By Steph Sandhoff
Welcome to Week 10 and our final interior week on The Block for 2024. A quick reminder that I don’t judge any exterior weeks as most couples hire a professional landscaper, although I can’t wait to see how all the front and backyards come together. Before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s finish the inside of these houses. This week the couples took on their laundries and final guest bedrooms, wherever they may be located. Strangely, most of the laundries were giving a ‘cupboard under the stairs’ vibe, so let’s take a look and see if we can find any magic.
HOUSE 1 // Maddy and Charlotte
Photo Attribution: Nine
First up we have Maddy and Charlotte in House 1. The girl’s had a rough week but managed to present an almost completed ‘self-contained’ apartment. The bedroom was the final piece of the puzzle and boasted a custom-made bunk bed, wardrobe storage and ‘kitchenette’. Last week, I thought the girl’s made the best use of the skinny space they were given as a rumpus room, but now I’m not so sure. As a full apartment, the layout doesn’t make much sense. Personally, I would have looked at whether the dividing wall could have been removed to create a more open plan. Regardless, both ‘bedroom and living’ or ‘living and kitchen’ combinations would have been a better fit than the ‘bedroom and kitchen’ space they went with. The bunk beds and cupboard have been squeezed into too tight an area, and unfortunately the resulting waste of space is distracting me from the stunning yet simple finishes, fixtures and colour palette the girl’s curated.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Let’s move on to House 1’s laundry, which is located under their staircase and was significantly unfinished. The room itself is light and bright, with nice tile choices and cabinetry that successfully references their kitchen. However, I am unsure why they decided to tile the entire back wall. Not only is it a massive waste of time and money but it also makes the room feel unnecessarily cold. Luckily for the girls, their room is a reasonable size, but they should have forgone the toilet for more cabinetry and bench space. In doing so, they could have also included some taller cabinets for added utility; brooms, ironing board, etc. Finally, I think incorporating exterior access was a great idea and if the toilet was removed, the glass inset door allows a beautiful amount of natural light into a space that would otherwise have none.
HOUSE 2 // Courtney and Grant
Photo Attribution: Nine
Next up we have Courtney and Grant in House 2, who also presented their final guest bedroom this week. On entry, the judges noted the couple had erected a wall between their office and rumpus room. In doing so they created a separate guest wing and included a significant amount of cabinetry at the same time. The bedroom itself feels very much like a Courtney and Grant creation, however it is significantly less grand than their other main bedroom. Instead of placing a bedhead against vertical wall cladding like they have in previous bedrooms, they opted for a half wall of cladding and no bedhead. As a result, it feels like it’s missing the amount of impact evident in their other spaces and while the colour palette and furniture choices are great, the room is missing multiple layers of texture that would help elevate it.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Moving on to their laundry, and it’s a similar layout to the girl’s in House 1. The major difference however was that they included tall cabinetry and a drying cabinet instead of a toilet. While I think this was the right idea, I wish they hadn’t included the extra dryer; it’s ugly, environmentally unfriendly and ultimately unnecessary when you already have one sitting beside your washing machine. While I like that they too referenced their kitchen finishes, I still find their cabinetry very dark and I think the room needs a reprieve. I love a built-in stone shelf in a laundry as it’s often really useful, however in this case I wouldn’t have continued the stone up the entire back wall. Apart from saving money, it would have allowed the shelf to become more of a feature, whilst the plain section of painted plaster would have given the eye somewhere to rest. Overall, the room isn’t as big as their kitchen and therefore doesn’t have enough space to encompass such strong and heavy finishes.
HOUSE 3 // Ricky and Haydn
Photo Attribution: Nine
Ricky and Haydn were ‘would be winners’ this week, if only House 2 hadn’t played their penguin. The boys finished off their mezzanine level with another guest room and while the styling indicates the room has been designed for kids, it feels more in keeping with their previous adult rooms. It’s unclear to me who they imagine would use this space. If your kids are happily sleeping in bunk beds and playing ‘Hungry, Hungry Hippos’, would you be comfortable having them located on another level, at the opposite end of the house? I think this room would have been better off with two king singles that could be pushed together for a couple or left separated for singles. The actual room; colour palette, bedding and wallpaper are a beautiful combination and the light filled space is heads and shoulders above their first kid’s room. My only issue is that I don’t love the way the bunk beds are sandwiched between the two window panels.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Let’s move on to the boy’s laundry because it would have to be my favourite room of theirs this season. I want to note that they boys had a significantly larger space than most this week, but it’s the combination of functionality and form that ultimately won me over. Interestingly, Ricky and Haydn used the same finishes palette that was judged badly in their kitchen. Although they specified the same stone, white and timber cabinetry, they ditched the painted panels and continued to elevate the room by adding a stone shelf behind their sink. The combination of above bench storage and display cabinetry is the perfect mix for a utility area, as is the mudroom space under the stairs. A mudroom is a massive addition, when you remember that the other couples had to fit their entire laundries under the stairs. Instead of placing their washer and dryer under the bench top, the boy’s placed their appliances in a vertical stack. As a result, the sink needed to be moved over in order to create space for washing baskets, piles of laundry, folding, etc. Lastly, the powder room is a significant addition and while it has stunning finishes, it also sits next to an exterior glass door, which the judges failed to point out.
