By Steph Sandhoff
One, two, skip a few… I hope you all missed me because I’m officially back and hopefully that means you guys have decided to come back as well. It turns out the one-hour time difference between Australia and Japan doesn’t really cause any jetlag. Unfortunately this means I have no excuse for being gone for three weeks instead of two, except that I had some serious unpacking and delivering of Japanese décor to attend to.
Kid’s rooms are a hard style of room to judge for many reasons but most importantly because you have to decide whether you are judging the kid’s room based on the salability of the house or the imaginary kid the room has been designed for. It’s interesting to see people talking about these rooms in terms of the specific children they were designed for, because firstly, the child in question doesn’t actually exist so what’s the point? Secondly, the entire concept of The Block is based on the sale potential of the houses, and thirdly, we don’t judge adult rooms this way so why would we do it for kids?
HOUSE 1 // Kyle and Leslie
Starting with House 1 who came in last again this week, predominately for their ‘overly themed’ and ‘out of proportion’ rooms. I honestly think these guys are either too lazy to think outside the four walls given to them or feel like they’re above the stress and ‘overthinking’ that goes into these houses. This is totally their prerogative but then don’t get cranky when others find success by ‘overthinking’ and ‘overworking’ and you think it’s beneath you.
Photo Attribution: Nine
The team’s first bedroom, or the ‘basketball room’ as I’m going to refer to it, was their least successful this week. Designed with their own son in mind, the room was very obvious in it’s styling and not particularly functional either. If we ignore the fact that the room was too specific to basketball loving kids, it’s also not well designed. The cladding behind the bedhead doesn’t look finished along the top, especially as it bumps up against the ‘too big’ sneaker mural. It would have looked and functioned much better if the wall had been built out and provided a shelf behind the bedhead.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Looking at the other choices made in the room and we can see they aren’t well thought out either. The child would have to lie on his side to watch TV, which doesn’t allow for any socializing, let alone general comfort. The occasional chair beside the bed, and I say chair loosely, has been placed on the same wall as the bed. Why would you ever choose to sit there, when you already have the bed as an option? A chair in a bedroom is meant to provide another perspective to view the room from. These choices are both just ticking general boxes and filling space.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Their second room was surprisingly more successful than their first. I thought both rooms had a good amount of cabinetry and storage but I would like to know if the cupboards in every room of this house have a different finish? It’s not particularly noticeable on TV, but think about your own home. Are your cupboards a different colour in every room? I would also have given up some of the open shelving space in order to provide a slightly bigger desk in both rooms but at least we’ve got some arches. The inclusion of arches provides some consistency with the rest of the house but they also highlight the huge lack of connection between the two kid’s rooms.
Photo Attribution: Nine
You would have to say the ‘pink’ room is better because it’s less specific. If you remove the toys, this room could easily suit any child, adult, guest, etc and hence is much easier to change than their first. However I would argue this room has similar functionality issues. Again the cladding behind the bedhead doesn’t look very finished and would have been better as a shelf. Similar to the chair in the basketball room, I would have moved the desk away from the bedhead. Visually it’s cluttered but it’s also means you’re accessing both the desk and bed from the same spot.
HOUSE 2 // Leah and Ash
Onto House 2 and we’ve definitely stepped up from House 1, although they also modeled their rooms on their own children. Kind of awkward when they have 3 kids, which one did they decide didn’t deserve a room? Anyway, let’s get into it. Looking at the two rooms, it is easy to see a connection between the two and both are very consistent with the rest of the home. Whether that’s because the rest of the home has been designed by children and for children, I’ll let you be the judge.
Photo Attribution: Nine
The most successful of their rooms was undoubtedly the first, with the rock-climbing wall. Although I think the climbing wall, with it’s graphic mural and curved wall was very well done visually, I think the actual concept is a bit short sighted. While I have no problem with kid’s rock climbing, why not take them to a proper wall that takes more than 2 minutes to get to the top, where they won’t get bored so quickly and start using the wall in an unsafe manner in order to keep themselves entertained. I would love to have seen the matching curves in these rooms used differently; curvy window seats or desks with storage underneath is something that would get me hooked on a particular house. Not a ‘hard to remove’ rock climbing wall that isn’t remotely versatile, let alone disability friendly.
