“If people didn’t have the guts to be different, it would be very boring and other people would not be inspired.”

Intro

Well, hello everyone! It’s Bernadette, back with another episode of She Renovates. And today I have quite an interesting guest.

Just to fill you in on the backstory, over the last few weeks, I’ve been writing our list of 100 goals that I want to achieve in the rest of my life. Some of them have been really small things related to the business and some are quite big. One of the goals that I wrote down in my little goals book was that I wanted to interview a Block contestant and I did that over the weekend.

On Monday, which was Australia day. We went out with a few friends onto the Harbor. We have a friend who sailed down from Queensland, and she’s moored at Rose Bay. And so we went out just to waft around on the water for Australia day.

Because Jo who’s the sailor is recovering from quite a  badly broken wrist, she needs to bring in crew when she wants to take the boat out because she’s not well enough to be able to sail it alone at this stage. So two couples stepped on board and one of the couples included our next guest and that’s Chantelle Ford who was the winner of The Block in 2014.

It just amazes me the power of intention. I write it down and then she appears in my life. To cap it off she is the most delightful person. She’s the loveliest woman. And the reason that I’ve asked her to join us is because there’s a lot of curiosity around The Block in particular because it just seems so unbelievable. Like we all know that it’s not reality, but I really wanted to ask her, “do you really do a room in a week?” and seriously, I was blown away by the response. She shared really generously, but what comes out of this interview is the fact that she’s applied some of the key principles that we apply in our renovating and how that really paid off for her.

She didn’t go with the crowd and how they approached their projects. She was much more strategic and it paid off. So I’m not going to go on any more about it, but I want to introduce you to Chantelle Ford now.

Bernadette Janson: Thank you for coming on to the podcast Chantelle. As I mentioned to you before it was one of my goals to interview a Block contestant and  pretty much the next day we crossed paths and I thought we might talk about firstly if you could just give us a little bit of background.

So what you do now? Where you live? All that our listener gets a bit of an understanding of who you are.

Chantelle Ford: Sure. Absolutely! Thank you for having me and  I think it’s wonderful that you’re really putting what you want out there because it really is quite amazing what you can create for yourself.

I found a number of notebooks with really old notes of just writing down. What I want, what I have, and it does. You realize it comes into your life. So that’s really good. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Definitely. We’re definitely supposed to meet. Yeah. So I guess where I am at now pre Block I was in Melbourne five years ago. I believe the Block might’ve been seven years ago. I had a business before I went into The Block called Ford Millinery and I’ve kept that business going and I’ve come back to that. So after being on The Block and winning the block, I went straight back into my business, my hats and accessories business and moved up to Sydney about four years ago.

I’m running Ford Millinery up here and it’s been a huge journey, I’d say, which sounds super cheesy and you hear that word a lot, but it really is. Life has really just been going where life takes me, but w  where I’ve chosen, it goes with what it offers, beautiful. We’ll be glad you’ve seen the light and come to the right side of the border. I grew up in Victoria, I actually lived a lot of my life in Melbourne and we have a daughter that lives down there and I’m forever trying to convince her to come back to Sydney, but it’s never going to happen.

I love both. I genuinely love both. I didn’t really understand that massive divide. When I was in Melbourne and having absolutely no intention to move to Sydney,  I didn’t understand. Some people are really one or the other, but  see more detail now how different the two States are in the two cities in particular. I think they’ve both got something really lovely to offer.

Bernadette Janson: They do. I have to say I do have a bit of a soft spot for Melbourne too. Now what I want to do is explore your experience of The Block because lots of our community avid followers and I have known quite a few people to put in applications for The Block, like some, every single year.

Chantelle Ford: A lot of crazy people. Okay. Yeah. That’s great.

Bernadette Janson: I’ve had people say to me, why don’t you? I said, not career suicide. I’m not doing it. So they got that. You were one of the crazy people. Why did you do it?

Chantelle Ford: I first starters was super naive in terms of exactly what it would entail but I had a characteristic back then that I still have now, which is really trying to squeeze the most out of life and the most out of myself.

I really wanted to challenge myself. I love design and it’s in my blood. It really doesn’t matter what that is at all. I see the world as quite creative and I’m curious about things, I’m a go getter. I’m not afraid to dive in and get my hands dirty. So I guess that’s what it was about.

