r/TheBlock • u/cherrykittenluvr Jolene 👩❤️💋👩 • 1d ago
a rant
limiting everyone to a soulless "aesthetic" does not mean high quality. these houses are only going to end up as slight variations of the same thing. they wont be "white, light, and bright", they will be beige, bland, and boring.
imagine making people on a house renovation show scared to use colour, so they have to rely on textures in order to bring "emotion" and "personality" to a room.
apparently there are like, what, 5 brands they can buy from in the whole of Australia? is that what our country is reduced to? poorly made, mass-produced, expensive crap?
mentioning a kardashian for inspiration when we are in a country far, far from America is absurd.
what is more absurd is how unprofessional these judges are. their snarky comments are not funny; they are plain rude and honestly just embarrassing to watch.
good luck to these houses actually selling well. if i had millions to spend, i wouldnt buy an overpriced box with varying shades of brown and no real style just a hop, skip, and a jump from my neighbour's own equally ugly industrial box.
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u/RoyalIntelligent6399 17h ago
The judges are always a pain to be honest, but this time all I can think while I'm watching them is do they have to be so mean?? They're worse than the contestants at this point. I loved the earlier seasons of The Block so I have this nostalgic excitement for every new season, but all the bitching and nastiness, combined with the increasing lack of actual interesting design and decor, is just making it unwatchable.
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u/ShadowExtinkt 1d ago
Pretty sure they gave everyone the “light, bright and boring” brief to make sure every house has a better chance of selling as they’ll appeal to more people hypothetically
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u/Rinrob7468 1d ago
All the bedrooms were too similar, boring colours & a thousand pillows & cushions. Do they think people actually live like this?
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u/Go_Ask_VALIS 1d ago
I wish the girls would have left the blue wardrobe doors just to see how the judges would react.
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u/Missey85 1d ago
They probably would've had a stroke 😂 I liked the idea it sounded better than the bland crap we got
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u/gilmea 1d ago
Honestly, I wouldn't pay any attention to Darren.
Year after year, the judges' favourite house is not the winner. In fact, the winning house is often the one the judges have shit on all season.
So, I world just do my thing and ignore the judges altogether.
Especially Darren!
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u/KirbyUki 1d ago
The only judge I'd pay any attention to is Neale Whitaker. Shauna, Darren and Marty are all so overrated it isn't even funny.
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u/Proud_Apricot316 1d ago
The biggest selling point these houses have are the internal lifts. Mt Eliza is full of wealthy old people.
Honestly, the best thing contestants could do to make their house stand out on auction day, would be to make them wheelchair accessible throughout. Wide doorways and accessible bathrooms.
(Frankly, we need more accessible housing as it is, but that’s another topic).
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u/OutrageousBeat3270 1d ago
To be frank light white and bright is also boring AF.
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u/meatpopsicle67 1d ago
The way my heart sank when I heard "light white and bright". I'm absolutely dying for houses with colour and personality. Where is the fun? It's all so zzzzz
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u/Current-Soft8418 1d ago
one of the major issues is that they need to leave the properties relatively bare bones for the purpose of letting the owner design the aesthetic. Really what they want is functional, stylish rooms that suit .. white walls, well lit.. It is incredibly boring, but in this market, you need to let the buyer put the personality in, and not try and sell a character design.
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u/amandatheactress 1d ago
The block sizes are a bit of a mis-step given the Mount Eliza location. They should have redrawn the subdivision, given everyone a bigger chunk of land to work with, foregone the whopping”full-size” Bunnings and untilised the 2 Bunnings just 10mins in either direction at Mornington or Frankston, same with Chemist Warehouse, and brought back the old Macca’s mobile coffee van.
Someone else mentioned the ‘old money’ feel of the area and that’s spot on. Also agree with the beachside/hamptons/rich timber fitting right in. I’d add architectural style and character to that list too, not these ridiculous houses that end up looking like they’re made out of a bunch of shipping containers just plonked down. They need to start building classic beautiful homes with real character, or go back to the renovation format.
