Span - Ashtead The Great Interior Design Challenge

In Britain, we have an amazing array of places we call home,

from thatched cottages and conversions

to terraced housing and tower blocks.

But when it comes to interior design,

we don't always make the best of the rooms we live in.

So we're asking 24 amateur designers

who believe they've got what it takes

to be the next big thing in interiors

to show us how it should be done.

We'll travel across the country, and through the ages,

to Victorian avenues,

Art Deco cul-de-sacs

and Regency squares.

Each time, three would-be designers take on similar rooms

in three neighbouring homes.

I don't really hate it, but I'm not sure.

I haven't upholstered cat beds before.

This is going really well!

Across eight heats,

they'll compete for a place in the quarterfinals.

Judging them are designer

and president-elect of the British Institute of Interior Design

Daniel Hopwood...

The really great designers have a level of flexibility,

and they can work around a client

and can yet give them a lot of style.

..and interior stylist and magazine journalist Sophie Robinson.

What I'm looking for in this competition is

designers who have a high level of creativity.

Now it's their imaginations and design skills

that'll determine who'll come out on top.

This time, our amateur designers will be putting their own spin

on a kitchen, in three state-of-the-art 1960s Span houses.

They'll each work to their individual homeowner's briefs

within similar-sized rooms.

It's been a spanner in the works. SHE LAUGHS

I just hope it's going to work.

I absolutely love this. Beautiful.

It just feels all a bit like the safe option to me at the moment.

It sort of works, I'm just not sure about the blue.

These two have decided which one of you is going to go forward.

The swinging '60s seem like an era of liberation,

when the world was experimenting with anything and everything.

But most new British housing was anything but adventurous.

But there were some exceptions.

This is the Westfield Estate in Ashtead, Surrey,

built in 1968 by innovative housing company Span Developments.

With their steeped pitched roofs, large windows and tilted porches,

the houses were touted by its developers as the very latest

in modern village living,

part of a visionary project that set out to redefine

how communities lived in post-war Britain.

In a radical piece of planning,

they moved away from the road-based suburban scheme

so common at the time.

Instead of driveways out of the front of their houses,

cars were kept in parking areas or garages

hidden discreetly behind hedges.

This forced people to walk to their homes,

through these majestic, open landscapes

where they might bump into their neighbours

and could keep an eye on their kids playing safely.

Now, three Span estate residents

are giving their kitchens over to our budding interior designers.

My dream was always to go straight into university

and into interior design professionally.

But life completely threw a curveball,

and we had our daughter young.

So that meant I was focused on family life.

And it's only now that they're a bit older,

we've got family around us who support us,

and it feels like it's my time.

I can really go for my dreams now.

I went to university and did textile design,

and I specialised in printing.

So the creative side is definitely there

and definitely the part of my life I probably enjoy the most.

I've got three children,

so I'm very busy at home looking after them,

even though the youngest is nine.

My children are very supportive of me being creative

and love that I'm creative.

It certainly helps when they come home from school

and say they need a medieval outfit for a Monday,

and then I have to make it for them.

So they do like that side of things.

I think the thing I like about interior design is the fact

that it's always drawing on the past in some way or other.

But my pet hate has to be anything from the '70s.

It's kind of a really bad take on Art Nouveau.

It's like Art Nouveau on acid. SHE SNORTS

Now they'll work for their first ever client,

with a ?1,000 budget and 48 hours spread over three days,

to transform a whole kitchen.

The first house belongs to Bruno and Rosie.

Their units aren't in keeping with the '60s period of the house.

And despite a dining extension, the kitchen's not practical.

We've got several furnitures that don't really fit very well,

with the space that we have created.

We do cook quite a bit, and Bruno is Italian, he cooks a lot.

We do like to entertain.

And I think, probably,

we want to use the kitchen more as a dining area.

Judges Sophie and Daniel want to assess the potential of each room

that the designers will be working in.

Well, well. A Shaker kitchen in a '60s house, how about that?

Yeah, it does look a bit strange, quite country in look.

Shaker came from a religious group

who were in the States in the 18th century.

Everything was all about simplicity and handmadeness.

So, for example, with panels like these,

they're just simple. You can see how they're constructed.

There's no little filigree or anything fancy.

It was really the early days of modernism, in fact.

The key thing here for them is the layout, the layout doesn't work.

Since having the extension,

they've never really worked out how to configure their kitchen.

They've created a dead space on the other side of here

by creating this barrier, and that doesn't really work.

