By Steph Sandhoff
A big hello to our growing OAK + RIDGE family and welcome to Week 4 on the Block. I don’t know about you guys but I think the judges may have taken their happy pills this week. That, or they’ve gone blind in the last 7 days. I’ve never been more convinced that they’re sharing the room wins around to keep certain couples happy and maybe to protect architect Steph from any more suspiciously placed holes?
HOUSE 1 // Kyle and Leslie
Photo Attribution: Nine
Let’s get started with House 1, and you’ll probably only get a small paragraph because well… there’s just not much to talk about. It’s the smallest room ever on The Block but definitely not the cheapest. Don’t get me wrong, I could easily spend $20,000 on a powder room, but I wouldn’t - not on The Block anyway. A $3,000 smart toilet is the biggest waste of money on a show where you need to budget. I would also be interested to know how much they spent on the textured paint because it was inherently unnecessary. Perhaps it was an easy way to camouflage a bad paint job, though they had plenty of time to get it right.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Looking at the design of the room, it’s a very consistent extension of their bathroom from Week 1. The use of curves, subtle tones and ‘Kit Kat’ tiles reference the guest en-suite without being too ‘matchy, matchy’. I love how the freestanding vanity sits within the curve of the wall but I wish they’d left the toilet end of the room square. Having every corner curved makes me feel like I’m on a boat in one of those tiny cruise en-suites.
Photo Attribution: Nine
I do think the lack of storage is slightly more of a problem than I first thought. While it’s not imperative to have a large amount of storage in a powder room, you still need somewhere to put toilet paper, hygiene products, etc. Personally, I would have included some hidden storage and a nib wall behind the toilet. The shelf could hold the floor vase, which would in turn declutter the vanity area and make it feel more spacious. It also would have added some dimension and a built element to room, which would have made the space feel less like a cruise cubicle.
HOUSE 2 // Leah and Ash
Photo Attribution: Nine
We’re knocking on the door (or doors) of House 2 next. Anyone else find it hard to do your business when there is more than one door? It’s hard enough to multi-task holding one door closed with an outstretched arm or leg, let alone two. What a mental picture that creates. Now, I know these guys didn’t officially win but they really shouldn’t have even been in the race. It is a similar style to their first bathroom, with some serious improvement, however there is plenty of room for more.
Photo Attribution: Nine
My understanding is that Leah’s style is a mix of Art Deco and Maximalist style. While we all understand Art Deco, Maximalist style is a ‘more-is-more’ concept and encourages the use of big, bold and eclectic combinations. However, it still needs ‘feature editing’. You know how they say “look in the mirror before you leave the house and remove one accessory”? I don’t think Leah and Ash have heard of it. It would seriously do their rooms a favour.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Although their use of marble is gorgeous and lux, there is way too much of it and it loses it’s value. Between the floor, the walls and the herringbone, there is nowhere for the eye to rest. Add in the horrendous marble niche and it’s showing a lack of vision. The combination of matching vanity and mirrored cabinet also cheapen the space by adding to the visual clutter. When you have to throw that many features into one room, you are over compensating for a lack of design understanding. ‘More-is-more’ does not mean incorporate every feature you can think of. There still needs to be a sense of balance and sometimes the beauty is in the restraint; something I’m just not seeing in House 2. I wonder how Fenton and Fenton feel about being renamed ‘Leah and Leah?’ I can only imagine.
HOUSE 3 // Kristy and Brett
Photo Attribution: Nine
Onto the other half of ‘Team Mean’ and I have to applaud them for ditching the dated, Morrocan, spa theme. Their room this week is much more contemporary and on trend for the design industry. However, the design is a little clunky and not particularly groundbreaking. We’ve seen this room on multiple seasons of The Block before and I’m finding it hard to get excited.
Photo Attribution: Nine
I hate their choice of ‘terrazzo look’ floor tile - my regulars will understand why, but my bigger issue is with the layout. I mean, the room is coming from a couple who, and I quote, “don’t care if you fall through the floor, as long as it looks pretty”, so what can we expect? The shower is way too skinny for a room with so much empty space, the toilet looks like it’s sitting in the middle of nowhere and the vanity is squished between a wall and a window. The vanity could have been half as big again and positioned on a different wall. By placing it next to the window, it really accentuates the tile placement. The half wall of tiles behind the vanity doesn’t line up with the bottom of the window and the connecting strip of skirting tile looks ridiculous. It essentially looks like they have tried to ‘frame’ the big section of Venetian plaster under the window. I do agree with Darren however, and like the colour and tone of the plaster and tiles.
