By Steph Sandhoff
Welcome back to The Block for Week 8. As you all know, the contestants took on their living and dining rooms, so we’ve got about 300 square meters to judge this week. Now most people would assume bigger is better and while they may be right in real estate terms, when it comes to design, bigger is also much harder. Most of us could design a smaller, living area pretty easily right? I mean, I’m assuming we all have, if we’re watching The Block from our lounge rooms. When you’ve got a considerably larger space, concepts such as layout and zoning, scale and size, become even more important than before because any mistakes are immediately obvious.
HOUSE 1 // Maddy and Charlotte
Photo Attribution: Nine
If we take House 1 as our first example, you can see straight away that the scale of their dining area is simply too small. It’s obvious math that a 6 to 8-seater dining table isn’t going to adequately provide for a house that sleeps 10. However, it’s visually obvious too. While I like all their dining furniture choices, the table needs to be bigger, we need four additional chairs and a larger rug. A quick tip for using multiple rugs in the one area is that they need to be the same size, and/or line up at either end. When they don’t line up, the smaller one always ends up looking like an abandoned island in the middle of the room.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Let’s move on to the girl’s living room because they definitely got the scale right here, although I don’t love their specific furniture choices. They picked a great sized lounge and rug to match, an additional occasional chair and multiple coffee/side tables. However, I do agree with the judges (this week) that the room feels a little vanilla. I won’t continue on with the ice cream metaphor because we all had more than enough of that last night, but the room is missing a sense of impact. The ‘Venetian plaster’ wall isn’t enough of a feature to save the room because of the chosen colour. Instead of standing out and drawing the eye, the yellow colour blends into the room. My favourite element of the room would have to be the shaker style, timber cabinets, on either side of the fireplace, that reference the kitchen and add a bit of luxury to the space.
HOUSE 2 // Courtney and Grant
Photo Attribution: Nine
Courtney and Grant are up next and they started off strong with an 8 to 10-seater dining table. However, the dining table itself wasn’t a great choice, style wise. The white finish is quite stark and cold, which is at odds with all the warm, organic and textural elements throughout the rest of their home. It looks like an outdoor table to me and would have been better placed in an exterior environment. The chairs, designed by Courtney herself, are gorgeous but look seriously uncomfortable and I would love someone to sit in one and report back. However, my biggest issue and if you’ve been with me for a while you’ll know what I’m going to say… is styling your dining table as if you’re about to sit down to dinner. Just, don’t.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Let’s move on to the living area, because it’s a bit of a mixed bag for me. Firstly, I think they got the scale of the furniture right and I like most of their choices. I think they could’ve gone for a slightly larger coffee table, big enough for kids to sit around and keep themselves busy or to stack books and magazines next to your morning coffee but I love the way they have recessed their curtains. When you have really tall ceilings, a curtain rod or track often sticks out of the wall and effectively cuts it in half. By recessing them from above and beside you get clean lines both horizontally and vertically. I wish this much planning was put into their entertainment wall because although it looks nice, it’s not particularly functional. The fireplace is stuck in the corner, the TV is too high and the ‘timber storage’ is in pride of place. It’s another example of one too many elements and not enough time to plan.
HOUSE 3 // Ricky and Haydn
Photo Attribution: Nine
Let’s move on to House 3 with Ricky and Haydn because I’m itching to get in there and move some furniture around. Like most of their previous rooms, the boy’s have created a solid base that needs some elevation. Before we look at the actually dining room, I think they’ve got the division of living and dining space wrong. It’s as if they thought the two zones had to be split where the windows start. The dining area needs to be turned 90 degrees and moved slightly closer to the kitchen area. The furniture choices, while not bad, are similar to the girl’s in House 1 in that they are quite simple and bland. It’s a lot of beige on beige and there isn’t enough texture to create any depth or interest.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Moving on to the living room, which not only is sacrificing too much space to the dining room but now also has a lowered ceiling. While I understand the instinct to create a cozy area and an obvious zone, they got the execution wrong. The ceiling is already angling towards the entertainment wall so I don’t think lowering it even more was necessary, however if they were set on the idea, it needed to extend further into the room. At the moment, it not only makes the room feel smaller but it sits at odds with the curtain track. The other problem with this space is the chosen furniture. It’s exactly what Kylie described as a ‘furniture package’, although interestingly she said it about House 1 and not her best mates in House 3. Finally, I think the boy’s entertainment wall is the most successful this week. They got the TV and fireplace layout correct and while there is no additional storage, it’s not really necessary in a holiday home and I think the ‘stone seat’ works really well both visually and functionally.