I've heard they want an island.

Remember, you've got to have about 90cm. Oh, at least, yeah.

If not, you're going to put your bum into the oven

every time you bend over into the cupboards.

Taking on the challenge of transforming this kitchen

will be Anna from Chigwell in Essex.

Each amateur designer has been given a brief

and a week to come up with a scheme.

But this is the first time they're meeting their client

and seeing the room.

I'm going to show you what I've designed

and, hopefully, you're going to like it.

Daniel and Sophie will be judging the designers' presentations

on how well they communicate their concept,

create a working relationship,

and adapt to their clients' needs.

So the overall look of the kitchen is quite Shaker,

which, for me, I'm thinking of quite plain.

So I'm thinking of soft colours.

My thoughts were to actually paint the walls a really nice soft grey.

The cupboards are grey-green.

The tiles I was thinking of actually removing,

and we will just plaster the wall,

and it will be painted this nice soft blue.

I'd just probably, because Bruno isn't here at present,

so I would probably just want to check with him about that,

whether he's happy with that, yeah.

Anna is aiming for a three-tone colour scheme

to make the kitchen homely, but she's also thinking practically.

The island will be against the wall.

Initially, I did think of bringing it out,

but I was a little bit concerned about the space in the kitchen.

And then I had some thoughts of... over where your fridge is,

of actually putting another unit above the fridge area,

and doing a little light unit there which involves marmalade.

Marmalade lit up at the back, it looks fantastic,

and I thought it was very Shakery and crockery. OK.

She's come up with a very pleasing scheme,

she's got some lovely ideas, she's got the colours right.

She understands this Shaker look, which is very classic. Did she?

Not in detail, Dan, but in terms of updating it for now.

Yeah, OK. She's going to make it modern. Let's touch on that island.

It wasn't an island, it was shoved up against the wall.

That's not an island.

What I'd have liked to have seen

would have been a well-drawn out, to-scale drawing.

Do it with a plan, that's the way to do it. Yeah.

Anna now has three days, the help of a builder and ?1,000

to make this a homely but up-to-date kitchen.

She's already got a decision about the tiles from her clients.

We are happy to go ahead.

I think it'll be a completely new look

and it would fit in with the theme that Anna's trying to achieve.

Basically, I suppose, we'll remove the tiles,

remove the doors and start. OK.

A few doors along,

the second kitchen has units extending along two walls,

giving a spacious feel.

It's home to Wendy and Canadian-born Jeff, who's a keen baker.

I would describe it as a kind of bad '80s nightclub.

It's very black, very shiny.

Black absorbs all the light, and it doesn't feel nice in there.

I love Jonathan Adler's work.

Bright things, the sort of '70s vibe,

just brings a bit of fun into your house,

rather than it all being very sensible and grown-up.

Wow, Daniel, this is quite a strong statement, isn't it?

This black gloss kitchen.

I'm getting that Jeff and Wendy are really into the period of this house

because I've spotted over here a little gem.

Hornsea Pottery. Oh, yes. That's the real McCoy.

Hornsea Pottery was based in Yorkshire,

creating crockery and tableware which typifies the '50s and '60s.

That style and that design is just stunning

and very much in keeping with Jonathan Adler.

He's a contemporary designer.

He's use the beautiful fabulousness of the '60s, '70s, '80s,

and it's about colour, zinging colour.

Jeff and Wendy have given our designer a real gift, I think,

by saying that they like his design,

because it's a real opportunity to do something very current,

very eye-popping, and really show that the designer can use

colour and pattern and clash it all together.

And really create quite an amazing transformation in here.

But tell me, Sophie, what are we going to do with black gloss doors?

There are specialist products, OK?

There is a paint that literally sticks to anything.

If they know about that paint, they might be OK.

Taking on Jeff and Wendy's kitchen challenge is Julia,

who has a degree in textile design.

This is the mood board.

We'll be warming up the kitchen with colour through the walls

with either the green or the grey.

And we're going to paint the units a matte white.

This is the idea, you can give me your feedback. OK.

The units white and clean-looking,

but almost trying to make the space feel bigger.

And then we're going to bring the colour in.

So on this wall here we were going to have an eclectic group of frames

which are all going to be painted really bright colours

using the orange, the green and the yellow.

I am a bit concerned over the possibility

of the grey or the green on the wall.

I haven't seen it on a large surface,

but I'm worried it will be the same as the black

and absorb too much light.

