The Block 2022 Kitchens Reveal: Great Looking Zones, But What About the Layouts?

The Block 2022 kitchens reveal has me declaring something I wasn’t sure I would this season. For the first time in this year’s series, every room looked great!

Now, good as they may be, not all of them were perfectly suited to a country home. And almost all had some major layout issues. We’ll get to all of that, of course. But let’s take a moment to revel in the fact that the spaces looked so visually impressive.

That doesn’t mean the scoring was accurate, in my humble opinion. Here’s how I would have ranked the teams from this week’s kitchen reveals:

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

Drop me a comment at the end of the post and let me know which Block team’s kitchen you thought was the best.

Tom and Sarah Jane Came First

Tom and Sarah Jane’s kitchen is undoubtably gorgeous to look at. From the rangehood to the oven, wall tiles to reeded glass cupboard fronts, it has a lot going for it. It ticks more boxes than me the first time I voted in a federal election (to be fair I was hungover and just wanted my democracy sausage).

There is a charm here that can’t be denied. The sun pouring in the window, the aged copper accessories, the woven bar stools; I can’t say there’s much I don’t like from a visual perspective.

Is the styling a bit hectic? Yes. Does the fridge against the flooring make the space feel too warm? Yes. And are the pendants a ‘beam me up Scotty’ moment we don’t need in a kitchen of this style? Of course. But all in all I’m really happy to see a kitchen like this on The Block.

There’s a Real Sense of Luxury at Play

I’m always thinking of the potential buyer when judging these rooms. And a potential buyer is going to see the sense of luxury in this kitchen. It feels like money has been invested. Tiling all the way up the wall behind the rangehood was a clever idea, as was the butlers sink and wine fridge.

And can we talk about the meat fridge? I’m sure that’s not the technical term for it, but that has my name written all over it. Honestly, it’s these inclusions that make a buyer choose one home over the other come auction day.

The One Glaring Issue to Point Out

I always say, if I’m splashing millions of dollars on a home, there are certain things I just refuse to do. And in this kitchen, walking more than five steps to the butler’s pantry is one of them. It’s an issue in most of The Block kitchens this week, and I just can’t let it go.

I can only imagine the issues someone is going to have when they’re carrying a tray of drinks or canapés from the butler’s to kitchen, across the hallway, and their kid comes running into the room knocking them A over T.

I would expect a better layout in a home that’s going to cost as much as this will. And I also expect a window treatment.

Dylan and Jenny Came Joint Second

Is it just me or is this kitchen very much the vibe of one of the interior design trends I forecasted for 2022? I don’t want to take credit here, but I’m going to take credit here. And I gotta say it: this kitchen is more finessed than Tom and Sarah Jane’s. It deserved the win.

Tom and Sarah Jane are a very close second, for sure, but Dylan and Jenny have created a kitchen that feels more resolved and way more cohesive. It has the charm, but it’s less manic on the styling front, there are less colours colliding, and it has less potential to date.

The green colour palette here is more magical than Helen Mirren’s beauty routine. The white gloss tiles they used are a winner, and the positioning of the sink near the window – with a roller blind on it – is very successful.

There are honestly so many windows this season not covered up. We love a view and all, but there’s no way I can escape the thought of a Wolf Creek John Jarrett type peering in at me while I’m peeling potatoes. Cover your windows, people, that’s all I’m saying.

It’s the Most Successful Blend, with Mass Appeal

I agree with the judges that this kitchen would pull at the heartstrings of a potential buyer. It oozes charm but hasn’t been pushed so far that it would put people off. There’s such a good blend of new and old here, with classic country cues sitting alongside modern tech in the appliances.

There’s not much I can fault on the visual. The only thing that has to be removed immediately if not sooner is the dead animal skull hanging on the wall. It, like sponged walls or blow up furniture, is one of my major design crimes and has no place in any home.

When it comes to the functionality and layout of this kitchen, it should come as no surprise that I have some major beef to work through…

The Layout is Letting This Kitchen Down

I feel the same way about the layout of this kitchen as I do about Tom and Sarah Jane’s. I don’t want to walk across a corridor to grab something from the butler’s pantry. It’s so impractical.

The butler’s pantry itself is quite beautiful, but if it’s more than five steps away from the kitchen it’s too far away. It’s a shame, really, because the butler’s aesthetic is so perfectly connected to everything they did in the main kitchen. But like the milk in any supermarket, it’s in a bad location.

And while we’re on the subject of bad locations, can we talk about the fridge? The decision to put this in the hallway has ‘concussion’ written all over it. Someone is going to be taken out by a fridge door swinging open as they’re running to the living room.

Phenomenal looking kitchen, but with a less-than-successful layout.

Omar and Oz Came Joint Second

Omar and Oz’s kitchen looks amazing, I cannot take that away from them. I adore an industrial kitchen. I love moody matte black timbers paired with grey concrete, black tapware and sleek lighting. It’s everything you want in a luxury city apartment.

