If The Block was a whodunit, it could be accused of revealing its prime suspect too early.
It was pretty obvious that Luke and Jasmin were going to be this week’s room reveal losers from the sheer number of times Jasmin proudly declared her complete aversion to period details — in a show about renovating period houses.
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“I’m not really into traditional touches,” she says near the start of this episode, when discussing what they’re doing with the guest bedroom in their 1910 home.
Obviously Luke wasn’t paying attention, telling a producer “We’re really trying to match everything to the 1900s” earning a sharp rebuke from his wife.
“Nothing in this room is 1900s. Have you seen a 1900s bedroom? They’re gross,” she says.
Harsh.
“I just can’t bring myself to pick something traditional,” Jasmin says later, when choosing her pendant light.
Luke and Jasmin’s guest bedroom was lacking in any 1910s touches.
The final nail in their chances of not coming last is a Venetian plaster feature wall, which neatly commits two sins with one stone. Not only was it completely out of character for the house, it was so The Block 2019. Matt and El’ise used it extensively in their reno last year, and if there’s anything the judges hate more than a lack of period details, it’s a lack of originality.
“What decade are we in,” judge Shaynna Blaze asks when she walks in.
“You wouldn’t know, would you,” Neale Whitaker murmurs.
Although the judges find the room, with its blue velvet curved bedhead, panelled wardrobe doors and plantation shutters, pleasant enough, they think Luke and Jamsin have entirely missed the brief.
“It’s a crying shame,” Shaynna says. “It’s confused of what it wants to be.”
While Neale notes that “a lot of buyers would walk in here and say ‘what’s the problem?’” it’s not enough to save the pair from the wooden spoon with a score of 20.5 out of 30.
Similarly deflated are Sarah and George. They thought they were on a winner when they divided their enormous guest bedroom in two to create a study plus bedroom.
Sarah and George’s guest bedroom lost out for having a door that opened on to a wardrobe…
…And a dull study.
They won points for their grey and rose colour scheme, faithful door handles, professional paint job and embroidered bed throw that reflected 1940s carpet trends, but the fact they designed their room so the door opened straight on to the corner of the wardrobe let them down.
The judges pointed out they could easily have just moved the door further up the hallway to avoid the problem.
Eagle-eyed Shaynna also criticised them for not taking note of the sharp square detailing in the rest of the home’s cornices and skirting boards and matching it.
“They are the most divine period details I’ve ever seen in a 1940s house, and they give us this,” she says.
“They have decided to give us their version of the ‘40s and have not looked in the hallway. I’m actually upset.”
The judges agreed the study was well executed but Shaynna thought a walk-in robe would have been a better use of the space.
Neale called the study “generous but dull”.
The pair score 21 out of 30 for their efforts.
Dramatic skylights won praise for Harry and Tash’s guest bedroom.
Father and daughter team Harry and Tash get the middle spot for their 1920s guest bedroom.
Their Velux skylights and raised ceiling are show stoppers, and their choice of venetian blinds over plantation shutters are considered genius for matching their time period. (Never mind that they only chose them because shutters wouldn’t fit, a win is a win).
Their colour scheme of deep rose and grey, velvet bedhead, marble bedside tabletops and black accents in the wardrobe handles, downlights and curtain rod wins big points.
“I’m quite blown away,” Shaynna says, noting that the pair came dead last in week one with their botched beach box.
“These are period homes but I didn’t want a museum piece. I wanted to see a house that nodded to the era, and that’s what they’ve done,” Neale agrees.
Their only failure is their carpet.
“I’m getting office, not luxury,” Shaynna notes.
Daniel and Jade’s guest bedroom came heartbreakingly close to winning.
Coming a heartbreakingly close second are SA farmers Daniel and Jade. With their debt-ridden, drought-affected property in the outback, they’re surely shaping up as the sentimental favourites here.
They’ve chosen the 1930s house right in the middle of the row, and made excellent use of a stunning old etched glass pendant light they found under the floor. Cleaned up and hanging from a perfectly chosen ceiling rose, it sets the tone for their room.
Art deco architraves and cornices, and period perfect door handles also wins them points. They lose them for not having bedside tables, and for choosing plantation shutters over more in-keeping with the ‘30s curtains.
Still, they can take heart from causing judge Darren Palmer to say this of a pair of wardrobe door handles: “Yum”.
Winners Jimmy and Tam prompted some debate between the judges about whether their choices were really 1950s enough. Their palm printed feature wallpaper, sheer curtains and green velvet bedspread could have been at home in a 1960s or 1970s renovation, but after much discussion it’s decided their room is in fact 1959.
“We aimed for 1959,” Tam agrees.
Jimmy and Tam were able to party like it’s 1959.
The judges are won over by another set of Velux skylights and an ensuite door hidden in a row of wardrobe cabinetry.
“This one has got me by the heartstrings,” Shaynna says.
The Queensland pair score 25.5 out of 30, giving them two wins from two, picking up $10,000 for their budget plus a mind-blowing $120,000 worth of Gaggenau kitchen appliances.
SCORES
1 Jimmy and Tam 25.5
2 Daniel and Jade 25
3 Harry and Tash 24
4 Sarah and George 21
5 Luke and Jasmin 20.5
MISSED AN EPISODE?
Episode 3 recap: “So two years ago”. Team’s boring room slammed
Episode 2 recap: Disappointment as Block houses are handed out
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