The Block 2022 Guest Bedroom Reveal Recap: Two Impressive Spaces and Three Not-So-Fab

This week we’re delving into the Block 2022 guest bedroom reveals. And as usual, I have a lot to say. 

These truth bombs are, as always, dropped in the interest of showing you what to embrace and what to avoid when it comes to designing and decorating your own home.

I understand the teams are not professionals. But they, like you, are getting a lot of conflicting information thrown at them. And I want to cut through it all and give you some expert commentary to clear up the confusion.

This week, I would have ranked the teams as follows, from best to worst:

1. Dylan and Jenny
2. Rachel and Ryan
3. Tom and Sarah Jane
4. Ankur and Sharon
5. Omar and Oz

It’s pretty similar to how the judges scored them, with the exception of Ankur and Sharon.

Ankur and Sharon Came First

I’m not gonna lie, I was a bit shocked that this guest bedroom reveal scored so well. It, like the Neighbours finale, did not move me the way I wanted it to. Both shocked me (more so because Kylie refused to speak on camera), but I wasn’t impressed.

If we start with the shell of the room, all furniture removed, it’s mostly successful.  The colour palette is soft and soothing, the VJ panelling brings some interest to the walls, and the fireplace and wardrobe are both winners too.

I love the leather pulls on the wardrobe doors as well. They’re a nice way to give a little nod to the country location without having to hang an akubra on the wall. 

The ledge they created behind the bead is an odd choice though. Why install a ledge, only to do nothing with it except cover it with a bedhead? It seems a little over-designed.

The Push for Country is Making Things Worse

The artwork above the bed featured some soothing, country-inspired tones that Ankur and Sharon could have pulled from and used on the bedscape. But instead they used indigo and mustard accents that feel visually jarring.

I will continue to say it all season long, so apologies, but I refuse to go along with the notion that country buyers (or existing residents) want furniture that looks old, battered or recycled paired with decor from an op shop.

It’s an insulting assumption, as though people who live an hour outside of Melbourne don’t want clean lines or contemporary touches in their home. But that’s what the teams are being told to do, so I understand why Ankur and Sharon might feel stressed.

The Main Pieces Don’t Work

Sadly, the bed and bedsides don’t work for me. They don’t give you a sense of calm, or sophistication. It all just feels too old and rustic. A theme. The lamps are nice though. More of that sorta vibe please.

The pendant light and skylight are closer than Angelina Jolie and her brother. I suggest ditching skylights in most of the rooms in these homes unless lighting is at an all-time low. That said, I don’t feel this particular pendant was successful either.

I’m with the teams who are digging their heels in re the more modern direction of their spaces. It’s a smarter move and will make for less country cliches.

Dylan and Jenny Came Second

To quote another icon from the nineties, Dannii Minogue, “This is is (this is it), now this time I know it’s the real thing”. If you don’t know that song I’m going to have to revoke your membership and ask you to leave immediately.

This space though…almost perfect. It makes my heart flutter a bit. We’ll get to the negatives, of course, but let’s bask in its glory for a moment. Because there really is a lot to appreciate. 

While other teams struggled to inject country charm into their rooms, Dylan and Jenny did it through two really powerful design elements: tone and pattern.

Tone and Pattern Make This Room Work

This room works so well because of the wallpaper and the bedding (buy the gorgeous throw here). The pattern gives a nostalgic nod to country vibes of the past, while the tones of the blue and the orange feel so at home in a rural setting. 

The blue is deeper, muddier. The orange is also moodier. With those stripes on the sheets and the soft grey and beige tones in the space, it just oozes charm. The wainscoting, the arch into the robe, the mirror on the wall; it’s all working.

There’s a textural story to tell here too, like with the softness of the bed and sheers, plus the plush nature of the carpet. It all feels like a room you can just fall into, exhale within, and unwind.

Put a few bottles of bottles of red in the storage drawers under the bed and I’m not going to leave.

Sadly, It’s Not Utter Perfection Though

OK, so a few things are letting this room down a bit, but thankfully they’re easy changes.

The armchair is the first place to start. It, and a cushion on the bed, are both velvet. Nothing takes me out of a calm country feel like velvet. It is a very urban-luxe material; one that’s been overused a lot in homes the last few years.

Linens are where you want to go with the armchairs in this space. A nice linen slipcover chair would have looked a thousand times better.

The bedsides, as Shaynna rightfully pointed out, are too little and out of proportion with the bed. And lastly, considering all the hardware in the room is brass, the black rods on the sheers should have been white to blend into the wall.

