When it comes to building a new home, most builders outsource their staging and styling. Ultra Living Homes does the complete opposite. We take a fully personalised, in-house approach to home staging and styling, designed, curated, and installed entirely by our own team. This gives us complete creative control over the style, theme, colour palette and atmosphere of every display home. More importantly, it allows us to create spaces that feel authentic, emotional, and truly reflective of how a home will be lived in.
We don’t stage homes just to “look pretty.” We style them to feel real. To feel lived-in, comfortable, warm, and connected, while still being beautifully refined. Our approach blends design principles with practicality, ensuring furniture placement, colour tones, and textures support natural flow and functionality. Every room tells a story. Every detail has purpose. And every visitor can imagine their own life unfolding in the space.
Why Styling Matters in a Display Home
Styling is more than cushions, throws and décor. Done right, it brings out the soul of the home.
Great styling:
Our in-house styling ensures all of this is cohesive from room to room, creating harmony throughout the entire display.
How We Style Bedrooms for Comfort, Calm & Functionality
Bedrooms should feel restorative, a space where the mind settles and the body can unwind.
In our display homes, we use:
Spaces are designed to feel soothing yet sophisticated, with every element chosen to support good sleep, flow, and overall wellbeing.
5 Styling Tips You Can Use at Home
Here are 5 simple, practical styling tricks we use in our display homes that anyone can apply in their own bedroom.
1. Anchoring a Space With a Large Rug
A rug instantly softens any room/space and creates a defined zone within that area. This is especially beneficial in open plan areas. Choose a size that extends beyond the sides and foot of the bed – it adds warmth, luxury and balance.
2. Keep the Colour Palette Calm and Cohesive
Soft neutrals, warm whites, gentle greys, or earthy tones help create a peaceful environment. Avoid too many competing colours, simplicity is key to a restful space. Add pops of colour through easy changeable items such as art work, cushions and house décor.
3. Add Layered Bedding for a Luxurious Feel
Think: a textured quilt cover, a lightweight throw, and 2-3 accent cushions. Layering adds depth and softness without cluttering the room. Solid colours are best.
4. Style the Bedside Tables With Purpose
Less is more. Choose 2-3 functional items such as:
This achieves a curated, calm look.
5. Use Artwork to Bring Personality Without Overcrowding
One large piece above the bed or two medium pieces on an adjacent wall will elevate any room instantly. For something a little more fun and playful in a nursery or kids room, try easy stick (removable) wall decals. This is not only cost effective but can be easily switched out as your tastes in colours and themes change with age. Stay within your colour palette for cohesion.
The Ultra Living Homes Difference
Staging and styling is not an afterthought for us, it’s part of the experience. It’s how we help people feel what life could look like inside their new home.
By keeping styling entirely in house, we ensure:
It’s this personalised approach that truly sets Ultra Living Homes apart when it comes to Display Home staging and styling.
Open-plan living has become an iconic feature of Queensland homes, and for good reason. Our climate, lifestyle, and love of indoor-outdoor connection make open and flowing spaces not just appealing, but genuinely practical. At Ultra Living Homes, we’ve seen firsthand how thoughtful open-plan design can elevate the way families live every day.
Why Open-Plan Living Works So Well in Queensland
1. It Makes the Most of Our Sunshine
Queensland is blessed with abundant natural light. Open-plan spaces, with fewer internal walls and wider sightlines, allow sunlight to filter through the home from morning to afternoon. Natural light lifts energy levels, makes spaces feel larger, and reduces the need for artificial lighting – all while creating that airy, breezy feeling we love.
2. Enhances Ventilation and Breezes
One of the biggest benefits of open-plan living is improved airflow. Fewer barriers mean natural breezes can move through the home freely, cooling the interior naturally, especially when paired with great window placement, sliding doors, and high ceilings.
3. Encourages Family Connection
Modern families are busy, but open living zones bring everyone together. The kitchen, dining, and living areas become a connected hub where cooking, homework, conversation, and relaxation all happen within view. It’s the heart of the home; comfortable, inclusive, and designed for real life.
