Score: 27/30
They were starting to think they might never take out first place. So, imagine Sophie and Dale's delight this week when they found out that not only did they win, but they did so by a huge margin.
"Yay! We're so excited," Sophie says. "It's made us both feel heaps better and it's given us a bit of a pep up, to know we're not doing everything wrong all the time."
The judges couldn't have been more impressed with their entrance and hallway, with Neil Whitaker saying it definitely had 'wow factor'.
The light that Dale picked out during the couple's shopping trip with Shaynna was a huge hit, setting the tone early for all three judges.
"For the first time, I think they have got the balance right," Shaynna said upon stepping through their door.
Although Neil admitted the couple's use of a raw brick wasn't for everyone, all were unanimous in their praise of the cleverly executed space. Upstairs, in their quirky little children's room, complete with stuffed bunny head on the wall, the judges were just as effusive.
"Getting vintage suitcases is hard enough, but to get them all in matching sizes, and go, 'Let’s put them as draws,' how clever is that?" Shaynna admits. "It would be a great guest bedroom, and also a great children's bedroom... the design of that cabinet is so good that if somebody didn't like those suitcases, they could just get some draws put in and it would still be a great and functional base."
Sophie says she's glad she went with her gut this week, focusing on what they wanted to do, rather than trying to second-guess the judges.
"I think we have gone too much the other way in the last couple of weeks, so we wanted to forget that stuff and focus more on us, still with the buyer in mind," she explains.
Cue the cute tree-print wallpaper, stuffed toy bunny and bright, colourful blocks.
"We wanted the room to feel fun," says Sophie. "There was so much stuff that felt unachievable this week — I'm so glad we got it all done."
Her favourite thing: Her block-mounted stuffed bunny! "It's from Urban Attitude — we wanted to use it in our Elimination Room, but they didn't have any at the time," Sophie says.