Photo Attribution: Nine
It might not sound like it so far, but I actually like most of this room. The colour palette is very primary, however that is consistent with the rest of their house and suitable for kids. The storage is good and the styling is better than most of the other houses. Styling a kid’s room doesn’t mean filling the space up with plastic toys. They will bring their own, I promise. I like the way they have picked a versatile style of art but with a kid friendly subject. The round cushions on the bed provide a sense of fun without screaming child and the plush ‘Miffy’ is completely on trend for designer kid’s room styling at the moment.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Moving next door to House 2’s second room and I really don’t like it anywhere near as much. I think the colour palette is too heavy for both kids and adults, of all genders and a-genders. While the mural in their first room has multiple gaps and areas of white for visual relief, the pink mural provides none and is exaggerated by that heavy pink curtain. I wish the same style mural were used in both rooms, perhaps incorporating less pink and more green and orange. The curtain above the curve that creates the stage could have been made in the matching fabric to the one over the window. This would have created the most beautiful flow from the left hand side of the room and all along the back wall.
Photo Attribution: Nine
I also have to agree with the judges that a bed needs a bedhead. It also needs to come off a wall. There is plenty of research surrounding this in terms of fang-sui, etc. but simply put, we relax better with a sense of security. Both kids and adults prefer to have a wall behind them when they sleep; not only can the monster hide under the bed, but now it can hide behind your head too.
HOUSE 3 // Kristy and Brett
Ok, enough is enough. We need an official Block Ban on Graphico. Don’t get me wrong; I have no issue with Graphico as a business or supplier. In fact, I think they have some great options and do a great job helping The Block teams. However, I need a break. This is a design show, not ’paint by numbers’. Every room does not need to follow the same shopping list: furniture from Freedom, wallpaper by Graphico, cabinetry by Kinsman and lighting from Beacon… I understand they have sponsors and vouchers for certain places but pick the best few items from those suppliers and move on.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Moving on to House 3 and again we have rooms based on imaginary children. If you ignore the fact that said teenage girl will have to love florals and the colour pink, it’s not a bad room. They’ve created a good layout and provided most of the necessary inclusion for a kid’s room. The one thing I would have altered would be the cabinetry beneath the ‘dressing table area’. If they removed the drawers underneath, the niche could have doubled as a desk and upped their versatility scores.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Now we’ve dealt with functionality, let’s take a look at the room visually. It all starts with that wallpaper feature and while I actually like the idea of the mural extending along the ceiling, I don’t think they picked a suitable design. A more subtle, an potentially less graphic style of wallpaper would have been much more successful for a ceiling application. A room is predominately for rest; imagine feeling sick or even just simply tired in that space. The world’s healthiest person would start to feel a headache coming on.
Photo Attribution: Nine
It was interesting to see most of the other couples confused at the lack of ‘child friendly’ styling evident during their walk through, but I have to admit, it’s one of my favourite things about this room. While there may be no specific ‘kid’ styling, the couple’s fabric choices, for example the corduroy occasional chair, boucle ottomans and bedding, and round velvet cushion bring that sense of joy and fun you expect to see in a younger space. If you were to place adult belongings in this room, it would feel like a modern, yet playful guest suite but unpack some toys and this room immediately feels suitable for a child.
Photo Attribution: Nine
Unfortunately, this can’t be said for the couple’s second ‘jungle space’, which does look an awful lot like Eliza and Liberty’s Challenge Room. On first appearances, and if I were to stand with my back to the cabinetry in this room, I quite like it. However, it is nowhere near as versatile as the couple’s ‘pink’ room and I can’t see it being easily converted. A double bed simply wouldn’t fit, so explain to me how this room would see a child through puberty let alone fit an adult or guest. The jungle wallpaper is a busy design and is only exaggerated when combined with the ‘colouring-in’ niche. What kids want to continually colour in the same picture every day? It would have looked better and been more functional as a plain white or black board.
HOUSE 4 // Steph and Gian
Next up we have the winners for this week, House 4. While I think they fully deserved the win this week I probably would have given them a 9 or 9 ½ rather than a 10. If I can find something to change or improve, then the room doesn’t deserve full marks, although I do think these guys got seriously close. While you could argue the rooms weren’t exciting, Steph and Gian beat the other houses this week by striking an almost perfect balance between style, functionality, versatility, consistency and sense of luxury.