I wanted to challenge myself and really put my design skills to the test or and really explore to be honest. But back then when I applied, I really think that the reality TV landscape has changed a lot in that time. I think the following year after us may have been the last one that might’ve been along the same lines, I feel like reality TV really took a turn.

I’m not saying we caused the turn. But after we were on, I feel like reality TV became more of a, I want fame side of things. And I guess that was not something I expected at all in terms of the media side. So that’s why I went on back then and I really didn’t realize how little I knew about renovating until I was right in the, not just the deep end, there was no pool. I was drowning in the ocean. Not drowning, no- pedaling really hard.

Bernadette Janson: Your partner went too at that time?

Chantelle Ford: Yes. That’s right. My partner at that time was Steve. We throw ourselves in and look, I was a milliner back then. So a fashion designer, a small business owner, Steve was, and still is a chimney sweep. He has his own chimney sweep business. A chimney sweep and a milliner going on an interior design and renovation challenge.

Bernadette Janson: For anyone that doesn’t know, Chantelle and Steve actually won The Block that year. That is epic for someone who has no background in renovating, I really take my hat off to you.

Chantelle Ford: Thank you.

Bernadette Janson: Because you not only survive, but you absolutely came out on top.

Chantelle Ford: Thank you. Thank you very much. It actually was huge for us. I think back then the storyline was definitely, “Oh,” I don’t think they had expected and potentially wanted us to win.

I don’t think it was part of the storyline. It was definitely a turn. But we always knew that we had a chance and that we went about it very differently. I actually forgot about this, my dad reminded me of this a couple of weeks ago. He said he rang me and he said, wasn’t it amazing that when you first went on your first, the first thing you did was contact a local real estate agent.

Whereas what everybody else did was get their real estate agent at the very end of the process to sell their house. And really just as a sales person we, before we had created anything, we chose our real estate team and we had them come in and say what’s going on in the area?

What are people looking for? What do they spend money on? This is what we think. Steve and I went into it with a bit of a different mindset. We went in with our business mindsets. We did the market research first and then felt we wanted to know the brief from the audience as in the buyer, not the TV audience, and then create that brief rather than just do a thing and then try to shove what we liked down someone else’s throat.

So that’s how we went about it. And I think that really paid off for us in the end because  what the audience wanted is what we had created for them.

Bernadette Janson: Chantelle, that is brilliant because one of the steps in our process in our training is to research your real estate agent when you’re researching the area, not to wait until you’ve got the property and involve that person in your project meetings and use their contact with your market. All the way along the process to help inform decisions. I’m just so impressed that you want to do that.

I think that really, would have had a very big impact on your results, because that’s what it’s about. It’s about knowing your market and being able to produce a product that would appeal to them.

Chantelle Ford: Absolutely. That’s my mindset with business in general and any problem solving. I think the problem is fine, and once you understand what the problem is or what the challenge is, then you can come up with a solution, and then you can get creative with it.

Before the creativity, there needs to be a function, there needs to be a problem that’s solved.  When we knew that we were in the running to be on The Block  and we knew where it was being filmed and where we would be building, if we were successful in getting on, we went to that area.

We actually live nearby so we went to coffee shops and we’d look at the people. We’d look at what age group they are. We’d look at what they’re wearing. We’d look at how they interact with each other. What kind of personality? We didn’t have a spreadsheet open and really on our legs.

We wanted to pay attention and observe what they are. For me, as a creative person, I could see the type of buyer. They were very confident in their design, quite quirky and they weren’t wearing what might be considered cool.

They definitely had their own creative edge. What they were wearing was often very expensive, but it might be teamed with something very relaxed and not expensive. There was definitely a quirk. That’s also what we wanted to inject, which is great because that really compliments my personal design taste as well. It wasn’t too difficult to make that step and deliver in those terms either.

Bernadette Janson: So you really dropped into your sweet spot.

Chantelle Ford: Yeah, absolutely! Absolutely.

Bernadette Janson: That’s a really good place to be when you’re renovating. I’ve got a couple, Debbie and RB who renovated in the Eastern suburbs and they absolutely market because they do most projects. They do about a quarter of a million in profit cause they absolutely know their market and it’s such a powerful thing.

