facebook photo Facebook_zps78be7936.png  photo Twitter_zps9f55383d.png  photo Pinterest_zpsba531ede.png  photo RSS_zps241a6b99.png

Monday 4 November 2013

The Block NZ 2013: A Round Up



So The Block NZ is over for another year - Alice and Caleb's gorgeous wee cottage won by a mile in the end, were you surprised? Or was it totally deserved!

If you're anything like me I got totally emotionally invested and was devastated for the other couples to think they made such seemingly small profits considering the mammoth efforts that went into renovating their given homes.

This season has well and truly proven just how subjective design can be. Here, four very different houses appealed to four very different markets which was equally reflected in the range of prices that they sold for. A great suggestion that I saw for upcoming seasons is to revert back to the original 'Block' concept where all four houses begin as identical properties so that the playing field is fair and even. Then you know the results are an accurate reflection of just how well the contestants did.

There was so much with this season's show that I disagreed with, yet I'm sure I'll be front and centre to my tv for next years' show. What a sucker!

2 comments:

  1. Couldn't agree more - it wasn't a level playing field to start with and homes of a similar era as a starting point would help with that. Loved the street appeal of the winning home and although there were aspects I liked in all four homes, I kept tuning in hoping to be really impressed by design elements and all we really got was essentially a Freedom furniture catalogue (nothing wrong with that but I'd love to see more design companies sponsoring the next season so broader design can be showcased. In saying that, I am drawn to these shows, and can't wait for the Block All Stars Australia to be shown.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Agree. I'm not impressed by the judging and their take on design aesthetic - if there's a particular style they are being judged against then surely that should be stated up front. And so no impressed with the hautie real estate woman (what a cliche). I think the 'winnings' at the end for all that hard work, loss of privacy and potentially no job to go back to, is not worth it. I also think the marketing and insessant plugging of sponsors was so OTT as to be quite vulgar and potentially damaging to their brand - they certainly got more than their money's worth out of the contestants. Perhaps there should be a base profit (or at least the sponsors could cough up and provide gear/vouchers or a lump sum to each contestant, not just each couple - hard cheese for the boys who have to share a car). Then anything you make at the sale, over and above RV? Although I'm not sure how they arrived at an RV for such diverse properties. Who knows why that dude bought the 'winning' house in the end. I don't necessarily believe it's because he thought it was the best house on the block - rather the type of house he wanted for his portfolio at the time. We never really got to see enough to judge that. Also, with such time constraints design is seriously impeeded - furniture from Freedom compared with the opportunities that our Aussie counterparts have is just no comparison. No opportunity to chose great or interesting fabrics/wallpaper; good vintage or alternative furniture, etc. Not sure if I'll tune in next time. I'd really rather see a long-term project with design options and instructional DIY (including furniture reno) that demonstrates the different ops people have if they look and think outside fads and commercially driven stereotypes.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...