Written by Steph Sandhoff
Welcome to Week 3 on The Block and if you believe the ads, the best bathroom reveals you have ever seen. They exaggerate everything on this show but I would have to call this statement an outright lie… If you’re suddenly thinking hold up, it seems like it’s been too long since we’ve heard the judgmental but fair, knowledgable but sarcastic, harsh but always funny rhetoric from the OAK + RIDGE Block Blog you are correct. I have to apologise, I didn’t write a blog for you all last week, but I do have a good excuse. My best friend got married and I wrote a Maid of Honour speech instead. I will endeavour to make it up to you all; my fans are my family after all.
HOUSE ONE // Tom and Sarah-Jane
Where else would we start but with House 1, who are consistent as ever. They are consistent in their colour palette, which is bold as usual and a successful blend of modern, country, traditional and heritage. I’m not excited by it because I have seen it before, in their challenge room even, but they do say consistency is key and the room does feel fresh. As I’m sure you've gathered, I’m not usually a fan of an ‘encaustic look’ tile but I don't mind this one. The way it reflects the light tones in the feature tile behind the vanity is really successful. It creates a calming effect, when the patterned floor tile could have had the opposite effect.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Another tick for consistency, like it or not, was the couple’s decision to stick with decorative mirrors above the vanity. Although previously slammed by Shaynna in their master bathroom for having no face height storage, Sarah-Jane stayed strong in her opinion that she hates mirrored cabinets. Although I am usually all for storage, I love that she’s holding her ground on this one and if you’ve been with me for a while now you’ll know exactly why. It’s my favourite word..........CONSISTENCY. Every bathroom should have the same mirror… tapware, bath, vanity, towel rail, basin, and at least one matching or at least coordinating tile. Please, if you take a lesson from me today, let it be this one. They also reclaimed another matching pendant light and as ugly as it is, I have to give them points.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Now on to the negatives, you had to know I was going to have some. Nobody is perfect (except for me, obviously). Now stay with me on this one. The placement of certain elements, vertical and horizontal lines and finishes are all over the place. Firstly the window is set right into the left hand corner of the wall. This is not a huge deal but when you are building a home, why not centre it on the bath? My other issue is that they didn’t finish the tiles on the left wall at the same height as the top of the window. They also didn’t bother to line up any of the wainscoting on the right hand side either. The mirrors have to be at a certain height to be practical, although they do look a little tight, but why not extend the top of the wainscoting to the height of the window? Extend the tiles while you’re at it? The room would feel so much larger, the ceilings so much higher and your eye would have sailed smoothly around the top of the room rather than roughly up, down, up, down.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Finally, Shaynna thought the placement of their wall sconces were too high and I’d have to agree. The problem for the couple was because they crowded the vanity into the right hand corner they didn’t leave themselves any room to place the sconces on either side of the mirrors. Their placement of the tapware above the basins is also ridiculously high and now I’ve seen it, I am having trouble looking anywhere else. I do think another couple of hours planning the layout of this bathroom would have been helpful. The vanity side of the bathroom feels very heavy with both the bath, vanity and feature tiles while the shower side feels devoid of colour, almost as if it was completely forgotten about. The balance feels off and hence so does the bathroom.
Photo Attribution: Nine
HOUSE TWO // Rachel and Ryan
Next we have House 2 and I’m surprised these two haven’t been kicked off the show yet. I mean, purchasing tiles from a supplier that isn’t Beaumont Tiles? Ludicrous. That’s like… buying lighting from a supplier that isn’t BEACON LIGHTING. What is the world coming to? Who knew there were other stores out there? Imagine if these stores (they who must not be named) were the ones actually designing these products originally? But because these innovative and quality brands put all their time, money and effort into imagining, designing and producing new products, they aren’t always affordable to everyone. This is when we get cheaper quality and more affordable “copies” at stores that are more accessible to a wider range of people, cough, cough, Beaumont and Beacon. While I understand the need for such suppliers, I feel the need to point out that The Block is very unusual, in that not many multi million dollar houses are decked out in $30-$50 sqm tiles.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Sorry, I got distracted but it’s an important lesson. I will, however, move on to what Neale referred to as “palatial”. I will admit, this bathroom feels huge. If I didn’t know any better, I would assume this was their master bathroom… until I saw their shower. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Bathrooms are not meant to have a ‘playroom ‘ amount of space in the centre of the room. If you can fit a train set in the middle of the bathroom, the layout is wrong. You’ve wasted so much space that could’ve been used elsewhere. Move the wall in and give yourself a built in linen cupboard in the hallway just outside the bathroom; perfect for towels, cleaning products, whatever Shaynna wanted to put in Sarah-Jane’s mirrored cabinet.
