Laura Byrne and Matty ‘J’ Johnson are dividing fans by delving into one of the most controversial and divisive topics known on the internet: renovating their own home.
The Bachelor power couple recently spent $2.19 million on an abandoned oceanfront home in a massive renovation project in Ulladulla, about 230 kilometres south of Sydney.
Within two weeks, nearly 80,000 curious Australians chose to watch and discuss their journey on the project’s Instagram account, @chante.mer.house.
The reality TV stars-turned-entrepreneurs expanded their multi-million-dollar property portfolio by purchasing the run-down beachfront home last month.
The venue has special meaning for the happy couple as they tied the knot in 2022 at Cupitts Estate Winery, just around the corner from their new holiday home.
“I guess you don’t like tiles,” Laura wrote alongside a photo of her selection with a laughing-crying emoji.
The simple photo, which shows blush, deep purple, rust and mustard tiles intended to cover the living room fireplace, attracted thousands of glowing comments.
Laura Byrne and Matty J have begun renovations on their recently purchased South Coast holiday home in Ulladulla.
In a focus group, one critic said the tiles looked “a bit like the doctor’s urine chart,” “won’t age well,” and are “pretty awful” as well as “GROSS.”
On the other hand, some design fans said they loved the colours and encouraged Laura to “follow her instinct”.
Somewhere in between the two were the more polite critics who said they didn’t really like them…but that Laura should do what she wanted with her house.
“One of the things I love most about this house that we’re keeping original is the doors,” Laura revealed in a new video she filmed while working on the property on Sunday.
The Life Uncut podcaster certainly has her hands full raising two children under five, designing her Toni May jewellery, hosting the afternoon radio show on Sydney’s KIIS FM, preparing to launch her baby blanket and bedding brand Mae & Moo, and now, asking approximately eighty thousand strangers to approve her design choices for her makeover.
“Look how beautiful this is,” the mother of two exclaimed as she showed off the sunlight streaming through the original stained glass windows in the front door.
“Do we keep the doors with the wood and sand all that to have the stained glass and the wood finish, which I love but the wood is quite damaged… or do we paint them white?” she asked her followers.
“Currently the outside of the door is white and the inside is wood,” he explained. “White would be easier, but I can’t say which I like better.”
Meanwhile, in the caption, Laura made her feelings clear about any suggestions to replace the front door.
Laura asked her followers if she should paint the inside of her original front door white, to match her exterior, or leave the original wood unpainted, which is damaged.
“If the beige brigade comes through these doors… I will riot,” she warned her followers in the video’s caption, launching a blatant attack on a certain group of home renovators who are often criticized on TikTok for their “failed home renovations.”
The “beige brigade” is a reference to millennial couples who buy older homes, gut them completely, and replace all the signature features with white walls and stereotypical design elements.
“These old beauties are staying, but the big question is: do we take them apart and leave just the wood or do we paint them white?” Laura concluded.
The house’s previous owner, who passed away aged 94, had a life motto of “Never skimp on luxuries”. Laura and Matty are believed to be working with brands to sponsor the house’s extensive renovations.
In another video, shared two weeks ago, Laura gave a little tour of the bubblegum pink “temporary” bathroom, which features “a bidet in the room NEXT to the toilet.”
“How do you get to the bidet? Do you crawl around the corner with your pants down? I NEED TO KNOW!!!” she captioned the video.
The cliff-top home has panoramic ocean views and is appropriately named Chante-Mer, which means “singing the sea” in French.
The three-bedroom, two-bathroom property is spread over two levels and last sold in 1984 for $62,500.
The house sits on 8,000 square feet overlooking the racecourse foreshore and previously belonged to United Nations conference translator Valerie Barnes, who passed away in 2021 aged 94.
Valerie, the author of her memoirs and several books, was said to have the motto: “Never skimp on luxury.”
Ironically, Laura and Matt are believed to be working with several brands to “sponsor” major renovations to the property.
The couple plans to completely renovate the “old beauty” to bring it back to its former standard but, according to the home’s Instagram bio, they will “resist the millennial urge to paint everything white.”
Laura and Matt have already shared photos of their daughters Marlie-Mae, five, and Lola, three, visiting their future “dream home”.
Laura and Matt’s daughters, Marlie-Mae, five, and Lola, three, want the biggest bedroom.
The reality TV stars currently live in a four-bedroom apartment in North Bondi, which they purchased for $5.2 million in 2023.
They also have a stunning $1.8 million holiday home in Bangalow, near Byron Bay.
After getting engaged in Fiji in April 2018, Laura and Matty finally tied the knot on the south coast in November 2022, five years after meeting on The Bachelor.
They are one of the most successful couples on the show and welcomed daughter Marlie-Mae in 2019, followed by Lola in February 2021.