4. Ideal for Entertaining
From weekend BBQs to quiet afternoon catch-ups, an open layout gives you space to entertain effortlessly. Guests can flow from the kitchen to the dining area and out to the alfresco, creating a seamless indoor-outdoor experience that feels relaxed and social.
5. Better Use of Space
Open-plan layouts avoid wasted corners, unnecessary hallways, and blocked-off rooms that rarely get used. Instead, every square metre is functional and flexible. This is ideal for modern sized blocks of today where space needs to work smarter, not harder.
Design Elements That Elevate Open-Plan Living
Zoning Areas Without Walls
Smart design defines each area while keeping the space unified.
Think:
This keeps the space open but purposeful.
Connection to the Alfresco
The alfresco should feel like an extension of the main living zone. Large stacker or cornerless doors blur boundaries, creating fluid movement between inside and out, perfect for Queensland’s warm weather.
Where the kitchen is the Heart of the Home
A well-placed kitchen anchors an open-plan space. With the right orientation, the cook remains connected to family and guests. Island benches or breakfast bars act as both a feature and functional workspace.
Ceiling Heights and Natural Materials
Higher ceilings, soft timber tones, light-coloured floors, and layered textures all enhance the openness and comfort of the space.
The Ultra Living Homes Approach
At Ultra Living Homes, open-plan living isn’t just a trend, it’s part of our design philosophy. We create layouts that flow effortlessly, maximise natural light and ventilation, and feel genuinely beautiful to live in. Whether it’s a compact family home or a full-scale display, we place open-plan functionality at the centre of all our designs.
At Ultra Living Homes, we know a home isn’t complete without outdoor spaces that are as functional and beautiful as the interiors. Thoughtful landscaping – including gardens, alfresco areas, and even pools – enhances your lifestyle, adds value, and creates spaces for family, entertaining, and relaxation.
At Ultra Living Homes, we understand that every family’s needs are different – and they change over time. With the ability to add to the scope of your landscaping package, remove it entirely to create your own blank canvas, or use the landscaping included in your package, you can plan an outdoor space – including pools if desired – that suits your lifestyle both now and as your family grows into the home. This flexibility ensures your backyard evolves with you, creating a space that truly works for your family.
When building your dream home, the façade is one of the most important design decisions you’ll make. It’s the face of your home-setting the tone for its overall style and first impressions. In South East Queensland, where design trends meet climate-conscious regulations, choosing the right façade involves balancing aesthetic, budget, and compliance.
Here’s what to consider when selecting the perfect façade for your new home:
It’s no secret that budget plays a big role in how bold you can go with your façade. More elaborate facades often include extra detailing, additional materials, and architectural features that can add cost. However, if you’re budget-conscious, don’t worry-you can still achieve a stunning result with a pared-back version of a design you love. Many modern facades are designed to be adaptable. As a skilled builder we can work with you to maintain the core style while simplifying material selections or finishes to suit your budget-without sacrificing street appeal.
Most master-planned communities and estates across South East Queensland have design covenants-guidelines set by developers to ensure a consistent and high-quality streetscape. These often include requirements such as:
Being aware of these requirements early will help you avoid costly redesigns later.
With the introduction of the 7-Star Energy Rating standards, façade design is no longer just about looks. These new regulations promote homes that are naturally cooler in summer and warmer in winter-meaning that lighter colours are now often required, especially for roofing materials.
That said, if you’re drawn to a darker, moodier look, it’s still possible to achieve. Darker colours can be introduced through window frames, feature panels, or garage doors, and with the right planning, additional energy solutions can be added to offset thermal performance-for example, upgraded insulation, solar or glazed windows.
While regulations and budget are essential considerations, your personal style should still guide your choices. Whether you’re drawn to coastal calm, Palm Springs-inspired modernism, urban industrial, traditional, contemporary or classic Hamptons, the right façade should tie in with the overall look and feel of your home-both inside and out. Think about the theme you want to carry throughout your home and how your façade can reflect that-through materials, textures, tones, and finishes.