Chantelle Ford: That’s amazing!

Bernadette Janson: Something I’m really curious about, how much of the background and the feasibility, or is there any feasibility done on those projects? Do you get given any sort of data around the project, the properties themselves?

Chantelle Ford: Not at all. You get nothing. For us it was a building site our series of the block was the first series that was built. Previously it was all about a renovation. So for us, there were no floors, there were no ceilings, there was no plumbing,  there was nothing except for an exterior of the building and not even a roof. We had to build four stories from literally nothing. The entrance was boarded up with a board. We were handed a drill and said “there you go. That’s how you get in. If you don’t know how to use that, you better go home.”  And it just started with “Right. This is the first room you’re doing. Off you go.”

That’s it! We were given some I’ll say I was going to say dumbed down. I can’t really think of another simplified version of a floor plan. That was really early on, but it didn’t have all the detail which caused some problems. Actually, I still to this day believe it was a deliberate little sabotage. We would give him the wrong floor plans. But I picked up on it. I’m like, no, that’s not there, that’s not there. Something’s not right, but answering your question we’re not really given anything. We’re not given any trades. We need to organize that all ourselves. When we do something wrong, that is not going to be up to scratch. We’re told, but we’re not told before we make that mistake at all.

So you might, or an effort of, you might lay your screed and it may be someone mysterious, overnight walks on it. And then, you find out later that you’re going to have to do it again because it’s, or somebody takes it with a crowbar and you’ve got to rip it up and do it again but not really given any guidance.

Bernadette Janson: I know. I’ve already asked you this, but I think a lot of people will want to know. Do you really have to deliver a room in a week?

Chantelle Ford: So many people I’ve spoken to outright do not believe that is the case. In my view, it’s a worse or shorter period of time and more rooms.

So how it works is for us anyway, when we were on, you’re starting on Monday morning and you’re presenting the room or rooms Sunday morning so you actually don’t get Sunday. It’s Sunday morning and tools down that’s it. So really you’ve only got six days. Then in addition, another one of those days, you’re offsite doing a challenge. We had to build a table or we had to create a light fixture or build a scale car for a nearby school. 

So you’re actually losing another day at site on that day. Your trade is allowed to be onsite, still working but that’s another day you’re missing from actually being able to project manage. If you’re not onsite, things can go wrong and you have to then fix them and you still need to go shopping.

So essentially, it’s five days where you can be on site working to deliver. In one case it was our master bedroom week. It was very light because we were having to build floor by floor. The bottom floor was the communal area, then it was the entry sort of area and then the upstairs area.

Then the rooftop terrace is the last room on that third floor. We had to deliver a master bedroom  with a walk-in robe, a walkthrough, which is huge. That’s cabinetry. You have to have cabinetry.

It’s impossible to even think about an en-suite so a wet area with no plumbing. No waterproofing or anything all started from scratch. There’s no floor at that point, you’re still needing to build the floors, install the plumbing, do the waterproofing, shop for your tiles. 

And everybody knows how long cabinetry takes. Curtains, you’re having to do your curtains. Building everything, painting, and shopping. The fourth space was a really long hallway. So four spaces master a walk-in robe, a wet area of an en suite, and a huge hallway in five or six days built to style.

That is real! That takes a huge toll on your body and your mind. You’re just nothing by the end of that, just completely nothing.

Bernadette Janson: Did you have enough trades? Like how much of that were you having to do yourself?

Chantelle Ford: So it varied, all of the shopping was us, obviously all of the decisions in with the design of, “okay, where are we going to put a wall?” and I got really good at the end of it. I forgot a lot of that now but, in not having to take out a tape measure, just using, I learnt that my step plus a little bit more is one meter. So I’d mark things out. A seat needed to allow, 450, the doorways, this and that. But in terms of assistance, we have a builder that we can say, “look, this is what we’re thinking. This is where we want to do it, “ and they obviously can give their input. And then we’ve got chippies on board.

Once we’ve got the plan, they can manage them. But then, it depended really how much we wanted to do. I wanted to be quite hands-on and we weren’t really winning any challenges at first. So with the challenge back then we’d get 10 grand extra. So everybody else had all this extra money.