But this isn’t a luxury city apartment. It’s a country home. And this, my friends, is a kitchen that looks out of place in this setting. It also bears no resemblance stylistically to anything else they’ve designed thus far.

This home has an identity crisis it may not be able to recover from. This kitchen, as beautiful as it is to look at, is worlds apart from the bathrooms Omar and Oz delivered. And so there’s now no cohesion at play.

Spaces like kitchens, bathrooms and laundries across a home should have a relationship. Sadly now none of them do. These rooms are as individual as the Spice Girls, and Ginger is about to quit the band.

There’s Something Missing Here

The judges have spoken at length about kitchens having soul, but I feel this one is missing some of it. Visually, as I said, it’s striking, but there’s a homeliness that’s lacking.

It could actually be the new and improved Masterchef kitchen. Any minute now Julie Goodwin is going to pop out of the butler’s pantry crying over a croquembouche.

Jokes aside, I think some more styling would soften this space. Or the stools could have been a tan leather. Something or warm it up a bit and give it a little more charm.

Another Kitchen Plagued by Layout Issues

This is the third kitchen that requires you to pack a lunch to travel to the butler’s pantry. What happened on the layout-front this year? Like Qantas losing your luggage, I can’t wrap my head around how it keeps happening.

I also have to call out how impractical it is for the kitchen island to cut across a hallway. It literally stops you in your tracks as you walk down toward the dining room. This is possibly one of the most problematic layout decisions I’ve seen in years.

And to add insult to injury, the boys placed a fridge to the left of the hallway opening, so you have to travel back and forth to the fridge across the home’s main thoroughfare. There’s just nothing practical about it.

Sharon and Ankur Came Fourth

To quote the best song of the nineties by Dr Alban, SING HALLELUJAH! We finally have a kitchen where the butler’s pantry is placed in a logical location.

I didn’t think I would get so fired up about a butler’s pantry, but clearly its unlocked a rage in me that needs to be explored between me and my mental health professional in our next session. Best I book a double appointment. There’s a lock to unpack.

Butler’s pantry aside, not a tonne was doing it for me in Ankur and Sharon’s kitchen. It, like Omar and Oz’s, reads as a kitchen you’d see in a modern apartment or inner-city home. It’s missing the charm and character two of the teams delivered in spades.

It’s Feels Disjointed from the Rest of the Home

The black Caesarstone countertop is what makes it feel so modern and metropolitan. I don’t mind it for a kitchen, but not in this setting. It’s so surprising, too, that the team who have gone so antique in every other room of the home have gone contemporary here.

I have to agree with the judges on the styling. There was a lot jammed in that didn’t need to be there. And the two-tone fridge was a bizarre choice I recommend nobody tries to replicate.

The pendants lights are probably the best thing about the kitchen. I like the shape and finish on them. It’s a pity they don’t go with the rest of the modern aesthetic here.

I’m very surprised this kitchen scored higher than Rachel and Ryan’s.

Rachel and Ryan Came Last

Another kitchen with a butler’s pantry across the hallway. At this point I’m beginning to question my own sanity. I think I need another set of Bex and a lie down.

Maybe in this modern world you want to get your steps up. Maybe you want to use the Runkeeper app to track your journey from the kitchen sink to the butler’s oven. Maybe inconvenience is the new luxury. I could be wrong. It happened once.

In all sincerity though, Rachel and Ryan don’t deserve last place. There are some issues with their kitchen, no doubt about it, but they were judged a little harshly. With a few tweaks this kitchen could read as more charming, and a little more rustic.

There’s Something to Be Said About Safe

They played it safe with this design, that can’t be denied. There’s quite a clean, mostly-white, modern look going on. But I don’t see that as a major negative.

There are going to be potential buyers walking through these kitchens who hate green, hate copper, hate industrial. And then they’ll hit Rachel and Ryan’s kitchen and feel drawn to the tidy, modern look.

And it’s not to say there’s nothing to admire, or nothing of interest. The flooring is beautiful, the profile of the cabinetry is great, the handles are nice, the splashback is earthy and tactile.

Sure, you may not be able to reach the shelves, but the same goes for most upper cabinets in a kitchen if you’re not tall. That critique was all much ado about nothing.

There Were Some Issues Though

The major changes needed here are small. Just a few things to remove. The first is the medley of balls over the island. These ones are like bachelorette parties going to gay bars; they just don’t belong.

The other element that feels unsuccessful is the timber around the benchtop. It doesn’t feel authentic, but instead like an imitation of something organic and country. It feels too clean, too modern. it’s just not cutting it.

All in all though, Rachel and Ryan did well.

What did you make of The Block 2022 kitchens reveal. Drop a comment below and share your thoughts.

Images for this post were supplied by The Block Shop. Check out Nine Now for more of The Block 2022 kitchens reveal.