The Block 2020 kitchen reveal recap: They're curvy, and they like it

This year has taught us many things about life. Firstly, to appreciate the little things; secondly, the Real Housewives franchise does not get the entertainment credit it truly deserves; and thirdly, a home with an average kitchen makes lockdown sourdough an extremely difficult task to master.

No other year has it been more obvious that the kitchen is the true centre of the home and not just a place to reheat your Uber Eats from the day before.

And as kitchen week on The Block really shows us what the Blockheads are made of, I wonder if this week we will be treated to seeing enormous kitchens with 11,000 ovens, each with different uses that no one really understands fully.

Before we get to the room reveals, the couples were all searching for their “secret weapon” and “wow factor” to score them the win when planning their kitchens, but it looks like they all have similar ideas and are securing rounded benchtops in the kitchen.

If you’re a Block fan, then I am sure you keep up with the housing farshun trends, and someone needs to tell these contestants that rounded benches in kitchens in 2020 is like florals in spring …  groundbreaking.

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House 1, Harry and Tash: 364 New Street, Brighton

House 2, Sarah and George: 362B New Street, Brighton

House 3, Daniel and Jade: 362A New Street, Brighton

House 4, Luke and Jasmin: 360B New Street, Brighton

House 5, Jimmy and Tam: 360A New Street, Brighton

But the curves have been controversial among the contestants, no thanks to the gossip king himself Keith. He flat-out egged on Daniel about Luke and Jasmin’s similar bench arriving on site the day after theirs was installed in a similar shape. The Blockinator may as well have been standing there with a pot on the stove giving it a good stir.

Over to the judging and Scotty tells the teams, before the judges’ feedback, that these are “the best kitchens I have ever seen on The Block”. Ah, I love it when the judges have a hard time choosing a winner and it feels most definitely in the works for this week.

As always, Harry and Tash are up first and are hoping their enormous 4.3-metre-long bench and extremely pricey coffee machine will win the judges over.

“Look at the size of this,” says Neale as the three of them walk in. Shaynna replies with, “That’s insane.”

“This is a catwalk,” she says looking at the island bench, and it really does look dancefloor worthy.

“I am sorry, I am just picturing your house parties, where you’re walking up and down here,” Darren says to Shaynna. This proves my predictions right from those judging videos, Shaynna most definitely likes to bust a move. “Pretty much,” she responds. Yes, girl.

All three judges agree that the kitchen is starkly different to the front of the home, but blends perfectly.

“Boom! That’s what it’s like, it is so different, it is so magnificent,” Shaynna adds.

“The proportions, the generosity, if I had to describe the perfect kitchen for now, for 2020 it would look something like this,” says Neale, and it’s looking like Harry and Tash have done Melbourne proud and nailed it this week.

The three judges really love the sink with the sliding panels, and Scotty tells the couple, “Darren Palmer and Neale Whitaker both think the coffee machine is magnificent.”

To be honest, I really, really, really want that coffee machine too – nothing brings me more joy than the fresh latte in the morning, made by my partner, of course. I wouldn’t be caught dead making my own coffee.

Shaynna is loving this kitchen and kitchen week thus far, cause she lives for storage – and bins, apparently. She is overjoyed when she finds bins in Harry and Tash’s kitchen, previous contestants have struggled with the concept according to Shaynna.

The judges are a little disappointed that the taps are not in the same gunmetal finish as the rest of the kitchen fittings.

They then head into the butler’s pantry and Shaynna immediately says, “This is more like a little service area.” Um, Shaynna, that “little service area” is bigger than most South Yarra studio apartments.

Darren then says that this kitchen is “pretty much perfect” and Neale agrees.

Sarah and George are up next, and are the first couple to show the judges their curved bench.

As soon as the three judges walk in, Darren rests his head on their dolomite bench and gives it a good ol’ hug. “Wow,” says Neale. “That is real stone,” says Shaynna.

All three of them are truly amazed by the bench design and quality and think the colour palette is perfect.

“It feels very contemporary, but I love that it does reference the 1940s,” says Neale, noting that the couple have used fluted glass in their overhead cabinets.

Having glass cabinets would stress me out – the men in my house simply cannot be trusted to put everything in the correct spot, even if clearly shown.

The judges note that the sink is a bit too big for a bench that would be used for entertaining and that some of the storage is set too high for most people, i.e. shorties.

They then head into the pantry and are instantly like little kids at Scienceworks playing with an interactive exhibit when they discover the auto opening louvre cabinets.

“Isn’t it just the best,” Shaynna says. She looks as excited as I did when I got my first iPod nano.

Daniel and Jade are now hoping to score some extra points with a unique kitchen bench designed by timber furniture legend Christian Cole. They even bumped heads with Luke and Jasmin  over it.

Their agent was not as keen as they had hoped with their unusual design, suggesting it looked a little like a male appendage at one end.