HOUSE 4 // Kylie and Brad
Photo Attribution: Nine
It’s now time to tackle House 4, and I will be glad to officially say goodbye to what is the most confusing Block House since Sharon and Ankur created that maze of trauma in the Macedonian Ranges. Kylie and Brad’s final guest bedroom is certainly not their worst creation but it does have a number of issues. Functionality wise, they made a mistake by reducing their cabinetry. What they ended up with was a window seat overlooking a public pool and a school locker in the corner of the room. The judges didn’t approve of the ‘echoing’ heights in the room and the decision to use vertically striped wallpaper only emphasized the ceiling height. A half wall of cladding, either the ‘Shou Sugi Ban’ or raw timber cladding from their kid’s room would have elongated the space and added a much-needed textural element. Their furniture and bedding choices were, as usual, dated and one-dimensional and as a result the room is screaming for some depth of colour, tone and texture.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Let’s move on to Kylie and Brad’s laundry, which feels less like a room than the other houses, as there is no door but rather an opening off their hallway. The galley style space seems to sit between their kitchen and staircase and in that sense, acts as a combination laundry and butler’s pantry. They chose to go with similar finishes to their kitchen which was the right idea, especially as it is so close location wise and seemed to have incorporated a good amount of storage in their laundry, which was necessary with their comparatively small kitchen. My only issues were the way the washer and dryer were hidden in cupboards and the location of their hanging space. The way it has been designed ruins the horizontal line of cabinetry by creating a gap, that would have looked and functioned much better at the other end of the room where access is easier. Additionally, I would have liked to see something done with the space under the stairs, whether it be a mudroom, wine rack, storage, etc. to make the most of all their space.
HOUSE 5 // Kristian and Mimi
Photo Attribution: Nine
Last up, as always are Kristian and Mimi in House 5. These guys stuck to their guns this week, ignored the judges and presented their final guest bedroom upstairs. While I didn’t love their rumpus room from last week, I do think they got the room swap right. The guestroom itself was spacious, boasted lots of storage, and had a beautiful feel to it. The combination of lemon bedding and the light timber wall cladding was a subtle nod to the beach that still felt in keeping with their previous bedrooms. My major problem with this room is the location of the door. Apart from the fact it doesn’t function correctly by blocking entry to the walk-in robe, it also makes the room feel like it has been designed backwards. Unfortunately, it’s a problem I often find with rooms designed with a dividing wall. It’s frustrating because it’s an easy fix, as the door just needed to be moved down towards the end of the bed. Finally, if I’m going to nitpick, I wish they had widened the dividing wall, so the bedside tables sat neatly inside vertical lines of the cladding. It’s only a small concern but would have made a significant difference to the overall spacious feel of the room.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Our final space for the year is Kristian and Mimi’s laundry, which is quite simply, huge. Similarly to the other teams, these guys used the same cabinetry as their kitchen and while I still don’t love it, it does look much better without a giant green stove in the center of it. The couple did reference the ‘shrek-coloured’ eyesore in the kitchen though, with a pop of green appliances. Fortunately for them, the dark ‘moss’ shade of green is much nicer than the one upstairs. I previously noted that a separate drying cabinet is unnecessary, however these guys get away with it because they have such a large space. My only problems with the room are actually in relation to layout, as I would have reversed the entire laundry and had the appliances and tall cupboards closer to the exterior access. They also needed to leave enough room between the appliance stack and the sink, like I pointed out in House 3. Finally, I don’t understand why we have another gap in the cabinetry when a clothes rail could easily have been located neatly at one end of the room.
That’s officially a wrap on the OAK + RIDGE Block Blog for 2024. To everyone who read my thoughts each week, thank you! I hope you enjoyed the experience as much as me and if you’d like to subscribe, I will keep you all up to date on any future blog series. Who do you think will take out the final weeks? I’d love to hear your comments and feedback below.
Comments