I turned a derelict garage that was being used as a toilet into a two-bed home

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– but turning a rundown garage that was also being used as an unofficial dunny into a proper home has been her biggest challenge yet.

as part of a seven-bedroom property nearby, but it was no longer being used.

channel, TheHomeGenie.

‘Fair dinkum, the garage was too buggered to fix, but I reckoned I could make something of it – so I built what's essentially a two-bedroom house’

And almost all the furniture is repurposed or second-hand, saving Georgina a pretty penny.

Became involved by accident when she was at university.

‘I bumped a mirror off the wall in my bedroom, but I got heaps of my mates in the dorm upcycling the smashed bits of mirror into brand new mirrors, with sparkly jewels and other trinkets on them,’ she says.

She's known for her clever ideas. "I make a point to rescue and give a new life to whatever I can." I've even gone into skip bins to salvage old Victorian picture rails so they can be reused again.

‘That's really important, not just because of the history behind a house, but because it just doesn't feel right to chuck out something that's still going strong.’

Every project has improved her skills. 'I've often worked alongside licensed tradespeople and I've picked up heaps from them. A top-notch tradie is really skilled, and you can see the difference in both finish and productivity.'

‘Me family members have also given me a hand and offered some good advice over the years. My stepdad, Alan, in particular, taught me how to saw – he couldn't stomach seeing me making a mess of a piece of wood.’

Georgina's a big fan of doing things herself, but she's the first to admit that even she can get a bit stumped – which was the case with what ended up being one of her biggest achievements.

‘I'd always had a hankering for a chaise longue and spotted a ripper of one with faded and stained fabric. So
I found the perfect shade of teal fabric I was after and saved the chaise.

‘Fair dinkum, I was a bit silly to start it in the arvo, so was up pretty late and the air was thick – but I'm buggered if I don't love that chaise longue. When I see the little nippers playing on it, I reckon the late night was worth it.’

Georgina takes us through her design and creation of each space and shows us the satisfaction of giving new life to items that would've ended up in the tip.

Top bedroom

I really love this room. The colours are so soothing and the skylight makes it feel like a magical space when the sun's out.

The headboard was from a charity op-shop – I rescued a really dodgy, outdated pleather one, covering it in turquoise fabric, just stapled onto the back.

It only took minutes and will have saved me hundreds of dollars and the time spent looking for one. The side tables were also from a charity shop and I ended up painting them gold with accents of turquoise.

I couldn't track down the right coloured lamp shades, so I just gave the white ones a paint job. The artwork's my own effort.

It was a way of using up leftover paint so that it all matched up nicely. The two old pharmacy jars belonged to my grandparents.

Bottom bedroom

This room was a bit of an experiment with colours, and while plum and lime might not be to everyone's taste, I actually quite enjoy it.

When you're after a scheme like that, though, it's really tough to find furniture in the right colours. By the time you've looked for them, you could've already given another item a second life.

The side tables in here are from a charity shop and were part of a batch of replica antique tables. I gave them a lime and grey paint job, and the good thing about these is that, since they've got glass tops, the paint is completely shielded from getting stained.

Fair dinkum, the artwork in this room's all mine. I'm a bit of a messy creative, fair enough – I've got a heap of stuff scattered around, but I reckon that's just part of the process, mate.

When I was working on the canvases, I had paint pots scattered all over the place, including in the doorway to the living room where I was set up.

I ended up bashing my toe, which popped out of its socket, and had to rush off to the emergency department, which was a real hassle, considering I hadn't finished the artwork at the time.

Hallway

The hallway has a repurposed, second-hand mirror and side cabinet.

I'm also really happy with the tile effect on the stairs. These are actually just the ones you stick on.

I thought it would be good for photos but they've lasted well and they've turned what would've been a pretty ordinary staircase into a standout feature.

Kitchen

I've got to admit, the kitchen was fitted by a bloke who's a carpenter. It was during lockdown and I was juggling homeschooling my daughter and hosting live broadcasts for This Morning on ITV from my kitchen, so I had to get someone in to do the job.

It was tough, though, because I obviously couldn't go in when he was there, so I had to manage his questions over FaceTime.

I was broadcasting for an Irish TV programme, and because we could only really use our phones for this, the live broadcast was interrupted by his call asking me what height I wanted the wall units to be set at!

I'm really enjoying how the mirrored tiles are giving the kitchen a bit of a zing, otherwise it would be a pretty standard kitchen.

En suite shower rooms

I got experts to do the tiling for the two en suite shower rooms. I can handle small tiling jobs, but these ones had floor-to-ceiling tiles and one's a wet area, so I didn't want to take the risk!

The blue one's in the next room, and I was aiming for a seaside vibe. I gave the sink unit a paint job, then repurposed two old spice racks as shelves. The mirror's a second-hand find as well.

I'm holdin' the mirror in the wet area close to me heart, it was me great-grandmother's, and I'm hopin' she wouldn't have minded that I gave it a paint job to match.

Me mum recalls looking in that mirror when she was a nipper and it couldn't have been a more perfect shape and size for the spot, so I reckon it was meant to be.

Living room

This is chock-a-block with second-hand or previously used furniture. There are two small round side tables that were left on the street. They just needed a bit of fixing and then I gave them a coat of paint and added a marble finish to the top. These are my pride and joy as they're so pretty, really handy and would've ended up in the tip if I hadn't rescued them.

The table and benches were made from leftover timber from the construction site. I came up with the design, but I'll be honest, I had a carpenter knock it up for me. The timber is so solid, you really need the right gear to work with it. It fits in perfectly in its spot and I love that it's a one-off.

Above me is me own homemade chandelier – an old bike wheel I've painted gold, with fairy lights and air plants. I've also got me pallet wall planters. What's good about air plants is that you don't need soil, so they're just stuck on with a glue gun and need a bit of a splash of water every so often.

I was after a TV stand that wouldn't draw attention to itself, so I scored a corner unit from a charity shop and gave it a fresh coat of white paint. The beauty of upcycling is that if you can't find what you're after, you can just transform something into what you need for a minimal cost.

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