What an episode of The Block!! This week the couples had to reveal their study, laundry and powder rooms — that’s two wet rooms in one week!
Like the judges, we thought some couples nailed certain rooms and fell short with others.
Luke and Ebony finally jumped up the leaderboard while Suzi and Voni felt the wrath of the judges’ comments!
Caro and Kingi
Keen to continue their winning streak, Caro and Kingi pulled out some risky design moves to get the judges’ attention and it worked because they finished first place again on 28.5 out of 30!
While Caro was nervous about their strong colour choice in the study, she needn’t have been because Darren LOVED it! Shaynna was a huge fan of their industrial book case and said she’s impressed by how they continue to show something new in the industrial area.
Although the industrial look isn’t really our style (we like hints of it in rooms), we can appreciate how beautifully they’ve combined choices (like that gorgeous copper bowl) to soften what can often be quite a harsh style.
Their powder room also got big ticks from the judges with the unusual tile feature wall and another custom concrete vanity top by Kingi. And who wouldn’t want to have a laundry like that in their home?! We love how they pared things back a bit this week to deliver simple, functional and beautiful rooms.
Andy and Whitney
Like the judges, we were unexpectedly surprised by how good Andy and Whitney’s study was this week — it’s a space we’d be happy to work in! That timber wall panelling and timber and leather shelving were the real winners for us and gave this space a luxurious vibe.
Unfortunately we couldn’t say the same for their laundry which just felt a bit too dark for our liking. Although Darren loved the choice of tiles, we’d prefer to see a lighter tile used with the concrete bench top to lift the space.
And then there was the real talking point — their powder room!! Tell us honestly, were you a fan?
Sadly nothing really worked for us in this space. Immediate fixes for us would be changing the wall tiles to something a bit lighter and fresher, changing the free-standing basin for one of their beautiful timber custom vanities from earlier weeks, and maximising the space in the corner with some in-built cabinetry.
Suzi and Vonni
Oh dear, what a hot mess. These ladies have always had a style that’s very different to our own and up until now we could appreciate what they were doing, even if their choices weren’t to our taste.
Unfortunately, we can’t say that this week. As one judge put it, the only thing they showed this week were cracks in their budget. From past Block seasons, we’ve learnt that when the budget gets tight, it’s best to rein things in and deliver simple yet beautiful rooms (like Caro and Kingi did this week) rather than still try to wow. It’s hard to achieve good ‘wow’ on a budget.
The judges described their powder room as ‘horrendous’ and their laundry as ‘odd’. While these rooms didn’t seem to reference each other, again, there are some simple fixes they could do to turn them around. For example the light timber in the laundry is the main element that appears out of place, so replacing this with a darker option would help bring the laundry back into the same style as the rest of their apartment.
Luke and Ebony
Hoo-freakin-rah these guys are finally in the game! We knew they could do it!
Finishing second place this week on 27.5 out of 30, what stood out most from the rooms Luke and Ebony delivered was their excellent use of space. Ebony flexed her design muscles and came up with clever storage solutions, and thoughtful additions like the day bed in the study.
We loved many of her styling choices and that gorgeous Kate McKinnon limited edition artwork.
Ebony focussed on one style this week and this new found focus paid off. Now the challenge will be continuing this style for the rest of the apartment!
Dean and Shay
Before we say anything, let’s just take a moment to appreciate their STUNNING powder room. We give Shay and Dean the new title of ‘Powder Room Perfection’. Seriously, wow!
The marble wall tiles paired with the tempered glass wall, simple white basin and gorgeous copper tapware were the winners in this space. Personally, we feel this powder room should have been enough to seal the win this week but the judges’ didn’t agree, scoring them just 25.5 out of 30, seeing them finish in 3rd place.
So what brought them down? The judges seriously disliked their laundry, calling it clumsy and Shaynna even said it was ‘doing her head in’. The only real issue we could see in this space was the subway tiles on an angle could be too harsh for some people… but retiling a splash back is a pretty easy fix if the buyer doesn’t like it.
We also really liked their study this week — particularly that concrete veneer on the floors and how they tied it in with a spot of concrete on that custom made table, and the stunning timber and leather book shelf. While the judges are loving that green wall colour, it’s a bit strong for us, especially in such a small space and especially especially when paired with that choc brown colour. Shaynna described the colour combo as ‘choc mint’ and while we hate to critique Dean and Shay, we would repaint this room in a heartbeat.
You can find our top product picks, along with loads of other fab decor and furniture, at The Block Shop.
It was such a mixed bag this week! Strange how some couples got rooms so right and others so wrong. The worst for us was Andy and whitneys powder room. Nothing in that room worked.
Thanks for sharing Sarah! Yep, gotta agree, it was an interesting room reveal 😉 Our favourite was Dean and Shay’s powder room and seeing Luke and Ebony get back in the game… and our low was a tie between that powder room and what the girls delivered… It’s just as interesting to see the winning rooms as the ones that don’t come together though, lots of lessons to learn for when doing it ourselves!