Photo Attribution: Nine
There are some other things I like about this room as well. The shelf in the shower looks great and is much more functional than a niche. Again, the shelf under the window is a stunning and functional way to frame the view, however the tile lines I mentioned previously really destroy the sense of visual flow. While the judges applauded the repetition of vertical lines, I think the vanity profile clashed with the tiles behind it. It does however provide storage, which allowed them to forgo a mirrored cabinet. The mirror is a gorgeous, organic shape and coordinates well with the organic style of their concrete basin – a much finer design than you usually see with a concrete application. Finally, while I’m all for a fluted glass shower screen, it is much too textured to sit in front of a wall full of ‘kit kat’ tiles. The addition of the fluted texture would look much better in front of a plainer, larger size tile.
HOUSE 4 // Steph and Gian
Photo Attribution: Nine
Moving on to House 4, Steph and Gian decided to complete a powder room this week as they already have a complete bathroom across the hallway. I do agree that a house does not need two showers on a floor with only one bedroom and a powder room was the best choice. As a whole, I love the room. It’s a perfect extension of their previous winning rooms and I’m grateful that they are bringing something new to The Block. So far, it’s the only room that would ever be featured in a design magazine without The Block’s help. The way they are able to create such a calming and sophisticated mix of classic, contemporary and farmhouse luxury is so far beyond the ability of the other houses and their contestants. Whether it’s your personal style or not, you have to admit their rooms are on another level.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Their choice of fittings and fixtures in the room look simple but are very clever. They’ve chosen a relatively plain floor tile, but laid them in a French pattern to create texture and mood. The stone vanity is stunning and made of budget-friendly cut-offs from their kitchen. Their simple choice of mirror references the gunmetal tapware and exquisite wall sconce. Add in some minimal and textural styling and you have the recipe for a winning room. Even the choice of vase and branch gives the room a point of difference as most people automatically choose to go with flowers or greenery. This is something that even I, as a designer, have fallen into the trap of doing. Imagine the room with a green plant, rather than the branch with small red florals… it’s just not the same it is? It immediately makes the room feel cheaper and more mundane.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Now, although I love almost every element in this room, I do want to touch on the judge’s complaint regarding the layout. I agree that seeing a toilet on immediate entry is not ideal but in order to swap the toilet and vanity, they would have had to move entire walls, in order to avoid creating a choke point between the vanity and doorway. It seems like it could be a smart compromise, as moving walls along the hallway may limit possible storage potential, for example, the hidden wall cabinet perfect for toilet paper, etc. The only thing I would like to note as a problem (apart from the furry decoration on the wall) and it stood out to me straight away is the design of the vanity itself. I would love to know the height of the vanity because it really should extend wall to wall and sit flush under the exterior window. Not only does it look a little silly sitting in front of the window, it’s also not practical to have such small gaps on either side. If the window can’t be lifted, and/or the vanity can’t be lowered, I would have butted it up against the right hand side wall and left a proper gap next to the window.
HOUSE 5 // Eliza and Liberty
Photo Attribution: Nine
Last and maybe least, we have House 5. After swiping left on the twin tilers, it looks like the sisters have continued to make surprising choices this week. Let’s just get the moss chat out of the way first, shall we? It’s like Christmas has come early and the Grinch has dropped his undies in excitement. Yes, I hate it. It screams of, nothing else has worked so far so let’s throw some green, plastic looking pubes at the problem. Now, I know Darren said it was growing on him, but I’m starting to think he’s suffering from a very niche case of Stockholm syndrome. No one in their right mind would spend millions of dollars on a house because of a moss wall. I guess the real question is, would they avoid buying a house because of it? Maybe, when they have 4 others on the same street to choose from.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Before I move on; I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… those mirrored cabinets are seriously tacky and only look worse when they are not correctly recessed. Feature them by placing a wall of moss behind them and it really can’t get much worse! If they really wanted to incorporate the moss feature wall, they could easily have placed it on another wall. Swap the layout around and use it above the bath, at least it would make sense; relaxing in the bath and admiring a wall of air cleansing greenery.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Looking at the rest of the bathroom, I’m pretty underwhelmed. Yes, it’s modern and pretty, and the layout works. It doesn’t give you head spins like Leah and Ash’s marble mosaic, but it’s boring. I swear I’ve seen this bathroom on the past 7 seasons of The Block and I didn’t get excited back then. The best part of this room is the corner windows, and that’s probably the only part the girls didn’t get a say on. Apart from being boring visually, it’s also not functional. The mirrors are too high, the lighting is bad and the tapware doesn’t line up with the sink; one of my biggest pet peeves. They’ve also gone with a small, corner shower when they had so much space to work with and used a feature tile in the niche. I do like that the niche is more of a shelf style but I just think another few minutes of planning and layout considerations would have made a world of difference to this room.
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See you next week for Living and Dining Rooms!