When the judges walk into House 3’s kitchen, they are instantly drawn to that custom benchtop.

Shaynna says, “That is beyond a work of art.”

Neale adds, “Let’s not forget we are in a 1930s house and that is a beautiful nod to the deco era.”

Shaynna then locates the whisky cabinet hidden inside the benchtop. 

“This will stand a lifetime,” says Shaynna.

Darren adds, “You can sit five people there comfortably, it’s really really clever.”

He also notices there are not enough power points for a kitchen of this size. It is a certified fact that a kitchen in Briiighton will be appliance-heavy and is guaranteed to have a Kitchenaid mix master and a Thermomix on hand for the kids’ after-school banana bread.

Scotty tells the couple that the judges thought the single oven in the kitchen was a “a bit light on”. Once they walk into the butler’s pantry, Shaynna immediately says, “Boom, we have the ovens.” She is saying boom quite a bit today, why?

Neale says, “This has gone way beyond a butler’s pantry, this is a butler’s kitchen.” He could be on the money here, it is highly possible a Brighton local will have their own version of a Niles from The Nanny.

He adds, “It’s a very well thought-through family kitchen, but I also feel this kitchen is appropriate for a passionate cook and entertainer.”

Over at the copycats’ house, I mean Luke and Jasmin’s. They too have, wait for it, a curved bench, but they also have a matching curved wall.

The judges are loving how the corrugated wall and bench are a continuation of their bathroom from the previous weeks.

Neale says, “We are really experiencing some exceptional kitchens today.”

“Today I feel like we are seeing kitchens we have not seen before,” he adds.

Darren says their pendant light is “absolutely spot on” and “everything we are seeing in the kitchen in a light”.

They then move over to the cabinets and are amazed by the detailing the couple have included here, so much so the opening of the cupboards overhead gives Shaynna a fright.

“There goes that wizardry again,” she says.

She also is a big fan of the colour of the stone benchtops and says they are “like clouds”. Darren, the rainman of interior design colours, responds with “that one’s cloud-burst concrete”.

“How do I know? Ah, it’s in my house,” he says. Thanks for the clarification, Darren.

The lack of power points in this house was also an issue for the judges, along with the oven placement.

In the butler’s pantry, Shaynna is loving the pull-out food storage but Neale is not too sure about the basket styling that the couple have added to the open shelves. They do look a bit like someone’s farmhouse Pinterest board.

“It does gel with the sleek aesthetic on the other side of the kitchen,” Neale notes.

Darren says, “It’s a dream kitchen to me, I just love everything about it.”

Scotty tells the Blockheads, “It could be a five-way tie.”

The judges start off by entering their pocket-door-accessed butler’s pantry.

“It’s clear who won the Gaggenau prize,” says Darren. “Certainly a value add, that’s for damn sure.”

Neale says about the storage in the pantry, “I like it a lot more than next door” – someone should check if Luke and Jasmin are OK, cause that burn’s gotta hurt.

Our storage queen again is loving the pull-out pantry cabinet, and places “for all the messy stuff”.

Into the main kitchen and Shaynna immediately is a fan of the benchtops – “That terrazzo is gorgeous.”

“This is the first time we have seen gas all day,” says Darren and Scotty lets the couple know, “In terms of judging today you are now cooking with gas.”

Darren says, “Once again, not an island but a continent” about the size of the island and that “dark charcoal, mint green and brass shouldn’t work”. “But it does,” Neale adds.

Shaynna cannot get over the size of the three fridges lined up together, either. Then Neale discovers the wine fridge stocked to the brim with expensive wines.

Scotty asks the couple how much they spent on the wine and Tam says, “Five grand, but it’s an investment.” They say you can’t take the girl outta Brisbane, but clearly we have here, and she has turned into a fully fledged Brighton local.

“It’s a kooky kitchen,” says Darren and I think he means that as a compliment, kind of like “it’s noice, unyusual”.

Neale thinks, “It speaks to the 1950s but is also spot on for 2020.”

“All of the kitchens feel highly individual, more individual than we have seen on The Block,” he adds.

Shaynna then takes issue with the stools under the bench for being too high and Darren says, “I bet Jimmy and Tam put them in and just went, bummer.”

Shaynna says, “It looks good from every angle.” Neale agrees and says, “It’s unique and it didn’t come from Instagram.”

To finish up the judging for the day, Neale also says,“I would have wanted to publish all of these kitchens because they are all completely unique and trendsetting in their own way.”

Darren adds, “Any one of these kitchens would have won kitchen week on any other Block.”

Whoa, I seriously think at this point they have all won based on this feedback. The judges must have forgotten that this is a competition, and some couples win those sneaky gnome points to take out the win.

Next week, the Blockheads are delivering living and dining spaces. 

Final scores:

Daniel & Jade 28.5 + bonus point = 29.5

Harry & Tash 29

Jimmy & Tam 29

Luke & Jasmin 28

Sarah & George 28