The Block contestant and The Living Room presenter Kara Demmrich on her first home

The renovation expert has cherished memories of home and some pieces of heirloom furniture.

 What is your strongest memory of your childhood home?

We moved around quite a bit when I was little, in between Sydney, the Central Coast (of NSW) and Newcastle, so my strongest memory is not about the home itself; it’s just about growing up with lots of brothers and sisters. My Mum had seven kids so I’ve always been surrounded by kids and babies. My strongest memory is just all of us being together. I was number two out of the seven.

What do you recall about buying your first home?

Kyal and I were so excited, we’d been desperate to get a house. We were only 20, we were so young. But for a few years we’d been saving together and we’d always loved upcycling old pieces of furniture, so we were just so ready. We scraped together literally every dollar we had to buy this house. The day we moved in, it was like 43 degrees and the old ladies who had lived there had not been living there for some time, so the house had been all boarded up. When we got there, we were so excited and we opened the door and the house just stank. We were both like ‘what have we done?’ and then over time we made it our own and there were no regrets. It was on the Central Coast.

You were quite young when you bought your house. Did you ever house share with flatmates before that?

Yeah. I’d been at uni and for a bit I was with my parents, then I shared a house with my sister and another girl. It was a girls’ house but we lived right next door to a boys’ house. It was so social.

How do you find inspiration for creating your home?

I love travelling and getting ideas from that. Seeing other people’s homes and seeing what I like and noting down what I don’t …. trial and error.

Do you have a favourite room?

In our house at the moment, it’s always the kitchen for me. When you have friends over, everyone always congregates around the island and I just love the social aspect of that.

What is your favourite piece of furniture or household item?

Kyal’s dad passed on a coffee table to us and it was actually given to him by his parents. It was a dining table, it’s solid timber, but he cut the legs off to make it a coffee table. Kyal actually learnt to walk around it; it’s a circular table, and now our little boy’s learnt to walk around it too. It’s definitely my favourite.

What is the worst piece of furniture you have bought?

Just cheap impulse buys. Things that aren’t going to last. You pay twice for things like that as opposed to something quality. Sometimes it’s a bargain for a reason.

Do you enjoy gardening?

It’s funny that you ask that, I have been in the garden all day. I love getting in the garden, I don’t so much like maintaining the garden.

If you could live in a dream house, anywhere in the world, where would it be?

I think it would still be on the Central Coast of NSW but on the beach … right on the beach.

The Block favourites Kara and Kyal Demmrich have joined The Living Room on Network Ten, which airs Fridays at 7.30pm.