Love It or List It Australia: After a family tragedy, these reality TV stars realised what they really wanted from life

After a family tragedy, these Love It or List It stars realised what they really wanted from life.

When Ciara Baker put it to her husband Andrew Greer that they should audition for a spot on the Foxtel series Love it or List it he jumped at the idea.

The Irish-born, Melbourne-based couple loved their 1920s weatherboard cottage but knew it could do with a bit of a spruce up and while they had a little money tucked aside to make it happen, they weren’t entirely sure how to go about it.

Long-time fans of the renovation series, they knew the professional team there would do an amazing job redesigning their house to see if they would fall in love with it even more or decide to sell it for a profit and move on.

Andrew Winter, Ciara Baker, Andrew Greer and Neale Whitaker. Picture: Foxtel

The couple applied, auditioned and were accepted, and were utterly thrilled when the team began to work on their property.

“It was already a beautiful house,” says Ciara, 39

“It had a huge amount of potential, but it wasn’t working for us as a family.”

That family had grown in recent years with Ciara, 39, and Andrew, 41, welcoming two daughters of their own and then, when Ciara was 32 weeks’ pregnant with her third child, a son, her younger sister Aiofe took her own life, leaving six-year-old daughter Aibhlinn behind, and in an instant, Ciara and Andrew’s family expanded again.

“Aibhie needed a home,” says Ciara frankly.

“So we adopted her. We were given formal guardianship the day Jack was born and she flew out here to join us the next week.”

Aibhlinn, then six, now 10, joined Marley, now eight, Georgia, now six and newborn Jack, now three, making the family a sweet set of six. The house was filled with love and laughter, but it was lacking a fourth bedroom and also the family of six sorely needed another bathroom.

The living room before.

Kitchen and living space after.

FAMILY FUNCTIONAL HOME RENOVATION

“We had one bathroom and one toilet and a little shower room and that was it,” says Andrew.

An extension added in the ’90s meant the rear of the home was quite large, but even that space wasn’t particularly well designed.

“We were very confident it could be transformed into something amazing,” says Andrew.

“But we needed the Love it or List it team to help us make it happen.”

And make it happen they did with co-hosts Andrew Winter and Neale Whitaker rolling up their sleeves and getting stuck in immediately.

Neale, an interiors expert and former long-time editor of Vogue Living and Belle magazines, immediately decided the dining room was something of a waste of space and would be better used as a fourth bedroom.

The kids’ bedroom before.

The kids’ bedroom after.

He was also in complete agreement about the need for a family functional bathroom that was both practical and also beautiful.

Skylights were added to bring extra sunshine and brightness to the rear of the home and a dated heater was removed and replaced by a freestanding slow combustion version. A kitchen island with a gloriously thick countertop was added and attention-grabbing rattan pendant lights were suspended above giving the entire space a coastal country holiday vibe, and Ciara and Andrew were thrilled by it all.

“The kitchen and living area was just magnificent,” says Ciara.

“It was beautiful and we loved the fire. It reminded us of home. Everything about it was perfect.”

And yet … as those who have watched the Love it or List it episode already know, the couple did eventually decide to list their home and make a move from Melbourne’s northern suburbs to Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

The bathroom before.

The bathroom after.

Another after angle.

Of course, the question has to be asked. If they loved their newly redesigned home so much why put it to market and move?

“We absolutely love everything the Love it or List it team did,” explains Ciara.

“But Covid has made us reassess our lives. Lockdown has been so tough and we were both working full-time and balancing a decent-sized mortgage and we started to wonder why. We had no family in Melbourne. No real support and we started to wonder what it was all for. And so we found a house by the beach and we’re living the dream.”

Ciara and Andrew both say they learned an enormous number of renovating tricks and techniques from the Love it or List it team, much of which they applied to their new beach house.

Back of the house before, alternative angle.

And after.

“We did a mini renovation when we got here,” says Ciara.

“We turned our new house into our LIOLI house by doing all of the same things.

“We have the same rattan lampshades and the same sheer curtains and we applied our knowledge to everything we did.”

The couple also had a 10-metre pool put in so that the children could swim to their hearts’ content.

“We didn’t expect for any of this to happen,” says Ciara.

“We learned so much however, and we are incredibly grateful for the experience.”

Despite the incredible makeover Ciara Baker and Andrew Greer made the lifestyle move from Melbourne to the Sunshine Coast. All pictures: Foxtel

Love It Or List It Australia – Wednesdays at 8.30pm on FOXTEL and available On Demand.

Originally published as Love It or List It Australia: After a family tragedy, these reality TV stars realised what they really wanted from life