If there’s one thing the Blockheads have learned this year, it’s that bathrooms are tough. The first week saw a mixed bag of results, with one team not even finishing, but surely with their second attempt at a wet room, their master ensuite, they’d be on track? Nope, not at all.
As Scotty and the judges found, once again while some couples found their groove and delivered high end ensuites, others struggled to make the best of this important space… and for one team it was all too much.
Courtney and Grant (First)
With an: “I love this!” from Darren, “This is beautiful!” from Shaynna and “It’s insane!” from Marty, it’s fair to say the judges were impressed by Courtney and Grant’s master (sorry, *main*) ensuite. Pointing to the chequerboard tiles, the olive Nood Co basins, inspired plasterwork and “perfect” execution, Shaynna said the pair had managed a room that was “brave and brilliant”.
Darren loved the mixed textures, the curves around the mirror and how that was used to create a shelf… only the narrow shower entrance stopped him from giving a perfect 10, he said. For Marty the aesthetics and functionality “hit the room out of the ballpark” and left him wondering how the room could be beaten.
Shop the look: Extending an Olive Branch artwork and olive basin
Jessie and Paige (Second)
“Sophisticated and fresh!” Shaynna was immediately taken by Jessie and Paige’s tile choice for their bathroom this week – and the fact they finished. “In terms of layout and planning, this is absolutely successful,” said Darren, pointing out the warm colour palette was the same as their first bathroom, but this time it worked so much better, mainly because of the improved layout. Add in the repetition of curves from the brushed chrome sconce lights to the shower screens and it’s “what good design is all about”, he said.
For Marty it was all about the practicality of the double basins and double showerheads and while he would have preferred a cavity slider, the layout and stone features made for a room that would shoot beautifully.
Shop the look: Brushed chrome wall lights and square green tiles
Kylie and Brad (Third)
From the eye-catching Shou Sugi Ban burned timber cladding contrasting with the Blackbutt vanity to the stunning pendant lights and more, Kylie and Brad’s room, Marty sad, had “all the sass and pizazz that Shaynna has been looking for but is still hugely marketable!”.
The veined marble was “a bit angry” Shaynna and Darren agreed, and the art deco theme still didn’t fit a beachside home, but with less black than the couple’s first room, stunning artwork by artist Guilia Di Sipio and a much-needed bathtub, Marty summed up that a lot was right about the room and if house four continued this way, they would do well at auction time.
Shop the look: The Field artwork and black pendant lights
Kristian and Mimi (Fourth)
“How big is too big?” wondered the judges when they walked in – and walked around in – Kristian and Mimi’s huge master ensuite. “I love the vanity, love the tiles, the basin, the mirror and the lights,” Darren said. “Even the towel rails and colour…”
But with a layout that left too much space in some areas and not enough in others, it just didn’t work. “Everything is pushed in corners,” he complained everything except a bath, Shaynna noted, which was conspicuously missing. And then they noticed the “list of excuses” which highlighted even more errors, from unfinished paint to missing downlights, silicone and grout. It all added up to a big miss, the judges agreed, and one they hope the couple learn from.
Shop the look: Navy vanity and blue gloss tiles
Ricky and Haydn (Last)
Unpainted, unwaterproofed and untiled, the judges felt only one thing about Ricky and Haydn’s ensuite… underwhelmed. “What the???” Shaynna asked, looking at a room where something had obviously gone wrong. “Does it take a week to paint a door?”
“It looks like somebody has walked off,” Darren speculated, “and if that’s the case, I feel sick for them.” The only positive, Marty offered, was that although incomplete, he could see where the room was headed and liked the layout and the Velux skylight overhead. That said, it’s still one of the most unfinished rooms in Block history, he added, and fittingly landed some of the lowest scores ever seen.
Images via The Block Shop, where you can shop what you see each week, and nine now.