We didn’t have to spend on trades so we’re on a shoestring budget. So I wanted to get in and do as much as I possibly could. So in one of our rooms, I was on the tools building up a parquetry wall which I wouldn’t have even dreamed of making a non-complicated basic, simple wall before that.

So it just sometimes you’re really hands-on and other times you’ve got your trade that is building things. It really depended on week by week.

Bernadette Janson: Wow! I am wondering how you managed to design when you were feeling so spent.

Chantelle Ford: Yeah, that’s a really good question because I think the creative process ideally can have space and time and no stress, and that’s definitely not what we had there. It’s funny you are asking these questions because I actually had forgotten a lot of how I felt about things then. That was actually probably one of the hardest things back then, in terms of coming from a creative professional. Going into space where there was no time to change your mind or really evolve the plan or the design. And that was hard because you’d get judged and problems would happen. What you had designed might not be able to happen because what somebody promised they could get to in time, they couldn’t. You can’t present something without a table or a bed or a wall or a tile.

You have to find a solution that didn’t fit with your design plan. And therefore is not actually what you personally love or you could see that there might be. If you had all the space and time in the world I might say, “Oh gosh, like I really, I don’t like that, but I have to go with it.” we’re going with it because there’s no option in it. There needs to be tiles on the wall. 

That was difficult. Before all those problems were unfolding, you had to change the plan. We learned too to make decisions quite quickly about the design and then also stop wasting time doubting it. You just have to choose something and go and back yourself and go for it.

Sometimes it wouldn’t work out and sometimes it would, but it’s when you waste your time, questioning yourself that causes more problems for you. So it was definitely difficult but then sometimes things would just come together. And in that room that I was telling you about the master bedroom walk-in suite and whole. That week, we came second by half a point and China Blaze was brought to tears when she was in our en suite. She just said that “you just come so far.” And off-camera the executive producer, the creator of the show came in. He’s “wow. Wow.”

and that felt so amazing that whole, how close we were to winning that. And really what that meant points don’t mean anything at auction, what it meant we had created an amazing space. I guess to get us to that point, I was just way more confident in my decision saying, “no, we are,” everyone was like, “no, that’s too dark, the wall color, you can’t paint them like a charcoal-navy. ” And I’m like “no, we are. They’re going to be charcoal walls and I’m going to offset it with pastel pink curtains.” Everyone was like, “you’re crazy. This is so ugly, ” and I’m like, “no”, and stuck to it. So backing yourself is really important, especially when there’s no time.

Bernadette Janson: There’s some really light greatness coming out of this Chantelle because even when you’re renovating not under pressure, I think a lot of women, in particular, do tend to second guess ourselves. And it’s one of the things that as a renovator, you might have the luxury of a bit more time, but you do need to be able to make decisions quickly and stick with them.

Chantelle Ford: Absolutely. One of my friends has been slowly renovating and she actually said that of herself. She said “I don’t know. Can you help me choose? I don’t know. I just second guess myself,” and I said, “Listen, you put together a killer outfit. You get dressed in the morning. You don’t need someone to hold your hand to tell you what looks good for you? It’s your own choice. ” And it’s the same thing. It’s actually the same thing. And I think some way some, somehow we think that someone else is the expert and there’s a right or wrong way with creativity. It’s not true.

Look, some people aren’t creative. So in that case, it’s like some people are tone-deaf. Okay, listen, maybe you can’t be taught. Some people don’t have that, but if you’ve gone into renovating because you love it and something excites you about it, there’s a good chance. You probably do have a design eye in which case no one else has.

There’s no right or wrong. No one else has that answer. They might have some advice and you can weigh that up. But at the end of the day, going with what you love is actually so wonderful. And it’s actually okay to push boundaries.  I found that even with my headwear, that’s why my headwear, my label Ford Millinery is quite popular. I don’t just design vanilla because it’s safe and that’s what it is. I’ve got a style. And when I have the confidence to really back myself on that and say, “no, I don’t even know why I love it. I just love it, ” and run with it.That works well.

Bernadette Janson: Oh, look, I absolutely agree. And it does take a bit of time to get there, I was doing a Reno with David who’s our son in Bondi. And he decided to go for this hand pressed sage green tile in the bathroom and he decided to do all the walls in it. We both thought, “okay, so that might be a bit out there,” but then decided to go for it. And that’s the thing that anyone who looked at that apartment loved the bathroom.