Rachel and Ryan Came Third

You guys… this is almost a perfect room as well. There are a few key elements that could be tweaked to take it next-level, and some that need to be removed altogether, but it’s strong. I can see where they were going with it and I want to go there.

Let’s start with the one thing that could make this room a stunner: Sayonara green wall. Bye Felicia. Your services are no longer required. The bank has asked me to cut up your credit card. Please remove yourself from the premises. 

If that vibrant green was gone it would instantly make this room feel softer, soothing, calmer. With it gone, you’d then need to rethink the wall colour overall.

The emerald green, sage green, and crisp white meeting in the top corner of the room above feels quite unsavoury. It’s aggressive. They don’t blend. If all the walls were a very light greige it would make those sage green doors shine.

A Few Smaller Tweaks, But Necessary Ones

The wall lights above the bed are definitely standing out for all the wrong reasons. Even with the green removed they’d need to change to something less pedestrian. They look like outdoor lights, and they’re doing nothing for the room.

The mirror zone between the two wardrobes is also worth mentioning. It too needs a tweak. Not major surgery, just some designer botox. It’s a guest room, so something fuller-length with the mirror would be helpful. 

A larger rectangle mirror that perfectly fills that space would be a better solution, so at least you can see most of your body in it. It would resolve the zone too. Something about it feels unfinished.

All in all though, Rachel and Ryan are my front-runners this season. Keep going contemporary guys!

Tom and Sarah Jane Tied for Last Place

After you realise that it was tone and pattern made Dylan and Jenny’s room work so well, you can see how things fell apart in Tom and Sarah Jane’s guest bedroom.

We love burnt orange, but there’s a lot of it uninterrupted here, with bedside tables in a similar colour. It’s so warm it has me pulling out the SPF50+. Add in the brass pendants and it’s a huge slap of orange.

The wainscoting is a successful feature though. It gives an obvious nod to the country aesthetic the teams are being pressured to deliver, and it works beautifully here. And I enjoy the wardrobes. They fit into the scheme brilliantly.

Not a whole lot more was working for me, but plenty wasn’t.

The Wardrobes Aren’t Even the Biggest Issue

The judges pointed out all the problems with the window placement and it affecting the opening of the left wardrobe door. I agree with them entirely and the window needs to move. So I won’t labour that point any further.

There are bigger issues at play in this space though, and the robe on the door is the least of their worries.

Firstly, there’s no headboard to speak of. Guests have to lean against wainscoting in bed if they want to sit up, wondering what they did to deserve the neck and spinal injury. 

A fabric headboard in a simple profile would have done wonders functionally, but also given softness to the space, which is desperately needs. 

Bedsides, Wallpaper and No Art

Can we talk about the junk on the bedside tables? There’s no flowers, nothing with height, nothing to give the room a feeling that it’s finished, resolved.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the hair brush the creepy lady from The Ring uses to brush her hair in the mirror is in one of those drawers. 

Styling plays such a huge part in making a room feel resolved and impressive, and it’s just so lacklustre here. Like recent revelations of Scomo’s parliamentary behaviour, it’s not criminal, but it feels like it.

I also thought the wallpaper was a bit too obvious (tree wallpaper for the country?!). And we also needed art to go above the bed.

Not a good week for these two, sadly.

Omar and Oz Tied for Last Place

Everything in this room, for the most part, says urban apartment. It’s the sort of room we’ve seen on The Block a number of times across the years. There’s something very cookie-cutter about it, and dare I say it, a little dated.

Black bedside tables can work in a modern country scheme (hello Studio McGee and Leclair Decor). And sage green can work just as well (as Rachel and Ryan proved), but the combo together isn’t doing it for me.

This is another team who installed a ledge but then did nothing with it. Perhaps if a larger piece of canvas art was leaning on it, the ledge might make more sense.  The headboard is lovely, don’t get me wrong, but it feels too contemporary.

The Robe Zone Also Says Modern Apartment to Me

Sadly the other side of the room feels much the same way as the bed side: too modern, to industrial, too ‘apartment’. I love the finish of those robe doors (not with the brass), but here they just don’t blend in. The window with roller blind feels weird too.

There’s no sense of harmony present. There’s no exhaling “ahh” feeling you get when you walk into a beautifully put-together space. There are loads of elements fighting instead of working seamlessly. There’s a busy, thrown-together feel.

Strip out the sage green on the ledge, paint the walls a warmer white/cream, and carpet this room in a nice beige tone and it would feel way better.

What did you make of The Block 2022 guest bedroom reveals? Drop me a comment below and let me know if you would have ranked the teams in the same order I did.

Images for this post were supplied by The Block Shop. Check out Nine Now for more of The Block 2022 guest bedroom reveals.