giving it up,” she said. “Now I can see this as being my family home.”
The Bachelor Australia’s Laura O’Loughlin Claimed Tradies Didn’t Listen to Her Because She’s a Woman
Laura revealed she was intent on the cottage maintaining its heritage features while focusing on a farmhouse aesthetic.
“I’ve had actual fights with tradesmen over [the] kitchen and getting it perfect because I wouldn’t take no for an answer when it came to any kind of mistake or imperfection,” she told the publication.
“It became evident pretty quickly that tradesmen would happily sort of take me for a ride, try and rip me off, or try and do the bare minimum thinking I wouldn’t know any better because I’m a woman.
“So I had to very quickly learn how to stand up for myself,” she said.
Laura advised other renovation hopefuls to hire tradies to do something small at first, to see if they’re the right fit.
“It will give you an idea of what kind of tradesmen they are and it could save you thousands of dollars in the long run,” she said.
Want even more goss? Listen to episode 205 of the So Dramatic! podcast with Megan Pustetto below!
Know something that we don’t? Spill the tea here!
Get the tea first! Follow So Dramatic! on Instagram and tune in on Mondays to get your reality tea fix with the So Dramatic! podcast with Megan Pustetto.