How about, then, we go white,

and then we have one wall, one colour?

I think, if this wall was green,

with all the different colours of pictures, I quite like that idea.

Julia's simple scheme relies on accessories in accent colours

to keep a '60s vibe, along with some unusual touches.

I felt like we needed to add some texture in.

So I would take your splashback down smaller to just above your sink

and have this pebble effect.

They're quite beautiful,

but you can have a look and see if you like that.

I think I'm really open to all of your suggestions.

The only thing that made me slightly a bit nervous was the pebble idea.

It feels a bit too...not quite of the right era, somehow. Oh, OK.

The '60s were all about experimenting with colour.

The classics were brown and orange, purple and lime green.

Really exciting, zingy colours.

And she suggested sage green!

I'm a bit lost, really,

as to whether she's really got the '60s-inspired look.

So what's our plan of action?

It's really the cabinets, getting these off

so I can start painting them.

Also if I can have your assistance in... Getting the handles off. Yeah.

Yeah? Yeah, let's do it. Thank you. No problem.

While the unit doors are coming off,

Julia's getting straight on with the accessories for the kitchen.

I'm going to put black ceramic paint on the spots

just to enhance the design.

I've got to start it now because it's going to take hours to dry.

Vases like this are either extremely expensive or you just can't get them.

They did say they liked bold designs, so let's see if they like this!

The third home has an original kitchen that has seen better days.

It's the same size as in the previous house

but looks smaller, having been cut in two by a breakfast bar.

Richie and Anna live here with their son Henry.

We know the layout works for us.

We just want to modernise it

but still keep it sympathetic to the house we live in, really.

What I'd really like to change in the kitchen is the brown tiles.

We wouldn't be too happy with some sort of bold floor print, perhaps.

Pink colours, red colours.

I don't know if I'd say we've got high standards.

We've just got our own style and our own tastes.

We've got quite an attention to detail.

We have quite high attention, especially you! Thanks.

The couple's attention to period '60s detail

can be found throughout their home.

Oh, lovely.

Perfect. This is the early days of open-plan living.

All the internal walls in this house can be knocked down,

it doesn't cause any problems, there are no structural issues.

Is that what these marks on the floor are,

where the walls would have been? Yeah.

This kitchen looks original. Yeah, it is original.

I think these are what was called Hygena kitchens.

The early fitted kitchen.

One of the tell-tales is the metal edging we find here,

and the Formica fronts.

I know Richie and Anna like this kitchen and are keen to keep it

and keen to keep it white.

I just agree with them that it does need an update.

I know this Formica worktop is a bugbear.

Formica now is quite wonderful.

They've got some amazing textures - in fact, I use Formica quite a lot.

How interesting. You do high-end interiors.

People often see Formica as quite a budget option.

Actually, a really nice, fat, square edge is what I would go for,

that tends to make it look more expensive than this very mean...

That soft edge doesn't look good, keep it crisper.

The only thing I am a bit concerned about

is they want to remove the tiles.

I think these tiles are original.

Brown was the look, earthy colours.

I think it'd be a shame for those to go.

I know they're definitely on the hit-list to be removed.

But I'm onside with you on that

I actually feel this is all getting quite cool again. Yeah, very.

Let's see if our designer decides the same.

Tackling Anna and Richie's kitchen

is young mum and part-time interior design student Kimberly.

What I've come up with is a concept board

which is a designer's tool for an abstract base, if you like.

How do you feel about this?

I don't know, what is it? THEY ALL LAUGH

It looks like a geography project!

Basically, it's more of a gut-feeling board than anything else.

So this, with the lines, the circles, the colours,

it all tends to give it a hint of what the concept is, basically.

So moving on, this is... Great!

Oh, we're fans of it now! Yeah?

I love the colours, lovely colours.

That's great news, good. I like the colours, very nice. Good, good.

What I've done is gone through all the wall here,

and again under the counter there with the blue.

The tile here, the Metro-style tile,

I wanted to incorporate the bold colours that you loved

and you wanted in the room

and run it through a small slither across the top of the worktop.

Looking at your drawings,

are you going to tile all the way up to the work surface

or are you going to leave the brick and paint it?

My concern was that,

taking the tiles off,

you never know what damage it's going to do to the brick,

you don't know if the brick's going to be in good condition behind it.

I can't make any guarantees that we'll be able to keep it.

Can we consult at some point about that?

Sure, yeah, absolutely. OK.

