The Block 2023 kids' bedrooms reveal: One team gets perfect score for 'knockout' rooms
Continuing our recaps from our expert panel of ex-Block contestants, who will this year get to spend room-reveal night judging from their couch rather than standing on the proverbial chopping block before Scotty Cam. This week, Season 9 contestant Carlene Duffy dissects the ninth room reveal of Season 19, 2023.
The contestants on The Block this week delivered not one but two kids’ bedrooms. I feel a little robbed. We didn’t get to deliver even one kids’ room on our series and it looks like a hoot!
I like that all the couples acted with some boldness and created a sense of whimsy. That said, some spaces really hit the mark and some really did not.
House 1: Kyle and Leslie (spend $16,743)
Kyle and Leslie’s first room of the two is a basketball-themed room. If this room was designed for a TV set, it would have been perfect, but it was designed for sale and it fell very short of the mark.
I want to be more diplomatic because I know how hard this show is and criticism on a room reveal feels personal, but I personally don’t like this room. Potential buyers don’t want to feel like they’ve walked into someone’s actual room and this room felt too lived-in.
I bang on about this all the time, but if you’re going to choose any sort of colour for the wall, the only way to do it is to commit to it, which means painting all four walls the one colour. It would have completely changed the feel of this room. It would have elevated it and it would have given the space mood. That being said, it’s an easy fix, and I hope they do it. Judge Marty Fox does point out that the room is easy to change and adaptable, which would be a plus for any buyer.
The judges agreed that the second room was much more of a success and felt more in keeping with the style of the house. “This feels like House 1,” Marty says. “This room will definitely engage with buyers.”
“I like the style, I like the colour palette – it’s non-gender specific, which I think is super smart,” Darren Palmer adds.
Hot tip: when I have very linear shaped rooms like this, I like to position the bed on the long wall, as it helps the space feel better proportioned and eliminates that dead space you get at the end of the bed.
House 2: Leah and Ash (spend $21,912)
The judges LOVED Ash and Leah’s kids’ bedrooms.
Darren entered the first room and exclaimed “Woah! Memphis here we come,” in reference to the design movement and 1980s-style graphics and geometric wallpaper. “I really, really like this.”
Shaynna Blaze says the colours bring “a sense of joy and fun and energy.”
I applaud the confidence this couple inject into their spaces and some kid is going to find these spaces very fun, because who doesn’t love a climbing wall? Objectively, it’s a success. But me, I don’t love these bedrooms.
There were too many contrasting colours in this space for me to swallow. I think the wardrobe doors would have been more effective in a timber grain to provide some rest for the eye and to provide some design longevity.
Darren and Shaynna agree these rooms have a great sense of adventure and fun but also feel like they belong in a high end, high-priced home.
House 3: Kristy and Brett (spend $25,580)
I love that these guys had the confidence to wallpaper the wardrobe doors, and I’m not being cheeky when I say the best part is that it’s removable, which will make the room more appropriate to an ageing child.
“Wallpaper is so versatile, you can take it off really easily,” Shaynna says. “It’s got this sophisticated playfulness to it – it’s not overdone.” Marty says of the whole space.
The green painted wall is beautiful, but it would have been even more effective had they used it on every wall. It would have eliminated the high contrast between the wallpaper and white walls and therefore calmed the space.
I think I’m going to get a shirt made that says, “TREAT ALL WALLS AS ONE.” And then the judges walk into room two and boom, it’s like they saw my T-shirt.
Yes, yes, yes, to the wallpaper here that also wraps the ceiling. But then, I see one sad white wall that was left untreated and I’m back to being disappointed. It’s an emotional rollercoaster!
The judges describe this room as a shock to the senses with Darren saying he felt like he’d been punched in the face. After some thinking time, he concludes: “I like it. I think it’s great.” And he agrees with Marty and Shaynna who love the wallpaper and the room as a whole.
I like that this couple included a dressing table into their cabinetry. It will collect clutter but if there’s one thing I know about kids, it’s that they love to collect “stuff” and displaying it and this area will give them that.
House 4: Steph and Gian (spend $25,580)
Oh Steph, hats off to you, sister. This space is a knockout. Dare I admit that I got dewy eyed when Scotty announced them the winners with a perfect 30/30 score.
Maybe it was the emotive music they hit you with, but maybe it was me relating to the sheer relief and joy that comes with successfully delivering a room by which you feel so overwhelmed. Steph’s confidence was at an all-time low coming into this room delivery, and she blitzed it.
“What a room,” says Marty when he enters. “This is probably the most sophisticated kids’ bedroom we’ve seen thus far,” Darren says. “It is chic as … heck.”
I love, love, love the dark timber bedside tables. I love how they anchor the lighter colours in here and add a sense of character. People often think kids’ spaces need light coloured furniture and I think that’s such a missed opportunity to add depth.
The wallpaper is just enough to add interest but without creating visual chaos. This room is going to age well and be very easy to personalise as a child grows and changes.
“They’ve done it again,” says Marty as they step into the second bedroom. “I love this room so much,” Darren adds.
It was delivered to the same high standards and attention to detail. It was different, with its own personality and style, but with a similar palette and overall aesthetic. A potential buyer will appreciate this continuity.
House 5: Eliza and Liberty (spend $13,217)
I really liked what I thought was olive green wardrobe doors in the girls’ first bedroom and that walnut handle is just so beautiful. Then Darren pointed out that the doors were, in fact, metal and suddenly, I didn’t love it so much.
The judges love the wallpaper mural, describing it as elevated and sophisticated, but, at the risking of sounding like broken record, why would they not wrap that wallpaper on the other walls? The cost difference would have been negligible given the other walls are so small.
It would have also been more effective had the bedding and soft furnishings talked back to the wallpaper somehow, as they appeared disconnected. But these simple styling elements can be swapped out.
In the second bedroom, the mural on the wardrobes is just so whimsical. A small child is going to love getting lost in that scene.
“How sweet is that?” Shaynna says.
Again, I think it’s a good thing that it’s removable because no tween is going to appreciate this.
Like Marty, I love, love, love the striped wallpaper behind the bed. Now just how much more effective would it have been used on ALL the walls!
Results:
1st – House 4: Steph and Gian with 30 points
2nd – House 2: Leah and Ash with 28 points
3rd – House 3: Kristy and Brett with 27.5 points
4th – House 5: Eliza and Liberty with 26.5 points
5th – House 1: Kyle and Leslie with 24 points
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