The Block NZ

Inside The Block NZ 2019 week 1 guest bedroom reveals

Article by Homes to Love

The Block NZ 2019 started with a hiss and a roar this week. The teams were given their apartments and tasked with creating a guest bedroom. See the results below

Week one of The Block NZ 2019 kicked off and the teams were straight into creating their guest bedrooms. Apartments inside the old firehouse were given out randomly; and team blue Sophia and Mikaere came out on top, literally, with the penthouse (apartment 4). Ethan and Sam, team orange, were equally delighted with apartment 3 (the Wolf’s top pick). Team purple Stacy and Adam, or as we have become to know them, the “Wellington millennials”, were given apartment 3 (the two-story front apartment in the original firehouse building.) And, drawing the short straw with apartment 2, were a very disgruntled, yet determined, team yellow Lisa and Ribz.

But, as we learned, all was not lost because the winners of this week’s room reveal will be able to choose which apartment they will have for the rest of the competition. The team that came second would have the second choice. Third, the third choice. And fourth, would be left with the apartment no one else wanted.

So, how did they do?

Sophia and Mikaere:

Room score: 15/20 (Jason: 8, Lizzi:7)
Total spend: $14,912

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Team blue Sophia and Mikaere scored apartment 4 in the lucky dip. Better known as the penthouse apartment, it was exactly the one they wanted, and the one everyone else wanted too.

But, being in the top spot didn’t come without its drawbacks; leaky ceilings, pipes that needed to be plumbed and an ensuite needed to be mapped out. Added to this, the duo decided that they wanted to transform this three-bedroom apartment into a two-bedroom. With all this future planning in the works, it was imperative they win the room reveal in order to keep their apartment.

And they didn’t disappoint. This creative couple showed their hand and the judges were suitably impressed.

“I love the colour,” said judge Jason Bonham. “It’s beautiful… quite sexy and relatively mature.”

Judge Lizzi Whaley agreed, “the colours are really nice, and I love the layering. It’s one of the better rooms in terms of consideration for lighting and the space is the maturity level we’ve been looking for in terms of a guest bedroom, it feels restful.”

The only thing that let them down was the finishing; “the execution is the worst we’ve seen,” said Jason. Nevertheless, the room was enough to win them top spot.

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Ethan and Sam:

Room score: 14/20 (Jason: 7.5, Lizzi:6.5)
Total spend: $14,615

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Ethan and Sam, in the coveted apartment 3, spent this week showing us why they’re the good guys this season. They handled the Sophia and Mikaere plumbing issue with ease and seemed to get on with all of the other teams. The boys quickly put their tradie skills and love for timber (“I could watch timber videos all day”, Sam told the camera) to good use and daringly constructed a timber feature wall for their guest bedroom.

When it came to styling, it was clear these two were out of their comfort zone. Shelley’s visit to the site seemed to scare them more than inspire. Ethan’s trip out to the shops made for some of the most entertaining viewing of the episode, raising the question of the week: “Why do you have a coloured bottom sheet if you can’t see it?” Why indeed.

But despite their reservations, Lisa’s ominous prediction that they wouldn’t do well because “they don’t have a woman’s touch”, and probably because of Adairs retail assistant Sean’s help, the boys guest bedroom impressed the judges.

“You know I’m not a big fan of timber,” said Jason. “But they’ve actually done a really nice job.” And Lizzi agreed, “I really like the timber wall, I think it looks really nice in contrast with the white.”

They said the room had a really relaxing, natural feel to it, all it needed was a bit more mature styling. The boys came in at second place, to which Sam said he was “happier than a toddler at a Wiggles concert.”

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Stacy and Adam:

Room score: 13/20 (Jason: 7, Lizzi:6)
Total spend: $13,701

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This week Wellington millennials Stacy and Adam bore the brunt of the Wolf’s disapproval, for their lack of cleaning and their tendency to enjoy long lunch breaks. But, despite this, they appeared to finish with plenty of time to spare. They thought they might get a bit of flack from the judges for their paint job, but were confident that they’d score well in their styling.

Alas, it wasn’t so. The judges loved their use of colour and thought the light and dark blue tones complemented each other really well, but said the terracotta was a very poor choice for the brick, especially when combined with the other colours in the room.

Jason summed up his feelings succinctly; “Get rid of the dried flowers, change out nanna’s bed linen, go a bit more luxy and then you might have it.” 

Taking out third place, it looks like Stacy and Adam might be able to keep apartment 1 to themselves after all.

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Lisa and Ribz:

Room score: 9.5/20 (Jason: 5, Lizzi:4.5)
Total spend: $11,252

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Lisa spent most of this week trying to trick the other teams into thinking she had bad taste. Unfortunately, when it came to judging, we learnt that she didn’t actually have to pretend.

Their “New-York-loft-boutique-hotel” style fell short with the judges.  Earlier in the week, Shelley convinced team yellow not to go with their pink “Treat Your Women Well” neon sign. Paired with the pink walls it was a bit like a “strip bar”, she said. Unfortunately, the monochrome printed they used instead did not elevate the room enough. On stepping into the space Lizzi said, “oh wow. This is not a good wow.”

Jason followed this comment up with, “my hatred of pink now equates to my hatred of beige. It’s disgusting, I feel sick.”

They said the pink overpowered the good elements in the room. A guest bedroom should be restful and Jason said it felt more like candy land. They liked the glass window and choice of curtains, but everything else was “a bit much.”

Coming in last, it looks like Lisa and Ribz will be stuck with apartment 2. But maybe the prize in their safe might turn the tables…

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Words by: Bea Taylor

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