Last night House Rules delivered its final round of Backyard battles as a triple elimination looms.
| House Rules | Jess & Jared’s (SA) | Kim & Michelle’s (NSW) |
|---|---|---|
| Rule 1 | Style a NY high-line entertaining area | Help us chill with a Balinese backyard |
| Rule 2 | Bring the Bronx down the side | Use the colours of a sunset |
| Rule 3 | Make a cool pop up pizza joint | Create a private oasis off the master suite |
| Rule 4 | Add attitude with sculptures and art | Go wild with a play area for the kids |
| Rule 5 | Choose your zone | |
West Beach, SA – Josh & Brandon’s zone
They all loved the “well made” platform deck, but the brothers were roasted for not having any shade cover which Drew said looked “so contemporary, so fantastic but fundamentally flawed.” LLB called it an “extraordinary garden” but they “absolutely blew it by putting everything in the wrong place.” While the yard had some high notes, Drew said they “have extracted the high line too far.” Wendy said it had “fabulous execution” but the high line tracks served no function.
SCORES: 19/30
West Beach, SA – Toad & Mandy’s zone
LLB was speechless. Wendy struggled to “even find one tiny fault.” On the pop up pizza joint, Wendy said: “It was executed perfectly.” LLB praised the “incredibly clever, thought through design” and the telegraph poles with lightbulbs. The “urban and edgy” graffiti wall mural was a hit. The judges disagreed on the decorative bike, while Drew questioned the purpose of it, Wendy listed to Drew the “many ways you are wrong.” In the sitting area, the sculpture “owned the space” said Wendy, while all three judges loved the recycled brick.
SCORES: 29/30
Tweed Heads, NSW – Chiara & David’s zone
Kim’s private oasis won high praise as the judges soaked up the “luxury” outdoor bath, while Drew thought they mastered the “typically Bali” privacy screen. LLB called it “one of the best things they have ever done.” The shade umbrella was a success in the outdoor entertaining area, which also hit the sunset colours’ house rule. Not everything hit the mark, Wendy called the colour choice on the wall “insipid”. Drew said the furniture setting was “too heavy.” Overall LLB said they were “thoughtful and passionate and sexy about design with really, really good architecture.”
SCORES: 28/30
Tweed Heads, NSW- Mel & Dave’s zone
The pool area sleepers in the pebble area was “beautiful…amazing design” said Wendy. They all praised the curved wall, Drew called it “architectural…with such strong shapes”, but the judges were divided on the breeze blocks planters. The jungle play area was a roaring success; LLB noted the use of the “same colour language” as the pool area, declaring it “a cohesive sense of design.” Wendy loved their clever use of a difficult space that will adapt as the kids grow up.
SCORES: 27/30
Update 17/7/18 Jess and Jared and Kim and Michelle returned home to their renovated backyards and three teams were sent packing.
West Beach, SA – Jess & Jared
In Toad & Mandy’s zone, they were wowed by the courtyard and Bronx graffiti wall; Jared said: “It’s amazing.” The pop up pizza joint was perfection, Jess exclaimed: “This is next level!”
Score 9/10
Josh & Brandon’s area impressed. Jared loved the deck: “This is seriously unbelievable.” They did, however, express the same concern as the judges, that the deck wasn’t weatherproof and had no shade. The high-line railway sleepers were “so cool” and the fire pit and bench seating hit the mark. They were divided on the “random” use of sculptures in the yard.
SCORE 7/10
Tweed Heads, NSW – Kim & Michelle
In Chiara & David’s deck and entertaining area Kim said: “Love this sitting area” Michelle: “I just think it’s perfect… its very family friendly.” Kim’s private oasis with outdoor bath scored with both and hit the Bali rule. Kim said: “This is stunning… this is just divine.”
Score 7/10
Mel & Dave’s pool area design timber pool wall was “so cool” Michelle said: “I just can’t believe this.” Their work within the sunset colours delighted the homeowners. The play area was a smash with grown-ups and kids alike, Michelle: “This is awesome.” The jungle mural was “beautiful.” Michelle declared they brought “character and life” to the area, but they did express some concern about snakes in the rock climbing wall.
Score 7/10
The overall leaderboard looks like this
Mel & Dave, Toad & Mandy and Chiara & David progressed to the finals in an emotional elimination that saw Josh & Brandon, Jess & Jared and Kim & Michelle leave the competition.
On making it to the finals, Mandy said: “We are that close, who would have thought a dairy farmer and new mum would ever, ever be this close to winning that amount of money and being in a competition like this?” Dave remarked: “We worked so hard, as everyone else does here, but it just seems to work and it makes me a bit emotional.” Chiara added, through tears: “It’s bittersweet that we made it through but three teams are leaving.”
