Image: David Cook for The Block/Channel 9
As we entered week three of The Block on Phillip Island, some of the teams were flying ahead while others are floundering. We saw frontrunners Mimi and Kristian, who won the first week’s bathrooms and second week’s guest bedrooms with their elevated coastal style, “come right off course” this week with their main ensuite. Meanwhile, runners-up two weeks in a row Courtney and Grant stepped up to take out the win with their almost faultless main ensuite in their Modern Mediterranean house.
Real-estate expert and judge Marty Fox pointed out the importance of this room from a sale perspective. “With a master ensuite, this is a real money room,” he said. “This is where buyers judge a house – master ensuite.”
On that note, judge Shaynna Blaze wanted to address the dated use of the term ‘master’. “We’re so used to saying ‘master ensuite’, but do you think that’s the right term to use in this day and age?” she asked. “No one’s the master of me, so this is the main bedroom ensuite.”
Once the terminology was sorted, it was time to return to the contestants’ hits and misses in the main ensuite. Here are five mistakes they made.
1. Switches outside the room
“Having the [electrical] switches on the outside of a main ensuite is a major flaw,” said Marty in Jesse and Paige’s bathroom. “How many times have you jumped in the shower and forgotten to turn the fan on? You don’t want to be reaching out and trying to turn it on and off. It’s not up to standard for a multimillion dollar property.”
2. Narrow shower entry
A tight shower entry was a problem in a couple of the main ensuites, but particularly Courtney and Grant’s. “This is probably the only miss in the entire room,” said Darren. When testing the width, he could barely fit his two shoulders through. “That is the only thing I’d be changing,” agreed Marty.
3. Cliché styling
In the previous week, the judges praised the decorative whale tails in Mimi and Kristian’s guest bedroom for their subtle sophistication. This week, the couple took the kitsch too far, with a whale tail and multiple penguin figurines. “It’s now getting naff,” said Shaynna. “It’s naff, it’s cliché.” In Kylie and Brad’s main ensuite, the styling also brought the room down. “What is that?” said Shaynna, pointing to the “dirty floor mat”.
4. Design not matching location
Despite receiving feedback that Art Deco doesn’t suit the island setting the week before, Kylie and Brad stuck to this style in their main ensuite. “This doesn’t say beach house, it doesn’t say modern contemporary,” said Shaynna. “We’re in a beach environment and people are going to come in here and go, ‘It’s a bit cold.’ This has gone so far from what is needed in a beach house, it’s not funny.”
5. Bigger isn’t better
“It almost feels too big,” said Marty when he saw Mimi and Kristian’s double shower. “That’s nearly two-and-a-half metres.” It was so large that the shower’s door clashed with the room’s door. Not only that, the built-in benches inside the shower were too high. Scott Cam shared that, as a rule of thumb, seats should be 450mm high, tables should be 750mm and benchtops should be 900mm. “Go 20mm either way of that and it doesn’t feel comfortable,” he explained.
The Block 2024 main ensuites
Here’s how the contestants scored with their bathrooms in week three.
1st place: Courtney and Grant
Marble, travertine, Venetian plaster – it’s all about the luxe finishes in this bathroom. “Say you’ve got a wife with expensive taste without saying it,” said Grant. Time will tell how this team’s budget shapes up by the end of the season, but splashing the cash early on has paid off for them with a win in week three. “Wow, I love this so much, I want to touch everything,” said Darren. He applauded their very “current” design which reflected Phillip Island’s natural environment. A feature Shaynna commended was the combination of two tiles on the floors to create a checkerboard pattern. “These guys understand aesthetics and practicality, and they’re combining both to deliver something that is extremely marketable,” said Marty.
Score: 28/30
2nd place: Jesse and Paige
This team has come a long way since their unfinished bathroom in week one. Darren highlighted that Jesse and Paige had echoed the style of their previous bathroom but in a more refined way, pointing out the thinner rail and less complicated tiles. “Simplifying those details let the traditional details sing,” he said. The layout was praised and Shaynna liked the sliding shower door, although she would have appreciated better lighting at the mirror. Generally, it was considered a chic and sophisticated main ensuite. “If they continue this throughout, it will be a success,” said Darren, who gave them the first score of 10 for the season.
Score: 27.5/30
3rd place: Kylie and Brad
After a couple of weeks struggling to impress the judges, Kylie and Brad decided to persist with their black-and-white aesthetic. “They hate it, but I’m sticking with it,” said Kylie. “Instead of doing black, we’re [going for] white with black accents.” The shou sugi ban on the wall, which is a charred timber cladding, was a hit. “It’s a beautiful contrast [to the blackbutt vanity] – that light timber with the dark timber,” said Shaynna. Darren liked the pendants, which were a more modern and simple version of the ones that felt ’90s night club” in the first week. Shaynna still wanted them to drop the Art Deco details and lean into the beach setting more, but Marty felt good progress was being made. “I think it’s a massive step in the right direction for these guys, because they’re not losing their personality,” he said.
Score: 23/30
4th place: Kristian and Mimi
There were some major planning flaws for Kristian and Mimi this week after two wins, with the oversized shower being the biggest problem. “I’ve never seen such a big, useless shower. There’s no bath,” said Marty. “I think they believe [the shower] is the hero of the room and it’s not.” It was praised as a palette, from the blue tiles to the timber panelling. “I love the materiality, I love the colours,” said Darren. The contemporary arched mirrors were another win, yet the naff styling was a glaring misstep. “They’ve missed the mark. Maybe they got a bit too cocky,” said Marty. “It’s a real let-down for such an important room for the sale of the house.”
Score: 21.5/30
5th place: Ricky and Haydn
This best-friend duo had issues with waterproofing, as the wrong product was used and it all had to be removed. They also went separate ways with their builder after not seeing eye-to-eye, meaning Ricky and Haydn were left with little to show at the end of the week. Darren had wished they at least placed materials on the floor so they could have given feedback on those. “This is the most unfinished room in The Block history,” said Marty. Scott Cam clarified that it wasn’t, actually. There have been quite a few contestants who haven’t finished rooms over the years, so there’s still hope for this team yet.
Score: 4/30
Tune into The Block 2024 on Sundays at 7pm and Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7.30pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.
Take a tour of all The Block holiday houses so far
Week 5: Main bedrooms and walk-in robe reveals
Week 8: Living and dining reveals
Week 9: Office and rumpus room reveals
Week 10: Laundry and guest bedroom reveals
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