#TheBlock recap (Sun 17/06/12)

The Block – Sun 6:30pm/Mon-Fri 7pm, Ch9
http://homes.ninemsn.com.au/theblock/

The Blockheads have been extra busy everywhere this week – offsite challenges, putting in kitchens, trying to work out budgets. Everyone’s too concerned about Mike & Andrew’s two bonus points and how they’re gonna use them when they should be worried about completing kitchens and their room-saver make-over rooms the judges have told them to sort out. Life was never meant to be easy, but when are the teams going to cop a break? Importantly another controversy unfolds for us this week in CARgate, but more on that after this: Here comes another on… BOOM!

With so much going on, Andrew finds the time to talk about how sleep deprivation is such an important part of living on The Block. Dan agrees – it’ll be another all nighter for him. Zombie Mike walks past in the background and takes a bite out of a tradie standing waiting for Andrew to be done talking. Dan moans about the brothers still having two bonus points, but if he put more effort into his renovation instead of his moaning then he’d be winning everything.

Reviewing the room saver rooms acknowledges there’s still so much to do. Dan & Dani are working on their entry and stairs; Dale & Sophie are redo-ing their front room; Brad & Lara their front room also; while Mike & Andrew are working on their top floor wet bar and terrace. Everyone knows what needs to be done, it’s just a case of getting it done (yeah, right).

Mike & Andrew’s decision to swap their living and kitchen spaces might pay off this week for them (if they can finish it) as it’s by far the biggest kitchen. So big you could swing a cat in it and then roast it in one of the two ovens. Dale & Sophie have continued their shitty chic style by including a pressed metal splashback that’s way too over-powering and lacquering the exposed brick above the kitchen cupboards. You just can’t teach some kids…

The hours are ticking by until tools down, and while Lara wants to go shopping her little car isn’t big enough – so she wants to borrow the bigger 4WD that the brothers are using, but they’re out and about all day. She’s a little bit jack of their last minute attitude and how it affects everyone else (at least her right now). Repeated phone calls from her and Brad serve no purpose, despite the boys promising to be back in “15 minutes”. Lara cracks the shits because she perceives the boys don’t want to swap so when Dale comes back she takes the van he’s using. CARgate ensues when the brothers do make it back as Lara leaves. They’re all “But we’re here” and she’s all “Whatevs” and Brad’s all “Best not to get in Lara’s way when she’s like this” and Dale’s all “What’s going on?”.

At Mitre 10 Lara picks up an offcut of LVL to use on their side table, but Brad shuts it down immediately as he thinks the judges would be very critical of them using it. Lara can’t win so promises to never try again. At last someone has finally understood the over-arching message of The Block.

Dani’s adding a herb garden to their kitchen which Dan immediately takes credit for when it looks like it’ll work great. Their kitchen seems to be fairly practical and modern, keeping with the style they’ve used throughout the rest of their house. Brad’s gone to pick up the controversial pendant lights he sent off to be resprayed and they’ve come up a treat. Even Lara likes them, so it seems for now she’s forgotten her revelation and is back on board with buoyancy.

Day turns to night and the Blockheads all settle in for their last internal all-nighter to complete their room-saver rooms and their kitchens. Check-ins at 12:37am with Brad & Lara/1:51am with Dan & Dani shows everyone is trying their best to turn their sow’s ears into silk purses. At 3:07am the madness kicks in, with Brad & Dale breaking into the on-site Mitre 10 shop to get supplies to allow them to continue working. What consequences? How can we get mad at skateboard buddies Brad & Dale?!

Dawn breaks on reveal morning and somehow Dale & Sophie have managed some sleep while the other teams continue to work to deliver their rooms. Somehow Mike & Andrew have managed to paint themselves metaphorically into a corner with far too much to do before they deliver anything. At 5am(!) they decided to build the console they couldn’t find in the shops and Mike thinks painting it bright green will really set it off in the room. The brothers clearly need urgent medical attention.

Dan & Dani have been working all night and greet each other in kitchen with a cheery “shut your mouth” and “go to bed” one to the other. Young love is wonderful. Lara’s catching a quick kip on the sofa as Brad finishes cleaning the kitchen. Somehow, with an hour to go before reveal, Mike & Andrew have yet to start work on their wet bar/roof terrace and continue to frantically dress their kitchen.

Dale & Sophie surface with 30 minutes to go for their final touches; Brad & Lara have now both crashed on the couch; Dan & Dani continue to bicker; and Mike & Andrew NOW start work on their room-saver terrace. Finding energy from somewhere deep inside, the brothers are carrying bar fridges upstairs with only seconds to go. Scotty whistles for tools down and it’s job done for everyone.

Scotty congratulates their work in what has really been another lame cross promotion for the Nine Network (“The 2 and a half room week”). He predicts it’ll be tough on the judges though he’s not yet seen the rooms. Andrew blames his brain fart of the green table room that never got into their kitchen as his “Coco Chanel moment”. PUH-lease.

