Jess and Norm win the first ever challenge

Inspired by her pep talk from judge Neale Whitaker, Jess was confident in her styling for the challenge. She barely questioned her choices and was happy to have partner Norm assist her with picking out items for the room – unlike some of the other Blockheads. (We’re looking at you, Sara!)

As a point of difference, Jess decided to fill the room with white flowers. “The judges will never forget a smell,” she declared confidently. “You can’t go past fresh flowers.”

The other point of difference? Jess listened to the instructions when the challenge was delivered. “The key words in this challenge? “You are dressing the room for sale, not for functionality”,” she said.

Entering the Downstairs Bedroom, the judges were immediately impressed with her and Norm’s efforts. Darren Palmer noted that Jess had learned already not to be timid about using colour, spotting her bold artwork and pops of rich purple. Shaynna Blaze was impressed they had made the room’s fireplace a feature and had played with scale in the space. “What a lovely room,” Neale commented.

The judges once again complimented her on her “gut instincts” when it came to classy styling. “For some reason, I’ve got a really sophisticated gut,” Jess snorted.

“It was beautiful and your sense of colour was divine,” finished Shaynna.

The girls didn’t fare as well, with Carla admitting she was embarrassed by their efforts. They vastly underestimated the size of the Dining Room and simply didn’t get the right pieces to dress it. Darren, however, said the furniture proportions were spot on but all the judges agreed there was room for improvement.

Hans and Courtney had styled the adjoining Living Room, and Shaynna adored the tones, textures and rich fabrics. “It was elegant,” Neale agreed. “I think it could have felt more luxe,” Shaynna added.

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The Study was designed by Kerrie and Spence, who struggled to reproduce what they had learned leading into the challenge. Even so, Kerrie was hopeful, saying she wanted the judges to walk in and say, “I like it. They’ve listened to us.”

That isn’t exactly what they said.

“Were you listening?” was what Shaynna reacted with, shocked by the pair’s interpretation of the styling lesson. She advised them to find one style, stop mixing several together and learn to scale back. Ouch.