After The Block judges completely slammed House 4’s living and dining room as “all wrong”, Alicia scrambled during Kitchen Week to redo the entire space.

“We’ve got more than any other team this week because we’ve got living, dining and kitchen,” Alicia told cameras.

To give her the best chances of wowing the judges the second time around, Alicia enlisted the help of Freedom stylist Sarina. Watch it all in the video above.

“We really want to give everything to this redo because there’s no point redoing something and still not being happy with it,” said Alicia.

Sarina delivered with tips and fresh ideas and even suggested Alicia scrap her exisiting lounge for an L-shaped one.

The concept was a total hit with Alicia.

“I love her idea of the L-shaped lounge, that to me is like home and is inviting,” Alicia added.
Sarina from Freedom is here to save the day! (Nine)
Keep reading for more styling tips on how to configure your living room:

1. Define the focal point

Before you move or buy a single piece of furniture, think about how you want to use the room.

Is the space going to be used for family movie nights? Or a luxe entertaining space?

Depending on the answer to that question you’ll centre your furniture around a different focal point whether that be a TV, a fireplace, a large window with a view or a major piece of artwork.

Once you’ve figured that out, you officially have your starting point and can select and move furniture around that focal point.
Emma and Ben’s rumpus room is an example of orientating furniture towards a view rather than the TV. (Nine)

2. Arrange for conversation and flow

A well-purposed living space allows for easy movement through the area and encourages social interaction rather than act as a barrier to it.

Position chairs and lounges so they face each other and are close enough for people to talk without shouting.

Don’t push all your furniture to the perimeter of the room. While people often do this to create more space it can often make the area feel clinical rather than cosy.

3. Consider the balance and scale

If there’s just one thing you take away from reading this article it should be this: buy the right size rug.

Perhaps, the biggest styling sin and most common offence is purchasing a rug that’s too small for the space.
The rug in Kylie and Brad’s rumpus room in 2024 certainly wasn’t doing the trick. (Nine)
A rug will help define the living room zone and should be large enough to fit under at least the front legs of all your main furniture pieces. Another rule of thumb is that it should also come out around 15 centimetres either side of your lounge.

4. Inject personality into the space with decor

We hear you, you can’t go buying a brand new couch and coffee table every two years – those items are pricey!

It’s understandable to gravitate to more neutral colours and materials for those bigger items but you can add some fun and personality with your decor.

Mix different tones and textures with your cushions, artwork, lamps and sculptural elements – these are often less expensive and can be swapped out more frequently to keep up with trends and your evolving personal style.