So here, this is the fabric I've chosen

to help customise the blind I've got.

Are they flowers? I mean, I was trying to tie in the circles here

with the '60s, that's where I've gone with the '60s influence,

is the circular pattern and the bold yellow.

Kimberly's contemporary '60s-style colours have gone down well,

and it looks like those brown tiles will have to go.

Overall, I was really impressed with Kimberly's presentation.

I thought the second board she brought out

was of a very high standard.

She'd got an excellent drawing on there.

Kimberley is going to have a bit of a challenge ahead of her

because Richie is quite a style guru if you noticed.

He was challenging her all the way.

And in the brief, it was like, "I don't like florals."

And he was like, "Is that a floral fabric?"

She cut it very cleverly so you couldn't see the flower,

it was a lump of yellow.

It was like, come on, don't hide things from somebody.

If you're making a really bold statement, why hide it away?

Are they coming off quite easily, Stuart? Very easily.

I'm just worried that the tiles were original.

They look pretty authentic '60s tiling to me.

I would be very tempted to possibly save as many whole ones as we can.

All three amateur designers have their work cut out

if they're to realise their ambitious concepts

within just under three days and on a budget of ?1,000.

So, Dan and Sophie,

what are the challenges of designing inside these Span houses?

The challenge is to answer the question

of whether to go for a period look,

as in keeping with the period of when the house was built,

or just going your own way, taking the ethos of light and space,

but interpreting that in a modern way.

What do you two make of the briefs?

The hardest thing for our designers this week is they've got a kitchen,

and that is a major challenge, given a couple of days.

So, for all of them, it's a really, really tough brief.

Their kitchens are a similar size but each has been modified

since they were built to a unique Span specification

in the late 1960s.

Span Developments were spanning the gap between traditional suburbia

and individual architect-designed homes.

As it sounds, Span chose the name when it formed in the '50s

because it sounded fresh and modern.

The driving force behind Span

was a maverick architect and co-founder, Eric Lyons,

who, along with developer Geoffrey Townsend,

placed three core values at the heart of each development -

community, shared landscape and modern design.

Lyons was a meticulous and passionate designer.

He had control over everything, from the initial sketches and plans

right down to the details like the tiles and the door handles.

So whether or not those tiles were chosen by Eric Lyons himself,

they've gone.

But restoring the brickwork behind them wasn't in the original brief,

so it's an extra job for Kimberly.

The brickwork's actually in badder condition

than I thought it would be.

It's just the time and the effort it takes

to get it straight back to a nice brick

is...is a lot to do with the timescale we've got.

Kimberly's used to fitting a lot into her day,

juggling a part-time interior design course...

What do you want a picture of?

..with looking after her daughters.

I'm always looking for the next craft project.

The girls and I embroidered our handprints onto the cushion

to make something a bit personal, a bit different.

I was really, really pleased with how it turned out.

Pom-pom edgings, just a bit of fun.

My dreams in interior design are to make it big.

I'd love to have my own business.

I love product design. Interior design is part of that.

Yeah, I'd love for people to say,

"Kimberly Plested is the brand that I like, that's my style."

I've been dying to see this,

because I wanted to see if you had the brickwork behind.

So it's goodbye brown tiles.

I was a bit worried about taking out the old tiles. Tell me why.

They didn't think at all that they were originals,

but they looked perfectly in keeping with the '60s kind of thing.

Actually, OK, you've realised it now.

It's not hell that they've gone.

They were ugly, so they did have to go, they weren't going to fit.

In your eyes. It's whether somebody else would have appreciated them.

Anna's homely Shaker style depends on a heavy painting schedule,

but there's a delay.

The problem I've got at the moment is that we've removed the tiles,

the plasterer has come in,

the condition of the walls underneath is not great,

so he cannot just lightly bond it and skim over.

So lunchtime maybe, if we're very lucky, tomorrow,

those walls will be skimmed, but then they've got to dry.

I keep my fingers crossed.

I want to go home!

At the home she's lived in with her husband for 26 years,

Anna continually reinvents the look of the house

so it's constantly evolving.

This is one of our old units,

and I just covered the handles in some of my cottons

because handles are so difficult.

If you paint them, they'll just wear away so quickly.

The paint will look quite tatty.

So I thought the cotton was much more hardwearing.

At the moment I'm experimenting with this.

I'm not sure about this. I'm halfway through.

I had the idea of all the copper pennies on here,

which do look quite nice,

but I've just got to work out something with the background

so it doesn't look too much like one of those fairground shuffle things.

