Former Olympic sailor turned house flipper Carrie Smith shares her home renovation tips

The former Olympian still spends plenty of time on a boat in the big blue, but when she’s on lad she found a new love for flipping homes. Hear why she does it.

Sarah Petty

2 min read

November 14, 2024 - 12:00PM

Carrie Smith shares her tips on renovating.

Olympic sailor Carrie Smith spends her time flipping homes with her partner Lachlan Richards when she’s not on a boat in the big blue.

Smith represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Olympics alongside fellow competitor Jaime Ryan, after they placed ninth in a World Championships event the previous year.

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Althought now works with up-and-coming sailors at the Victorian Institute of Sport, Smith said that renovating brought out her creative side – and she always had an eye for interiors and design.

Smith said with her partner owning the maintenance and small renovations company LR CON, they decided to renovate and flip their first home.

“We looked at a ton of houses and we really wanted to make sure it had major character, it was sort of the start of the journey really,” she said.

The exterior of the property Smith and partner Lachlan Richards owned in Cunningham St, South Yarra.

Inside the property they’ve renovated.

The pair renovated a two-bedroom “derelict” apartment at 2/20 Cunningham St, South Yarra, they bought in 2022 and sold for $1.22m in June.

Now, they’re moving on to a South Yarra house and have a big renovation in mind, with the idea of bringing the same pops of colour they featured in the apartment into their new home.

Smith and her partner transformed the property from its ‘derelict’ state.

Feel green with envy in this bathroom.

“The idea is going to be a lot more around English countryside sort of style, but obviously still have a bit of colour and flare, that’s something I’m not afraid of in my style,” she said.

“I’ve already got lots of good ideas. And this one has a beautiful underground cellar, so that’s going to be lots of fun.”

She said most of the advice she received when renovating the apartment was to keep all the walls white so it was more sellable, but her partner told her to trust her vision as he was sure that someone would fall in love with it.

Carrie Smith of Australia and Jaime Ryan of Australia compete in the Women's 470 class on Day 5 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Smith noted it was important to have high-end appliances and finishes in a flipped home.