Choosing a façade is about finding the right balance between form, function, and future-proofing. At Ultra Living Homes, we guide you through each step-ensuring your home not only looks great but also meets budget, regulatory, and energy efficiency requirements. If you’re unsure where to start, speak to one of our new home consultants or design team about your ideas-we can show you how to bring your vision to life in a way that works for you and your block.
Be inspired by a range of façades in our online gallery, or visit one of our display homes in South East Queensland to see the possibilities in person.
Vignettes are a great way to decorate any space with the purpose of keeping that space impactful, yet minimal and of course aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Vignettes are a small cluster of items, usually 3 to 5 different pieces located in different rooms of your home. They are designed to be appealing, elegant and sophisticated whilst aiming to create an emotional connection and showcase your ‘lifestyle/personality’.
The most common areas to place a vignette include, kitchen benches, study nooks, bathroom vanity benchtops and robe shelving. The items need to be specific to the space that you are showcasing as they are designed to assist in defining the usage of the space as well as being visually pleasing. Again, they need to be simple, elegant, and sophisticated which simply comes down to what items you have to work with and how you place them. For example, a kitchen vignette could include appropriate items such as a cookbook, wooden chopping boards, utensils and holder, jars, artificial/real greenery (plant, herbs or flowers), bowls, etc. You would not include any item that you wouldn’t ordinarily find in the space you are creating the vignette for as this would look out of place and mostly questionable. You don’t want people talking about your vignette for the wrong reasons.
These tips alone, along with your creative flare, some inspiration and maybe a few favourite shops that are your ‘go to’ for both practical and quirky items, you really can’t go wrong. Also note that vignettes don’t have to be expensive to look ‘amazing’ and when describing them as needing to be elegant and sophisticated, one mustn’t misinterpret that to also mean expensive. Be assured that you can achieve simplicity, elegance and sophistication on any budget.
So don’t be afraid to also use these tips for your own home. You don’t need to be an expert; you just need to be willing to experiment. Grab some things from around the home before you go buying anything new and see what comes of it. No doubt you’ll surprise yourself, as this component to home decorating is no different to giving your bedroom a makeover with a new quilt cover and cushions or even a new set of towels for the bathroom.
So, step outside your comfort zone and create a vignette today!
When building a home for the first time you may hear terminology you are not familiar with. From draw downs, earthworks to plate height it may all start to sound like another language. Here at Ultra Living Homes we want you to be as involved and understanding of the entire process as possible. Below are some common terms and phrases you may come across:
Introduced by the Government on the 1st of July 2000 for Australian Citizens, it was developed to help offset the effect of GST on first home buyers. The scheme varies state to state however it is generally a one-off payment for those who satisfy specific criteria to help them break into the property market for the first time. Currently, the FHOG is $30,000 for contracts signed between 20 November 2023 and 30 June 2025. For specific information relating to Queensland first home buyers grant click the link below:
The sum of money that a lender or bank can loan to you. Many factors will influence your borrowing capacity such as: salary, monthly expenses, assets, equity, existing loans etc.
Stamp duty (also referred to as transfer duty) is a tax levied on the transfer of property. When purchasing a house and land package the stamp duty is only paid on the land – not the house which offers buyers quite the saving.
A fixed rate home loan is a loan whereby the interest rate is locked in for a certain period. Over this time regardless of what is happening in the market your loan repayment amounts, and interest rate will not change. This is great for some people as it gives you peace of mind as to what your exact repayments will be!
A home loan in which the interest rate fluctuates on the outstanding amount as market interest rates change. When interest rates decline, variable home loan borrowers will benefit as the repayments on their loan will decrease as well. However, when the interest rates rise, borrowers on a variable home loan will find the amount payable on their loan also increases.
A guarantor is someone who will agree to honour your contract if you are unable to make your repayments. Acting as a guarantor means you are guaranteeing that you will continue to pay the loan or mortgage in the event the borrower is unable to do so. Having a guarantor on your loan can make lenders more inclined to approve the loan. First home buyers often use a parent or legal guardians as a guarantor. This can help, particularly if you do not have sufficient deposit, but your parents can guarantee the deposit by using equity in the family home.