Chantelle Ford: Great.

Bernadette Janson: So sometimes you can just be a bit too sensible.

Chantelle Ford: Yeah, absolutely. And then everything looks the same. It could be a smart business move because again, you have to work for the brief and if someone’s genuinely not going to choose anything other than white or beige okay.

If that’s what’s going to sell, you can do something interesting with textures or still if something just clicks with you, it’s probably for a reason. And it’s good to go down that path. I know this sounds really, this is extreme, but when you think of amazing artists who excite you even- 

I was in Tazzie recently. I went to Mona and I just thought, “Oh my gosh, this is really out there. It’s not vanilla, but look at all the variety of their audience is so varied.” There’s kids, there are couples, there are families, there’s quite eccentric people. It’s such a mix and everyone, they just look like children are so excited, exploring this strange space.

And I thought, “my goodness, if people didn’t have the guts to be different, it would be very boring and other people would not be inspired.” So sometimes something out there can actually be not vanilla. It’s like vanilla with sprinkles. People will love it widely.

Bernadette Janson: That’s an awesome expression, vanilla with sprinkles. In our job because where we are selling to a broad market, that’s really what we need to do. So the last reno I did was,  white, and the reason I did that was because of the market in that building. I’d just put a curve on the bench.

Chantelle Ford: Beautiful.

Bernadette Janson: It totally transformed the property because the first photo you have in realestate.com is that kitchen living room. And you’ve got that beautifully curved unit with the texture in that slot… so I agree. I think that’s a great way of looking at it.

So what I want to do is just ask you one more question. What do you think was your biggest takeaway from being on The Block? Oh, no, I’ve got two questions actually. So I’ll step back a bit. Did you make any friends?

Chantelle Ford: Did I make any friends on the block? I’d say yes at the time, for sure.  I don’t think we’ve made any friends that I pick up and call every week and back then. I guess I’ve moved into state as well, which has made things tricky in general, but made friends not necessarily how you might expect a lot of people just think of the contestants. But yeah, I visited Melbourne a couple of years ago and was driving through. I wanted to show my partner where I used to live. And he said to me “that guy’s staring at you, he’s waving at you.” And I’m thinking, “Oh gosh,” a Ford Millinery, then maybe they know the brand, and look out the window and it was the crew.

The film crew and the sound crew from The Block waving at me and I was like, “Oh my gosh!” And so one of the sound technicians was wonderful, I’ll say ally. He just was a really lovely support. And strangely enough, after he said hello, and you’re like, “Oh, that’s great.” I got out of the car and like, “it was great to see you.” I had to chat and then when I left, he got a bit emotional and said “I love you.” I was like, “awh,” and there’s nothing in it. There’s nothing uncool about it at all.

So yes, there were some really beautiful bonds. I think even with the audience as well, I think some people, if they were just buying the storyline they might not like us If they follow that they don’t question what they’re being fed in a way, and that’s that it’s just on the surface level, but then there was a portion of the viewers is ” there’s something more to these people, there’s something a part of the story that might not be told.” I think there was something special about the viewers as well that would reach out to us and they could understand.

They made their own decisions if you know what I mean? So they could actually say, “hang on, we’re being told that this design is not good, or we’re being told that, this person is lazy or we’re being told this,” but actually if I were to judge it for myself, there was also that bond with those viewers that were able to make form their own opinion.

And with some contestants as well, there were definitely, we’re competing against each other. Everyone is under-slept, and absolutely sleep deprived. There were blues with everyone including themselves. But then there were also friendships, with each of the contestants in different ways as well. Even Keith! 

Bernadette Janson:  I was to say, is he really the pain you come across at?

Chantelle Ford: I haven’t seen him for a long time, but I would say, oh yeah, the problems he causes you are real. If they could choose for anyone to have the most amount of problems served to them by Keith, we were the chosen ones.

They were always looking to see if there was an opportunity to cause problems for us, they definitely take it. So Keith and I would butt heads. But at the same time, off camera, I think Keith and I had a really nice bond as well. So it was a very genuine yeah, which was very real. But there was also a very genuine stirring of each other. So yeah I personally got along with Keith, but if he has a problem with you off camera, as well as on camera, it’s dead set real.