Now Anna's curbing her experimental side

as there's no room for error with this paint job.

It's a primer, so that the paint, which is an eggshell,

will stick to it quite nicely.

Apparently it doesn't take long to dry in normal circumstances,

but we'll see with the weather.

The primer costs ?15 a tin

and can be used on any surface from glass to PVC.

In an hour, you'll see me with a bit of green on this brush maybe.

Maybe.

Julia's simple white design

also relies on transforming kitchen-unit doors.

Right, what do I do? Just press the button?

Just hold it in the palm of your hand.

You don't need to apply too much pressure.

OK, and will that do me for all the doors? Yeah, easy.

And if I scream, will you come?

We're sanding them down now so that the paint fixes to the doors

and hopefully we'll get the first coat on tonight.

Really hoping to get the first coat on tonight.

So yeah, we're cooking on gas, but it's all good.

Julia lives in Nottingham and until now her creative talents

have focused on renovating the four homes

she and her family have lived in.

We've just completed this house,

and so I've done the interior design of this house.

I'd hate the thought

of not doing more interior design going into my future,

although we probably won't move again,

so the opportunities will become less for me to do it.

So to actually do something in a job creatively like interior design

would definitely be a dream, I can't deny that.

And she's experimented with bold design statements.

So you can imagine my husband's face when I asked him to put this up,

but I absolutely loved it, so we had to have it.

You can't obviously have too much of it,

because it makes your eyes go wappy,

but in an area like this it really works,

and it really adds the wow factor.

Julia's absolutely steaming ahead on kicking back that black gloss,

and I'm very impressed with how she's preparing it.

She's getting a really nice key on there.

She's filled in the holes left behind by the handles

to a very high standard. It's a bit scary isn't it?

A bit like re-spraying a Rolls-Royce, you can't get it wrong.

Anna? Yes? Can we get your opinion, please?

With clients who have a keen eye for detail,

Kimberly can't afford

to get her contemporary '60s design wrong either.

OK, so here's the fabric.

It might help for you to see the pattern repeat

and see exactly how much yellow and how much neutral there is involved.

I like it, I'm just worried

that we're going really literal with the yellow, yellow, yellow.

Absolutely. What I could do, erm... is use the part of the fabric

that's got most black and white and just a hint of the yellow

Like you said, let's just have the area of the fabric

that's less yellow. Sure.

It's nearing the end of day one.

Anna's island unit will be the centrepiece

of her homely Shaker kitchen.

To make her budget stretch further, she's cleverly cut costs,

using three flat-pack shelves for the base at ?20 each.

I'm trying not to look at the clock, because I get scared.

In my world, it's about one o'clock now, so I've got hours.

Hours and hours to go.

In reality, it's almost packing-up time

and Julia's sticking to her timetable.

We're getting there. We're, I would say, on target.

It was always my aim to have, at the end of the first day,

to have one coat of paint on the cupboards.

And give me ten minutes and it'll be done.

But Kimberly's still preparing for her major kitchen re-fit.

There's a lot of hardcore stuff going on,

a lot of ripping out cabinets and filling walls,

but it's gone really well.

We're just still chipping away at this wall.

It's day two, and these amateur designers

have until lunchtime tomorrow to complete their kitchens.

After a busy first day, the rooms have been prepped,

tiles have been stripped out and cupboards rubbed down.

But day two is when the real work begins.

At Anna's homely Shaker style kitchen,

the plastering is almost finished

but it won't be dry enough to paint until tomorrow.

Before I started, obviously I had a plan,

and that has just gone out the window,

because you get here, and as much as you plan, you just can't plan.

But the colour scheme she has planned worries the judges.

I got there's a splashback there.

Then you're painting this in a sort of blue colour,

but then the blue stops here and then you've got grey on the top.

It's quite a lot of stuff going on here. Do you feel?

Yeah, I don't want to influence your design, really don't,

but I want you to just address it.

What I'll do is I'll open the blue,

because I can't paint this yet because it's not dry.

But I'm going to paint a patch up there and look at it.

Little hint. Thank you, yes.

Over at Julia's simple white kitchen design,

she's come up with an alternative

to the pebbled tiles her clients didn't like.

Can I ask about the splashback? Yes, definitely.

OK, so if we use this tile, the lovely grey-green colour,

we'll just start them off where the window starts here,

and just have them running along that part,

which I think will lengthen that wall, actually.