Photo Attribution: Nine
The judges were at a bit of an impasse this week with Shaynna feeling 50/50 about the room. Similar to their last bathroom she wanted more heritage. Although she loved their treatment of the windows, she thought they could have gone further with their cornices. Neale thought the room was bland, describing it as “downbeat, seeing a sea of grey”. Darren loved it but did agree that the grey wall tiles were oppressive. I have a few issues with the tiles in this room and I do agree the room feels cold. Firstly ,I think this is down to the size. Secondly, although I love both the feature tiles; by putting them side-by-side they are ultimately competing with each other rather than making their own impact. Although they very much needed to continue the tapware they had previously used in their master bathroom, the brushed chrome paired with the green tones of the features tiles add to the cold feel of this room. I also hate the inconsistent half wall and full wall tile of this season. Make a decision and stick with it.
Photo Attribution: Nine
I perhaps would have tiled the entire back wall in feature tiles and added in a bench seat to use some of that space. The bath could then have been centred on the window, the grey tiles used halfway up the wall, and either wainscoting or paneling used above. This would have given added an additional sense of heritage, limited the use of those grey tiles, cost less and created a sense of warmth and texture. Plus the room would have felt balanced because of the symmetry and there would have been less wasted space.
Photo Attribution: Nine
HOUSE THREE // Sharon and Ankur
Onto House 3 and yes, they will be the death of me. I really thought after last week we were on an up. I know, I didn’t blog it but I did watch it. Dry hay is still an improvement in my books, compared to that monstrosity of a bathroom the week before. I’m sitting here trying to give a quick overall judgement before I get into the nitty gritty and the only think I can come up with is this. The overriding white of the room, candelabra style pendant light, creepy floor stand candle, awkwardly high placed fireplace in the middle of a ‘picket fence’ tiles and what looks to be an old wooden urn perfect for a blood sacrifice is giving me a ‘white padded cell/haunted house cult vibe and I’m not sure that's what the buyers will be looking for. Even the enclosed, double shower with yet another unnecessary nib wall is the perfect place to wash off after a messy ritual. The bath too is perfectly placed in the middle of the room, for an audience to mill around and observe.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Sorry, but this room is horrendous. It’s like every idea Sharon has ever had she’s put in this one space. Now Neale said there is “nothing bland about this one…” describing it as a “theatrical version of country”. Now that is one musical it will never go and see. All jokes aside, I do see what Neale is saying. This room feels like a performance; like a themed restaurant or air bnb you’d book for a party. Someone reading probably wants to argue with me right now, but isn’t it meant to be country themed? I understand why you’d think this but no. I house isn’t meant to have a theme, it’s meant to have a style or concept. It can be a fine line when making choices but it can have a massive difference in the end result.
Photo Attribution: Nine
So what is the different between style and theme? I think the best way to explain it is don’t be too literal. For example, beach is a theme; coastal is the style. If I were taking on one of these houses, I wouldn’t be trying to design a ‘country home’, especially if you’re looking for a mix of modern, country, traditional and heritage. A country theme won’t hit all those requirements. I’d be aiming for an organic style. What is more organic than the country?
Photo Attribution: Nine
Now looking at some of House 3’s choices, which do you think fit that brief? We’ve already spoken about the nib wall, it’s unnecessary and blocks the visual flow throughout the room. It also needed tiling which was an extra cost. The black tapware is super contrasting and is not at all in line with either a country or organic style. It also emphasises the constrasting floor tiles. Shaynna pointed out she didn’t love the wall sconces or the positioning of the hand towel rails. Again the sconces are relating back to a country ‘theme’ and the rails are showcasing a lack of planning. The two fixtures I do like are the basins, which are a beautiful, sage coloured, ceramic finish and that stunning sage coloured vanity. However the two do not match and if you are going to bring in only two pops of colour, do not put them on top of each other. The room is also desperately calling out for some warmth and texture. A timber vanity should have been an obvious choice here.
