The Block 2023 living and dining room reveal recap: Leah and Ash nab another win with rooms that 'pack a punch'

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 fifth room reveal of Season 19, 2023.

It’s living and dining week on The Block and I’ve got to tell you, it’s hard to watch this show without being taken straight back to that chaotic mix of exhaustion, vulnerability and nervousness that contestants feel on judging day.

I LOL’d when Liberty said if she wasn’t so “tuna-cooked” she’d be really excited and smiling and doing hand gestures.

The night prior to judging you have pulled an all-nighter and you are the walking dead (despite what makeup and TV lights might tell you) so trying to muster up the energy to have a reaction like a normal person feels like too much to ask.

House 1: Kyle and Leslie ($31,560 spend)

I could cry for this couple. As the judges pointed out, Kyle and Leslie delivered a living-dining room that will almost certainly be their downfall on auction day. It’s undeniably too small.

If this was the media room and not the primary living space, no problem, but the living room is where families hang, and “openness” is the intangible ingredient that makes a space feel good.

It didn’t help that they included a 1.8-metre-round dining table in here. It’s the right shape and creates fluidity but a 1.6-metre (eight-seater) table would have sufficed and allowed for more breathing space. I hope they have an opportunity to correct it down the track, but it’s not an easy fix.

It’s such a crying shame because the room is otherwise designed and finished with the sophistication of a team who could be mistaken for experienced designers.

House 2: Leah and Ash ($38,209 spend)

Leah and Ash restored the judges’ faith by delivering a space that packed a punch (or two, or three). It’s refreshing to see a couple use colour on this show. Typically, couples go hard on the white and beige in an attempt to appeal to a wider market.

There are some big, confident statements in this space which, for the most part, have paid off.

The glass pendant over the dining table is simply perfect and the tangerine-coloured bar cart is hot to trot. The striped marble step is superb and oozes sophistication, but the multicoloured velvet armchair pulls focus – and not in a good way. 

The sofa and the palm-tree artwork are both a bit “meh” and both too small for the proportions of the space. It would have been nice to see the upholstery fabrics mixed up so that it’s not velvet on velvet on velvet.

Judge Darren Palmer had the gall to say there were too many power points in the dining space. Daz, the crime is always that there are never enough power points (my pet peeve). This is the tech era, my friend. The home owners are going to love this couple so hard when they realise they’ll never be down on power points.

Meanwhile, fellow judge Shaynna Blaze said the scale of that space called for a much larger dining table, and I one thousand per cent agree. 

House 3: Kristy and Brett ($23,325 spend)

Kristy and Brett delivered a space that is calm and sophisticated, however, the height of the fireplace feels odd to me, almost like they forgot to put something above it. Some sort of screening above would have helped to zone the space some more.

I also have a theory that horizontal surfaces become dumping grounds in busy households. I’d style it with a large urn and huge foliage that adds a sculptural element and zones the space.

I really like the asymmetry of the TV wall and Darren is right, the wall finish is beautiful; tactile and organic. Daz also pointed out that the furniture has been positioned in a way that creates a conversation zone and not a cinema experience. This is also important for ensuring the TV is not the focal point.

The sofa is a little bit squat for the space and could have been a bit longer to maximise seating. I’d also have loved to see the armchairs depart from the boucle, largely because I don’t like matching lounge sets, but also to create interest through a range of materials.

I agree with judge Neale Whitaker in that some lamps would have added both ambience and artfulness, but there are bigger design crimes.

House 4: Steph and Gian ($31,739 spend)

In Steph and Gian’s home, the judges expressed some concern that the layout changes made by the couple may not have been to the advantage of the overall floor plan, but we won’t know that until the kitchen is completed. Steph’s theory is that the change positions the kitchen closer to the al fresco space, which makes sense.

My issue with the dining room is not that it’s overstyled (it is, but that’s a petty crime in the scheme of things) but its connection, or lack thereof, to the kitchen. I have a theory that dining rooms that are more than a couple of steps away from the kitchen end up being redundant apart from a yearly dinner party. I’m not sure how they would get around that in the context of this floor plan, but it’s worth saying.

I love that they chose two pieces of art for that large dining room wall, rather than one large landscape piece – it helps fill out the wall.

In the lounge room, Shaynna was right to question the comfort level of the occasional chairs. They also don’t do much to soften the space aesthetically.

House 5: Eliza and Liberty ($37,706)

Massive props to Eliza and Liberty for being able to deliver such a huge space. We had the opposite problem on our own series, but I can appreciate that it takes a tonne of money, time and energy to be able to pull off a space of this scale in a week.

That said, I can’t get on board with the judges’ enthusiasm for this space. It feels unfinished to me, like they ran out of money, time and energy for the sprinkles on the cake.

In the dining room, the window is screaming for a soft Roman blind, and the dining table needs a more substantial centrepiece.

In the lounge room, the judges failed to point out that the entertainment unit under the TV is being swallowed by the size of the space and therefore feels a bit cheap. Neale pointed out the lack of lamps. A substantial floor lamp would have filled out the dead corner, at the least.

I love the confidence of the rust and electric-blue colour combination, but I think the girls needed to go further to warm and soften the space and counter the black steel of the fireplace. Speaking of which, I think that the fireplace, positioned as it is, might obstruct flow and be limiting in terms of the home owners being able to reposition furniture but hey, the judges loved it so ladies, go and rest your weary heads.

Results

1st – House 2, Leah and Ash with 29 points (including a 10 from Neale)

2nd – House 5, Eliza and Liberty with 27 points

Equal 3rd – House 3, Kristy and Brett with 25.5 points

Equal 3rd – House 4, Steph and Gian with 25.5 points

5th – House 1, Kyle and Leslie with 20 points

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