It’s time to unleash the judges on the rooms, so the Blockheads are excused and whisked off to somewhere else so they can shower, eat and sleep (that’s the only rational explanation for what happens to them during this time). Starting in Mike & Andrew’s kitchen the judges are completely impressed with the finished product of the timber flooring as ceiling. Neale thinks the kitchens feel very spacious for a closet and celebrating her Diamond Jubilee as The Block Judge Queen Shaynna the Omnivorous acknowledges the brothers have really delivered an entertainer’s house. The mirrored splashback gets big wraps as does the stone bench top. Always the pessimist John asks what have they done wrong as “we’re always so complimentary” – he’s clearly not been paying attention to past weeks – and this prompts Neale to suggest the sink is too small to bathe in. It’s ticking all the boxes for the judges. But enough! There are other rooms to judge!

Dan & Dani’s kitchen is now due for a once over by the judges. “It’s fantastic,” is Queen Shaynna’s first impression. “It’s just simple, clean, modern, functional,” says Neale. John’s critical of the sink in the island bench not being recessed, but that seems to be about it. The judges quickly scarper over to Brad & Lara’s for a looksee. Everyone’s got bloody apples as a part of their dressing! The size of the kitchen is the first wow collectively from Das Judges, and then John points out the map under glass on the side of the island bench and they’re all transfixed, declaring it the “Best Idea EVER”. Look for it in many upcoming Belle Magazine kitchen stylings. The styling in the nook is applauded, but not the styling in the kitchen. It would seem Brad & Lara just can’t win sometimes.

For Dale & Sophie, it was always going to be about continuing their styling from throughout the house and the judges have warmed to it, with Neale declaring, “This kitchen has WOW Factor(tm).” The pressed metal splashback is deemed cool, and the entire kitchen is considered to be retro but uber cool. Just about every kitchen has got the pendants too. It’s like they all planned their kitchens together. Though the judges agree picking a winning kitchen will be very tough – all four are very, very good. Except for the little things they found wrong with each of them.

The teams have gathered, expectant, to hear their fate as to who won the kitchen and the room-saver rooms. $10,000 is no chump change to take into the outside to complete the backyards. Scotty starts with the feedback on the room-savers, and all in all there’s no surprises…

Dale & Sophie: A huge improvement and fabulous styling. The new colourful chairs are a great choice. Overall another clever design from a very clever couple.
Mike & Andrew: Now it’s a party deck and the judges were impressed, though they noticed that the brothers ran out of time and missed many details in the wet bar area.
Brad & Lara: The room now feels beautiful and inviting. Good move putting the mantle back in – it feels balanced. Great choice with the new lounge. Overall your styling has improved but the couple could still do more with this room.
Dan & Dani: Deleting the world’s dumbest archway was a great start. It is so important to make a good first impression and now the couple have one.

The feedback on the kitchens is just as kind…

Dale & Sophie: Fantastic flow from the dining room to the kitchen – good idea, well executed. The pressed metal splashback is absolutely unique. Overall it’s a great kitchen that will reward you on auction day.
Mike & Andrew: The brothers took a massive risk, but WOW it really paid off. Love the timber ceiling – absolutely stunning. The mirrored splashback makes the kitchen feel bigger. Attention to detail this week was spot on.
Brad & Lara: The judges loved the size of the kitchen and thought the couple had used the space very well. Fantastic pendant lights; judges loved the drama of the black finish. The Melways map is really cool.
Dan & Dani: Open plan kitchen was a great move – they have good flow from the front of the house right through to the living area. The judges all felt the couple have delivered a cohesive contemporary home that will serve them well on auction day. Yet again, a 10/10 for styling – it looked like it was straight out of a Jamie Oliver cookbook.

So, after teasing with scores again – and finding out how the brothers wanted to play their bonus points publicly – this is how the scores played out (Shaynna; Neale; John; Total):

ROOM-SAVERS
Dale & Sophie: 8 + 9 + 9 = 26.
Mike & Andrew: 6.5 + 6.5 + 6 = 19.
Brad & Lara: 7.5 + 7.5 + 7 = 22.
Dan & Dani: 7.5 + 8 + 7 = 22.5.

KITCHENS
Dale & Sophie: 9.5 + 9.5 + 8.5 = 27.5.
Mike & Andrew: 9 + 9 + 8 + 2 bonus points = 28.
Brad & Lara: 8.5 + 8.5 + 8 = 25.
Dan & Dani: 8.5 + 8 + 8 = 24.5.

Congratulations to Dale & Sophie for their room-saver win, and to Mike & Andrew for their kitchen win (half a point!) – $5,000 each to take into the backyard work will be a massive help, no doubt. It would also seem saving those bonus points for their kitchen really did pay off like they hoped. Dan & Dani come up Chumpions for the kitchen comp and are awarded the hats accordingly.

Moving into the backyard this week is gonna be tough for Brad & Lara as they’ve got no money to spend on their yard, and – fancy that! Dan & Dani manage to be in the middle of more controversy! There’s no love lost when it comes to competing against your neighbours it would seem.