Photo Attribution: Nine
My first thoughts on seeing their ‘mountain range mural’ room was utter relief that the couple hadn’t chosen a children specific feature for the room. I was also impressed that they managed to incorporate a solid amount of colour whilst staying true to the Japandi style evident throughout the rest of the house. While I don’t personally love the mountain range mural behind the bed, it’s not something that would have to be changed depending on who buys the house. The mural, and similarly all other fixed elements in this room would be suitable for any age, gender or even room application, hence it’s versatility. The room itself provides a base that can be styled to suit a specific person or application.
Photo Attribution: Nine
The only change I would make to a fixed element in this room is the cabinetry. While I still dream of having this much storage, I would have loved to see slightly more long hanging and a slightly wider desk. The desk is a great example of what I was trying to explain in regards to House 1. The desk is positioned away from the head of the bed and hence has it’s own zone and feels less like an afterthought. It also makes a better use of the available space in the room. I would also love to see a slight edit in the styling of this room. Although the room has quite a calming and subdued colour palette, it still feels quite busy and hectic. I’d love to see some of the smaller styling pieces removed and replaced with some larger and more impactful ones.
Photo Attribution: Nine
This is something I thought was done much more successfully in the couple’s second room. Although the rooms are very similar, the twin room feels cleaner and bolder in it’s styling. I think this is due to the simplicity of the deep green colour used in the bedhead and bedding. It anchors the rest of the room and allows the eye to rest comfortably on the ‘space themed’ wall decals. In comparison, the mountain range room has too many similar colours and tones and hence the eye doesn’t know quite where to look or rest.
Photo Attribution: Nine
House 4’s twin room is definitely my favourite this week however I still would have swapped the reading nook for a desk and added some additional hanging space. The way the headboard stretches across both single beds, means that they could easily be swapped out for a larger double or queen size bed. Remove the stickers, and children’s styling and this could easily be a room for a teenager or adult. A teenager or adult, however, would need more long hanging space. They are only small alterations, however they are ones I would have needed to see to give the couple a 10.
HOUSE 5 // Eliza and Liberty
Photo Attribution: Nine
And the award for ‘Ugliest Kid’s Rug’ goes to… well it’s a tie! I can only hold my tongue for so long. In House 1, we started with a ‘Chicago Bulls’ logo and House 2 provided us with the creepy smiley face from the carpark machine and a bathmat that says ‘LOVE’. Thankfully, houses 3 and 4 gave us a reprieve from these horrendous mini mats but House 5 has gone and pushed me over the edge with a giant sun slash lion head, depending on how you look at it.
Photo Attribution: Nine
A part from the lion head rug, there isn’t much to say about the first of House 5’s kid’s rooms. The whole space just feels a little lacking and I think that’s down to budget. The room is potentially very versatile, but I would argue that’s because there’s nothing in it. We have wallpaper that isn’t particularly nice for a child or adult, a double bed and bedsides from what looks like Kmart and some age confused styling. We have a slight jungle theme, a bed for a teenager and activities and rug for a young child. There is no clear vision or concept for this room.
Photo Attribution: Nine
I do think the cabinetry is gorgeous and I’m glad they included a desk but there are no other design choices evident in this room. The space needs layers. It needs pendant lights and floor to ceiling sheers along the exterior wall. The bed and bedsides in a timber finish would have added texture and coordinated better with the subtle jungle theme but the bed itself was screaming out for another layer of cushions and some textured blankets. There’s nothing welcoming about this room because there is nothing in this room.
Photo Attribution: Nine
In comparison, the girl’s second room is everything their first wasn’t. Whether you like it or you don’t, you have to admit it has soul. You can actually picture a kid using the space. We have wallpaper, a mural, timber furniture, artwork, shelving, a mirror, a play area and a reading nook. I’m genuinely confused at the massive difference in time and money spent between these two rooms. The second room is obviously designed for a younger child and I like that it’s gender neutral, however it’s not particularly versatile. The mural on the cabinetry won’t be easy to remove and the small reading nook in the wall doesn’t’ make sense for either a teenage or adult room.
Photo Attribution: Nine
I think the room could have found a better balance had the niche been extended to the height of the cabinetry beside it. The niche then could have continued to be a reading space, or could have been turned into a desk, vanity or open shelving. I would have used the same cabinetry finishes from the first room, the metallic doors and walnut handles, which would have allowed both the mini niche mural and the linen stripe wallpaper behind the bed to feature. The bright yellow bedding and jungle cushion also make no sense with the softer animal mural but it’s honestly the least of my worries at this point.
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See you next week for final bathrooms and my favourite of every season, re-do rooms!