Photo Attribution: Nine
HOUSE FOUR // Dylan and Jenny
Let’s go, House 4 and it’s another big waste of space but this time we’re in Palm Springs! Yes, that’s right! Say goodbye to the Macedon Ranges and let’s head back to the the mid-century; to the dessert, to palm trees and to pops of pink wallpaper. Don’t’ get me wrong, it’s beautiful wall paper but between the numerous arches of the doorway, mirrors and vanity, the pink, palm trees and the brass accents; I’ve lost my sense of location. The concept isn’t clear and although it’s a beautiful colour palette, it doesn’t make sense.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Some other things that don’t make sense in this room are their wall finishes. You might have to concentrate for this one. They start with a three quarter wall of tiles in their shower, before moving on to a combination of grey feature tiles and VJ paneling, they then swap to wainscoting with wallpaper above before their last wall showcases only wainscoting. This last empty wall is then covered with one of the most boring and lackluster artworks I may have ever seen. So we have 4 walls, each with a different combination of wall coverings; all at multiple heights. Give me strength!! This is not a buffet; it is not an all you can eat situation. You can have wainscoting or VJ paneling. You must pick one. You cannot have both.
Photo Attribution: Nine
If the walls weren’t cluttered enough already, we also have three wall scones above the vanity. As Shaynna pointed out, at least they are positioned at the correct height. The position of the bath did look slightly out of place. Looking at photos, the placement of the bath and toilet do seem to have had little thought put into them. I don’t think there was any reason for either of these pieces to be placed here other than it was the last free wall and they needed to go somewhere. It may seem fussy but there should be a reason behind the placement for all of your main bathroom elements. Each of them are as important as each other. If it wasn't important, and you weren't going to use it, it wouldn’t be there.
Photo Attribution: Nine
While I don’t love this bathroom, I do love the shower. I would love it more if the tiles went to the ceiling but I think I will be complaining about this until we get to the auction this year so let’s strap ourselves in. It’s big, it’s grand and it’s symmetrical. I love a bench seat because it aesthetic and functional. I personally love a shelf rather than a niche but with a bench seat I understand their decision. I would have loved to see them increase the width of their window to match their skylight so it felt like one continuous strip of natural light, but overall I do think this wet area is the best part of their bathroom.
Photo Attribution: Nine
HOUSE FIVE // Omar and Oz
Last but not least, (I think I’ve said this every week but it continues to be true) is House 5. So by now we should all know I hate nib walls, because ew. However that is because they are unnecessary. Correct? This nib wall is one I can fully get behind and not just to shower. This is the perfect example of what a nib wall is used for and almost the perfect execution. Almost. If you were going to underestimate these boys in the beginning you certainly won’t be now. Their planning ability and layout skills are way above the rest of the competition and while I won’t say their design selections are perfect, it is the only room I would buy this week, even with the ‘encaustic look’ tiles. You’re shocked, I know. Let me explain.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Although they have the smallest bathroom this week, it is the perfect size for an ensuite and they boys have made sure they aren’t missing anything the other rooms have included. The walk-through double shower, which is plenty spacious, not only includes a built-in niche but also a bench seat, curved in order to make it practical and safe. The curve is then also repeated in the shape of the bath and basin. My favourite part of all though, is that the tiles in the shower actually go the entire way to the ceiling. Pure magic, because there would be nothing worse than looking past the nib wall to see the tiles stop just short from the ceiling.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Moving around from where the tiles hit the ceiling and we have two stunning windows treated with billowing white sheers. Centred between is a round, free-standing bath and can I just say, these baths take up a lot more room than you would originally assume. This wasn’t a case of ‘yeah, I like that’ or ‘let’s get a round bath’. That is the perfect size and the perfect feature for that corner. These boys may seem nonchalant but they 100% know what they are doing. Even the way they have then decided to tile the wall halfway, place the two wall scones, inset the wall niches and place the very much-needed touch of warmth with that timber stool. They deserved to be a lot further ahead in the scores they received.
Photo Attribution: Nine
I only have one piece of constructive criticism, and no it isn’t that they needed a hook on the back of the door because, really Darren? The vanity is beautiful and exactly what the room needed and very much the organic use of materials that conveys modern country. Basins are great, tapware is too ; I hope it matches your last bathroom and if it doesn’t please go back and make the rooms consistent. My only real suggestion is that the mirror cabinet should be recessed. Now I’m guessing that fake conversation they had with the engineer, where they pretended they weren’t sure a nib wall would work, is the reason they didn’t recess it. I’m assuming that structurally there isn’t space, but surely there must be a solution. It’s a small room and the first thing you see when you walk in the door is a big block of timber at eyesight. The amount of visual space and clarity you would get back with it recessed would be massive.
Photo Attribution: Nine
That’s it for me this week, so thanks for reading! Don’t forget if you’d like each week’s blog sent straight to your inbox don’t forget to subscribe. I’d also love to hear your comments and feedback down below.
See you next week for Week 4 Master Bedrooms and Walk-in Robes!