HOUSE 4 // Kylie and Brad
Photo Attribution: Nine
Up next we have Kylie and Brad in House 4, who were deserved winners this week. Don’t worry; I don’t love it as much as the judges but I do think it was the best of the bunch this week, although two 10’s are ridiculous. Last I checked, a 10 was perfection so let’s take a look at some of the elements that didn’t stack up. Beginning with the dining room, and I’m going to say exactly what I said in House 3; the dining table needs to be turned 90 degrees. While it’s less of a problem here because of the more balanced zoning, it’s still a waste of space; space which could have been incorporated into the kitchen and/or used for a butler’s pantry. I do think it’s the most elevated combination of dining furniture we’ve seen, although the judges pointed out the too small rug. Personally, I’m more distracted by the similarity between the custom dining table and kitchen bench, which when placed together look like a giant T-intersection.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Moving on to the living room and there’s not actually much furniture to discuss. While I love the colour of the lounge and think it looks seriously comfortable, it doesn't provide enough seating for 10 people. A couple of occasional chairs would have provided a more appropriate amount of seating for such a large house. They would also have allowed the room to diversify from a space that centers on the TV to one that also functions as a sitting room where multiple people can easily converse. Finally, I think the couple have done well with the layout of their entertainment wall. The TV can be seen from all angles and the fireplace is positioned to heat the entire room. I love the signature touch of Dekton and am surprised I don’t hate the stained timber alternative, although I would have preferred painted gyprock. I think the stone bench designed to incorporate the necessary hearth was a great idea but it would have looked better continuing straight across the bottom of the fireplace, which would have tied all the different finishes together.
HOUSE 5 // Kristian and Mimi
Photo Attribution: Nine
Finally, we have Kristian and Mimi in House 5, who had the smallest space to deliver this week. While it was always going to be hard coming up against such large spaces, Kristian and Mimi had less space to fill, less walls to paint and a hundred thousand dollars to spend at Camerich. So, where exactly did they go wrong? Taking a look at their dining room and we really only have 3 major elements to judge. Timber chairs, a timber table and a rattan pendant light. Such a timber heavy combination isn’t necessarily a problem, however, it’s sitting on a timber floor and next to a timber kitchen. All of which are slightly different toned timbers and there isn’t even a rug to create a layer of separation.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Moving on to their living room and it’s orientation is what got the judges upset this week. Unfortunately, I think they probably should have swapped the entertainment wall with the two large pieces of art. It’s not an obvious choice, because you could argue there is more space this way. However, it also causes a number of other problems, which I think are potentially worse. You’ll never be able to watch the TV with the curtains open but more importantly you’re creating a major block to the flow between your indoor and outdoor areas. The entertainment wall is also lacking in that it’s missing a fireplace and built in cabinetry. It looks like they’ve assembled two sets of Ikea storage and rolled them into position. This lack of quality finishes, was again reflected in both their furniture and styling choices, which really needed to be on point to save them this week.
Thanks for reading and see you in HELL WEEK for all the miscellaneous spaces, hallways and staircases. Don’t forget if you’re all for working smarter not harder and would like each week’s blog sent straight to your inbox, don’t forget to subscribe. Which room was your favourite? I’d love to hear your comments and feedback below.
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