Bernadette Janson: And so I can imagine if I was in that situation with Stephen, we would be ready. Just slow for one another. How did you, did it put pressure on your relationship?

Chantelle Ford: Hundred percent. It’s really difficult. You’re saying you’re pushed to, not to your limit, you pushed. kilometers and kilometers beyond your limit. In a normal scenario in life, you would have somebody who generally doesn’t go through that with somebody.

Usually, your closest person is the one to, they might be able to offer some support. And it’s not the case there, you’re both being outside, being slaughtered, I’m not saying poor us, but you’re both running 500 marathons in not in a row at the same time deliberately being sleep deprived and being prodded.

It’s designed to make you snap because everybody is getting along, and being all chirpy is not good TV. It’s very boring. And that definitely puts a strain on your relationship. Then as well saying other people attack your partner and trying to stand up for them while you’re trying to just survive yourself, that’s a challenge. Then they’re causing challenges for you. It’s all happening at the same time, it definitely puts the strain on the relationship, for sure. It’s designed to put a strain on relationships and it fast tracks any cracks, turning into a big avalanche.

Bernadette Janson: And tell me, what was your biggest takeaway? Would you give your time over again? Would you do it again?

Chantelle Ford: It’s funny. I’ve been asked that question a lot. In the seven years since The Block, that question comes up a lot if I would do it again, and my answer, even internally, when I think about it changes every single time. I don’t think I need to do it again for myself, because I know that I have nothing more to give and nothing would approve. I want it. So that’s amazing. But also I pushed myself beyond what I ever thought that physically, mentally, emotionally I could ever go. I can’t push myself any further than that. There was no stone unturned and to this day, I have not faced more difficult, there have been difficult things, but I just know that I can’t push myself any further.

So for that reason, I’ve challenged myself in that way. I conquered that challenge and I don’t think I need to do it again. So in order to do it again, it would have to be to be totally honest, a business strategy or maybe a challenge in terms of, I would definitely come about it differently.

I understand now how it works in terms of how you cannot control how you might be portrayed. So maybe I would do it for the fun of renovating again and designing a space again. I really do love that. So I might do it for that. And each time is different. I guess it’s a wild ride.

I would not do it for the challenge again, but maybe for the newness of a renovation. Who doesn’t like renovating? And if you can do it on somebody else’s budget, great!

Bernadette Janson: There you go. But maybe you should be doing your own block.

Chantelle Ford: Yeah, look, that’s I’ve been wanting to do that since I walked off The Block. I remember my partner’s parents saying, “what are you thinking? Are you crazy? Isn’t that the last thing you want to do?” But actually, the timing didn’t align. My partner and I were looking at houses to purchase and renovate and then we parted ways and then, I was just finding my feet again, then I met somebody and I moved into the state and got the business up and running. Then my focus was that. So the timing just hasn’t really aligned for me to do that for myself. But really, I do love it and it’s just always biting at me. The love of interior design has not gone away at all and is renovating. I just love renovating.

Bernadette Janson: Listen, I want to thank you for being so generous with your time. And I know that our renovators are just going to love this episode.

And the other thing I want to do is just say to anyone, listening, please go and have a look at Chantelle’s hats. I was absolutely amazed at what you built.

Chantelle Ford: Thank you.

Bernadette Janson: Your personality definitely does come through your style. So we’ll include the link in the show notes and thank you.

Chantelle Ford: Thanks so much, Bernadette I really appreciate that. It’s so lovely to meet you and it’s really nice to connect. I love that you, the challenge that you’re setting yourself as well, and I’m watching where they really canine. You’re actually motivating me as well, too. Your recent challenges doing a video every day. That’s something I shy away from as well. I don’t really like putting myself in the spotlight, believe it or not. Yeah, you’re a great inspiration to other people too. So thank you.

Outro

Okay, so that’s it for today. Now, if you haven’t already done so please come over to iTunes and leave us a review. Tell us what you thought about  Chantelle and her Block renovating story, give us any suggestions that you would like for future episodes. And we will be so grateful. We read them all and we are so appreciative of you for making the effort so, thank you.