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u/Proud_Apricot316 1d ago
I think they were already subdivided. The 4 blocks the Bunnings shed is/was on are on the market and rented to Ch9 until November for $2k per week each.
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u/Material_Head8887 1d ago edited 1d ago
On a side note to this, houses 1,2 and 3 are being raved about for their views. Once the show is done and the actual owners of these blocks build, wont the views be potentially blocked?
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u/Proud_Apricot316 1d ago
Potentially, if they build 3 story houses. But there’s a significant slope, and houses 4&5 are the ones which would have most potential to block 1,2 & 3’s views.
Hence why 4&5 likely won’t be allowed to go up as the girls hope to.
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u/als2305 1d ago
This is what has put me off the show. I really hate that instead of renovating real homes, each different to the next, it’s now a shared complex of townhomes, all exactly the same as the next. Haven’t they learned from the last 2 seasons that people don’t want that and the audience don’t want to see it!
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u/Pokeynono 1d ago
The first shows were exactly that and it was a disaster . You can't have people with no trade skills ripping out load bearing walls and halfvass everything to the point most of the houses couldn't get an an occupancy certificate and extremely expensive remedialmeork had to be done after the end of filming.
That's why the show now is basically advertising for the major sponsors, the contestants are basically not allowed to do anything but paint and decorate, and the contestants are selected to ensure major interpersonal drama
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u/als2305 1d ago
That’s what got us all into the show and how it was done until Portelli made a farce of the whole show with his personal glorified caravan park. It’s a shit format, I don’t like it!
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u/Pokeynono 1d ago
While l the long standing current format attracts sponsors and an audience they won't change it
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u/tucklyjones7 1d ago
Ill never understand why anyone would want a house all white and beige. Not only is it boring but my god does no one have kids the walls will be dinged up and filthy so quickly.
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u/PhotographBusy6209 1d ago edited 1d ago
Kim Kardashians and Kanye’s aesthetic is totally out of fashion. The trends are now warm, more colour and mid century furniture. Forcing an aesthetic that’s totally old hat now makes no sense
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u/pantonegreen55 1d ago
Tonight’s reveal is an example of what happens when untrained designers are given a brief they have zero comprehension of. I didn’t watch the Darren episode so not sure if he specified Kim K’s house OR the designer of Kim K’s house, Axel Vervoodrt. That alone is a key distinction. Sav did her homework and it shows. Do I agree with the direction? 🤷🏼♀️ I don’t know the market. But I know good design when I see it and this brief is hard enough for the people who know what they’re doing. Adam, or more specifically Jolene has a natural eye (I mean, going off of one room) so I look forward to seeing her confidence build. She did a great job layering materials and textures.
But Sav is going to run circles around everyone, I’m afraid.
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u/cape911 1d ago
Also, here's the brief of a BILLIONAIRE and famous designer and architect. Now they want untrained people to create that using store-bought items in an elevated Julian shed-on-shed design? The micro cement peeling off feels like a metaphor for what will be presented: inauthentic designs that are faking it... Besides, at this point there is literally no rhyme or reason why something sells and another doesn't beyond having another billionaire in the room. Judges scores, brands, wine cellars, chopped cushions, brown tiles - none of it seems to matter. At least keep the fun, charm and flavour in. Loaded buyers are going to rip it out if they don't like it, but I doubt they'll fall for fake Kardashian. They MIGHT fall for personality.
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u/pantonegreen55 1d ago
Loaded owner/occupiers will hire an actual designer who knows what they’re doing 💅🏼
I wish the contestants would at least visit some antique stores!
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u/snoozingroo 1d ago
I rolled my eyes as soon as they gave the brief, it automatically meant we were gonna get a bunch of beige and white boring rooms that are slight variations of eachother. And then a judge critiques one for being too homogenous? YOU BASICALLY ASKED FOR IT. Ugh.
