Shaynna Blaze gets her own show, Blank Canvas

The pilot for her first interiors show of her very own airs on The Lifestyle Channel in a couple of weeks and Shaynna Blaze is hoping you’ll watch so she gets to do a whole series!

No stranger to reality TV, it will be the first time the star of Selling Houses Australia and The Block won’t have co-hosts or judges. “I am totally over the moon, nervous and excited,” she told me. “This is the first show where I carry it on my own so there is a certain fear and responsibility that comes with that but the opportunity to do a show purely about interiors is so incredible. I have been looking at my own show for a while and after talking with Taubmans and The LifeStyle Channel, they saw a gap in the market and this is the result.”

Shaynna says the show is purely about design and decoration for people stuck on where to go next because they’re either scared or lost on where to start in their renovation. “This is a show for people who want to do up their home to live in it, and working on ideas and styles that suit our Australian lifestyle and environment.”

The 30-minute pilot show is a window onto a family that are living with a kitchen/lounge that doesnt work for them and need tips and ideas to get them started. “I give them a consultation and tips and direction in helping them find their style. Then they take on the process themselves, knowing I am there for guidance whenever they need it. It is about giving people the ideas and confidence to do it themselves.”

Blank Canvas also happens to be the name of Shaynna’s interior design business. “I actually was steering away from the name at the beginning as I didnt want people to think it was a show about my business. But we all had to agree on a name and we were all going in different directions but Blank Canvas just kept on coming up. It felt right and it really makes sense to what the show is about; giving owners a fresh start in their interior style.”

If all goes well and ratings prove the show would be popular, she hopes production for a series of hour-long episodes might start as soon as possible! As someone who just released a book, Design Your Home, and never seems to sit still for long, I’m not surprised! “To tell you the truth I don’t actually realise how busy I am until my PR person gives me a roundup of the month or someone else sees my diary and freaks out,” Shaynna says. “When it gets pointed out to me I do go ‘wow, that’s why I’m tired!’ But I love everything I do and I am getting so much personal satisfaction that I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”

When she has time to catch up on TV, Shaynna loves Million Dollar Decorators. “They are such characters with amazing talent, it is a fantastic show. I love Sarah Beeny (of the UK show Property Ladder) and of course how can you go past Kevin McCloud and Grand Designs? I never get sick of that show.”

With Bondi’s The Block All Stars wrapped up, she’s been straight onto filming the new series of The Block back in Melbourne. “It’s so incredible. The standard is ridiculously high and each time we go in to judge we totally forget they have produced that room in one week. I love a building site and seeing all the action, but to walk on with stillettos and not have to pick up a paintbrush or solve some building issue? Well, how can you not love it?”

Blank Canvas airs on The Lifestyle Channel on Foxtel on 14 April 2013 at 8.30pm.