The Block 2016: Week 2 Guest Bedroom Reveals

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Adverts for guest bedroom week on The Block 2016 had been promising some ripper reveals that were going to blow our minds. So when it came time to review each team’s space, I had the medic on standby in anticipation of experiencing some major heart palpitations.

I have to say, though (and it could just be me), there were no heart-racing moments to speak of. No bedroom that knocked my socks off, and no space I hadn’t seen before.

I think bedrooms on The Block need a major shakeup… because these all feel like deja vu. Maybe I’m going to be the nasty judge this season, but you gotta call a spade a spade.

Let’s take a look at each space below, in order of winning team to losing team.

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The Block 2016 Guest Bedroom Reveals

Karlie and Will’s Guest Bedroom

Credit where credit is due here; these guys did create a nice space. Have I seen this sort of room on The Block before? Yes. But that doesn’t mean it didn’t deserve to win.

I applaud them for their choice of feature wall above the bed. It’s a rich and gorgeous colour, and the patterned effect gave the room a distinct focal point.

The biggest issue in this space is that exposed brick wall, because visually it competes too much with the blue wall above the bed. The use of gold and yellow was borderline too much in this room also. Some more soft grey tones in the bedding and accessories could have brought some balance to the room – as it feels too warm.

The window treatment is very heavy, especially with the brick wall surrounding it. The space needs more softening, but it’s still rather nice.

Chris and Kim’s Guest Bedroom

Another exposed brick wall, which again feels unnecessary. It immediately makes the space feel too warm, and they didn’t do enough with other colours or materials to counteract it.

The bed itself is rather nice, as is the desk and wall art – albeit they don’t work well together in the space. The desk chair especially feels too masculine.

My biggest issue here is that the room feels unfinished. I’m not one for cramming too much into a bedroom, but there is just quite a bit missing here.

A rug under the bed – perhaps a hide rug – could have brought a bit more drama to this space, as it feels quite bland. The bedding choice was too warm. The teams seem to think that art deco means gold, gold and more gold. Let’s all calm down on the gold.

This room doesn’t feel calm and restful enough. A sheer curtain could have helped.

Ben and Andy’s Guest Bedroom

Last week these guys delivered what the judges called a rather bland bathroom, and although I didn’t have issues with it, it seems to have put these guys on a road to Snoozeville.

Ben and Andy’s guest bedroom was boring. There, I said it. It’s a pale room, with a simple bed, basic bedding, some easy side tables and some pendants. There’s nothing really to say about it. Except I will say something.

The glass diamond windows they installed between the robe and the bedroom are (to use my favourite word of the season) DIABOLICAL. What is going on here? Thank God Neale spoke some sense and said it reminded him of an office space. It looked extremely odd and unnecessary. And it doesn’t cover up the fact that the rest of the space was a let down.

They do get points for not rocking a brick wall and for using sheer curtains though. But that’s as far as it goes.

Julie and Sasha’s Guest Bedroom

That wall colour is giving me flashbacks to a Luke and Ebony bedroom from last season of The Block, which immediately has me offside. Come on Blockheads; you gotta do your research and steer clear of repeating past rooms.

That aside, I do quite enjoy the colour palette here. Although, I’ll say it again… that bed needs a rug under it. The bedroom feels a bit unfinished, and a sheet curtain would have helped here too.

It is a little ‘art-deco-by-numbers’, which is disappointing. I actually hate that the teams are trying so hard to push an art deco theme in each room. These apartments have to sell at the end of the season, so less is certainly more. I’d be reining in my art deco references at every opportunity – regardless of what the judges say.

The wall across from the bed needed more. It was a plain white wall with nothing else going on.

Dan and Carlene’s Guest Bedroom

I know I just said it above, but I’ll say it again: pull back on the art deco references. The apartments run the risk of feeling tacky and cliched if every room is given an obvious art deco reference by contestants who don’t have the design know-how to retrain themselves.

That wallpaper was a bad choice. Let’s start there. If they were hell-bent on using it, everything else needed to be turned way down. Subtle bedding, contemporary side tables, and no wall sconces. There could have been a focus on pattern play here with more subdued colours, and a nice interplay of old-meets-new. But it’s all too over-the-top.

In the slideshow below, you’ll notice a shot of the other side of Dan and Carlene’s guest bedroom (across from the bed) and it is actually really beautiful. They should have replicated this look and feel across the entire room. It’s soft and subtle with just a slight reference to art deco.

The Guest Bedrooms Slideshow

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