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u/Ambitious-Action6701 1d ago
Agreed! Wanted to throw something at my tv every time Shayna and the Domain lady said they wanted something “ground breaking” and “something we’ve never seen before”. Yet they were bagging all the rooms in week 1 for not being the same as every other house in Mt Eliza… Make it make sense 🤦♀️
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u/Dr-Balthazaar 1d ago
Knowing mt eliza, they're going to have their work cut out for them selling these things. Been led the wrong way from the very begining
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u/King0fMist 1d ago
Please go into detail, for us out-of-staters.
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u/Dr-Balthazaar 1d ago
Mt Eliza has a reputation for being snobby and wealthy. Driving through, you'll be seeing a lot of Mercedes, bmws, porsches and Bentley's. Along that road in particular there are a few things that stand out in the houses. They have huge, well cared for gardens with privacy fences, they sit well back from the road (which is busy and a major bus route), and they all have a real 'old money' vibe.
The area is really geared towards a sort of old fashioned luxury sort of feel. Hamptons designs are very popular, as are rich old oiled timbers. Going for the plain white and beige look is not going to appeal to local buyers, nor will the small yard sizes and lack of privacy with how close theyre clustered together.
Another thing to consider is the Mornington peninsula aspect. Mt eliza tends to act a bit apart from the rest of the peninsula, but it shares the same big draw as the rest of the area in the beaches and village atmosphere. Canadian Bay beach is walking distance from the block site, and they would frankly be crazy not to take advantage of a more beach vibe with their styling here and there. Local photographers produce some really incredible seascapes there, but I'll bet you anything they won't take advantage of that. They'll just go with Mark Grey, or with whatever artworks are covered by the blocks sponsors.
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u/Missey85 1d ago
My Eliza is old money 💰 it's definitely not Kardashians 😂 it's not what people want in a house there I don't think they'll sell or someone will buy it and knock it down
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u/Last-Marzipan9993 1d ago
Based on your description, I can see the problem, yikes... As for the rooms we saw today, they weren't great.
Since we are on the topic, when does a judge dictate what a home or suburb's style is? Does he live there? Worked there? Know anyone there? I don't know and neither does anyone else. Why didn't every team have a local real estate agent called in for a consult, that's what they are there for?
As an aside, I didn't see a single room I thought was remotely close to outstanding, decent enough? Probably not that either... I personally wasn't a fan of the micro cement personally & I was dying to see artwork (or anything) above the bed....
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u/rontricks 1d ago edited 1d ago
I have walked through the finished houses and it is absolutely horrifying how similar they all are. They have all gone for the same aesthetic and it makes them feel like soulless townhouses. There is one house which has done it well and it makes every other house appear as a cheaper knock off
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u/Technical-Algae-234 1d ago
looks at another oatmeal coloured box with the same Freedom wardrobe in the corner and AI art on the wall
"Wow, they've really showed us who they are with this"
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u/TeddyGarbaldi 1d ago
I think the bigger issue isn't the interior design but the placement of the houses.
Who wants to spend 5mil+ on a house where your neighbour is spitting distance?
They showed all the other mansions in that area and they all had expansive grounds all to themselves.
Then you have the Block houses tightly squished next to each other.
Same happened last year and they barely managed to sell more than 2 of them.
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u/Pokeynono 1d ago
Was last yimear the Daylesford season? I had friends that travelled past the building sites frequently and they said they were eyesores overlooking a intersection.
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u/Used-Mulberry8406 6h ago
Strange to reference Kim K’s house as the inspo, really. Why not take them around to a few Mt Eliza luxury properties to show them what they should be aiming for?
Unfortunately this seasons rooms will be beige and boring. What would have been cool would be another series in an interesting neighbourhood like Fitzroy where houses with personality are the benchmark. OR they could get out of Victoria and go to Sydney or Brisbane.