It’s been more than a year since Shaynna Blaze announced she was working on a brand-new project – and this time it’s a bit different to what we’ve seen the famed interior designer do before.
For the past 15 years, Shaynna has been a prominent voice on the Australian design scene.
She’s been a part of Selling Houses Australia since it launched in 2008 and is currently a judge on The Block. But that’s not all. Shaynna proved herself quite the businesswoman after winning Celebrity Apprentice Australia in 2021.
Now, all eyes are on her latest venture: lifestyle show Country Home Rescue. The series follows Shaynna and her adult children, Carly Anne and Jess Kenneally, as they renovate a 1890s home in Kyneton, a town 90km north of Melbourne in Victoria’s Macedon Ranges.
With Carly and Jess’ experience in the television industry, the family first purchased the home for a film they made called The Fort. It tells the story of a woman battling to escape her abusive marriage, while protecting her son from their turbulent home life.
Shaynna initially wanted to flip the home to sell once filming had wrapped, but realised she didn’t want it to be just another profitable venture.
(Image: Nine)Shaynna initially wanted to flip the home to sell once filming had wrapped, but realised she didn’t want it to be just another profitable venture. Instead, this house was going to be a forever home for her and her family.
”It was big, creaky and empty and hadn’t had anything done to it since the 1970s,” Shaynna tells TV WEEK.
”It didn’t hold anything visually beautiful, but something about it felt good. It had a beautiful feeling, it has the history of the 1890s and is in a beautiful spot. This is a home, not a house.”
The family decided to keep it and turn it into their dream home. And, after some serious discussion, chose to bring the cameras along for the ride.
”I’ve had this career for 15 years and been able to keep that part of my life really private, but this felt like a project I really wanted to share,” Shaynna says.
”We had to make a decision, as a family, to bring our private lives into it. My kids aren’t very active on social media, especially my son, so it took a lot of thought.”
”’I do this for a living. I’ve done so many houses over the years, but I’ve never had a situation like this one.”
(Image: Nine)But for Shaynna, Country Home Rescue acts as a reintroduction. She’s not just the fashionable judge with excellent taste, she’s a mum, and this is the first time we’ll get to see that side of her.
”People know I have children, but don’t know who I am behind the scenes as a mum,” she says.
”In this show, I’m a mother being vulnerable with my children, because that’s what you have to do as your children get older. It’s a different side of me.”
Despite the excitement of taking on the venture together, the trio could not have anticipated how complicated the renovation would become.
”The most challenging thing was the constant roadblocks we faced along the way,” Shaynna says.
”I do this for a living. I’ve done so many houses over the years, but I’ve never had a situation like this one.”
During the course of the renovation, Victoria had four COVID lockdowns, the Macedon Ranges experienced the worst storm in 40 years, and there were supply issues Shaynna had never encountered.
”My personality is always driven to find a solution to a problem, but there were quite a lot of times where I didn’t have the solution,” she says.
”It took a lot of work. That was the hardest thing, because we came upon roadblock after roadblock, and that was so unexpected. Trying to get through that with the cameras rolling was pretty tricky.”
”If anyone gets the opportunity to renovate with your family, just do it, because it just brought us together so much,” Shaynna says.
(Image: Nine)While she admits it put strain on her family, who’d never participated in a renovation before, they all kept their vision firmly in mind. Thankfully, despite the arduous days and hurdles to surmount, the experience brought them closer.
”If anyone gets the opportunity to renovate with your family, just do it, because it just brought us together so much,” Shaynna says.
”I mean, it could do the opposite, but we were really lucky that it brought us closer. It was a really beautiful bonding time for us – even with the cameras around.”
Ever since Country Home Rescue was announced, fans have been drawing comparisons to The Block – something Shaynna hopes to dispel.
”It’s not a competition,” she explains.
”This is a home, and everybody’s home is going to be completely different. I’m showing people how I live and how I want to live. If they [viewers] don’t like it, it doesn’t matter – I’m doing it for us, and that’s what people need to look for when they’re doing their homes. Do it for you, not someone else.”