Pre-approval is an important step in building your first home. It gives you an indication of the amount a lender will lend you which will help you narrow down options within your price range. Pre-approval is not a guarantee that the home loan will be funded, so you still need to get final approval. Whilst not mandatory to seek pre-approval, it can make the overall process easier both in terms of seeking finance down the track and also knowing what budget you should be working towards.
Also referred to as unconditional loan approval, Formal approval is the point at which the lender has everything required to approve your loan. Once this is granted, the sale of land can proceed. To achieve formal finance approval, the bank will require two contracts; one for the land and one for the build.
A drawdown is a progressive payment from your loan funds released to the builder at various stages of construction. At Ultra Living Homes, we use HIA contracts which specify set percentages for each major milestone such as deposit, slab, frame, enclosed, fixing and practical completion.
The purchase of both land and the construction of a new home at a fixed price. House and land packages are a fantastic way for a first home buyer to enter the property market as they represent great value. Ultra Living Homes have a great range of fixed price house and land packages available. The benefit of a fixed price contract is in knowing your full costs upfront with no hidden surprises.
Before construction can start on your home, you need to prove ownership of the land. This comes in the form of a Land Title which is a certificate or deed confirming your legal ownership of the property.
In a new estate, developers often create design guidelines to ensure consistency amongst homes when it comes to design, style and overall appearance. These are commonly referred to as Estate Covenants. When purchasing land in a new estate, it is important to see if there are any specific guidelines your home will need to adhere to. When building with Ultra Living Homes, we ensure that any Estate Covenant requirements are addressed early to ensure a smooth approvals process.
With over 1500 Wattyl colours on offer, choosing a colour palette for your new home can be overwhelming! Ornamental Pearl, Husk Gold and Movie Star – they all sound more like Hollywood names than a wall colour!
Investing time into getting the palette right is well worth the effort as colour can completely transform the look and feel of a home.
Here are some tips to help guide you:
A tried and tested way to choose the colour pallete for a room is to use your darkest tones for the floor, a lighter tint for the walls and then the lightest tint for the ceiling.
The way in which a room receives light (natural or artificial) will affect how the colour appears on the walls.
For example:
Cool warm colours interact well with the natural light in south facing rooms whilst darker colours will appear more vibrant and softer colours can have a soft glowing affect. Lighting in your home can play a key role in the overall feel of the colour palette you choose.
Most likely the largest rooms will be either a living or kitchen area and these are a great place to start when choosing the colour pallete. Once you have a colour in mind for these rooms, picking a shade or tint from the same hue for adjoining rooms will ensure there is a cohesive flow throughout the home whilst still giving an element of depth to the colours.
Using colours is a powerful tool to help evoke moods in a room. Warm colours can be joyful, promote intimacy, and be comforting and vibrant. Cooler tones will promote relaxation, and bring calmness to a room.
Using these basic colour schemes can really help your colour vision come to life:
Analogous colours – calming colours which appear next to each other on the colour wheel. Think greens, teals, blues etc. Pairing these colours will create a cohesive, soothing flow to your home.
Monochromatic colours – A single base hue paired with different shades, tints and hues of the same colour. Choosing a monochromatic palette will create a minimalist design and allow you to provide pops of colour and really bring in your own unique style with your own furnishings and décor.
Complementary colours – Are 2 opposing colours on the wheel such as red and purple which will provide striking, bold looks. Whilst not on the colour wheel black and white are a timeless example of complementary colours often paired together which create a versatile look.
Bringing elements of the outside in is a perfect way to achieve a peaceful environment within your home whilst it is also known to improve overall mental health and promote happiness! Think coastal tones and native greenery.
Still unsure? Don’t be! Here at Ultra Living Homes, we are here to help every step of the way. As part of our commitment to service excellence, we offer all of our clients a complimentary colour consultation with an experienced interior designer. Enjoy a colour selection process with a professional to help you fine-tune the preferred style for your beautiful new home.