I really like that tile.

I mean, I don't mind if the red stays,

but equally I quite like this,

so I think this is probably the solution. Great.

And while the wooden worktops Julia has chosen are being cut to size,

she's getting on with the quirky accessories,

like window pelmets made out of MDF.

They're going to be painted with a strong stripe above both windows,

making sure they're quite shallow in depth

so they don't block out the light.

The homeowners quite like bold colours

so we're adding the bold colours in the pelmet,

the orange, the yellow, the green,

so not too heavily but just in a snippet.

Wowser!

Oh, wow, it's bolted in at the back there.

Do you want a hand?

Unlike the other kitchens,

Kimberly's, with its contemporary '60s design, requires a major re-fit

because homeowners Ritchie and Anna have bought a new cooker.

The previous cooker was...erm, here.

Now the cooker we've got going in is 800mm wide,

so we've taken out a chunk of the cabinet here,

and Stuart needs to dismantle this one

and recreate it so it looks like it was never tampered with.

It's a time-consuming piece of carpentry work.

It's been a really big headache and worry.

Yeah, it's been a spanner in the works.

And she's going to turn the fridge into a kitchen blackboard.

I've got a little tip, though.

Instead of doing the handles with masking tape,

I'm going to wrap them in foil. It's just easier to wrap it around

and it's much easier to just take it off once you're done.

At around ?10 a tin,

blackboard paint is a cheap way of updating old appliances.

For our amateurs, keeping costs down when transforming a kitchen,

one of the most expensive rooms to update, is key.

Especially with just ?1,000

to achieve a sympathetic style to the ethos of the Span estate.

Span homes were designed for people

who were after something a little bit unconventional,

and there were plenty of those in a forward-thinking 1960s.

Many estates sold out before the foundations had even been finished.

Here, of the 40 homes, 16 were sold to architects

eager to take part in Lyons' utopian vision.

Span wanted their homeowners here

to feel lucky to live in such a beautiful place,

so much so that, rather eccentrically,

there's no house number 13.

Back at Julia's simple white kitchen,

her wooden worktops will add warmth and texture.

But at ?460, it's a huge investment.

Absolutely love this.

Beautiful. Did you get that in the budget as well?

Well, only just. I've had to be quite creative with other things

to get this on budget, because it's half of my budget.

I think the transformation is massive.

What is it? It's almost got a greenish tinge to it, hasn't it?

Yes. Iroko. Iroko? Yeah.

OK. It's very, very affordable

but it's got the same qualities as teak which costs a fortune.

Actually, you can't use teak these days because it's non-sustainable.

The beauty of it, it's waterproof, so this will last forever.

Just a quick sand down, re-oil, and it'll look brilliant.

Ideal for a kitchen, then, isn't it? Yes, good choice.

The thing is with that project,

when it's finished, it's going to look like the most transformed

because of the changing from black to white.

The worktop's finished,

but we know that it's not that much of an effort designwise.

It just feels all a bit like the safe option to me at the moment.

Did she consider using colour and pattern?

I wonder whether she just didn't have the courage.

Anna's mix of muted colours on one wall

has also been questioned by the judges,

so she's testing out alternatives.

They did make a suggestion

that possibly I do this one wall in the blue.

I personally am not convinced at the moment,

but I don't want to discard what might be a really good idea.

I don't know.

I don't really hate it, but I'm not sure.

I'm going to carry on painting, and I'll see.

Kimberly's dealing with an original Span kitchen

which wasn't designed with modern appliances in mind,

and now that the homeowners have bought a new dishwasher,

she has to find a way to fit it in.

So the, erm...idea

is to box in the washing machine and the dryer that they've got.

So you're going to make a cupboard for them to slot into? Yes.

We're going to use offcuts from the old worktop,

trying to recycle what we've got. That's a really nice idea,

because you're using material you already have,

not just sending it off to the skip.

But there's no room to fit a cupboard door,

so Kimberly's going to make a curtain to hide the machines.

So I've just measured up the area.

I'm going to make sure the fabric fits, cut it to size,

hem it and pop the nice strip of printed fabric to finish it off.

These were actually our wedding drapes.

They were hung from one of the beams in the barn where we had our wedding

and they created an amazing backdrop for the reception.

It's good to see them going to good use.

Kimberly's sharing spirit

would be in tune with the original Span ethos,

built around an idealised vision of community life.

Top of the agenda was preserving the harmony of the environment

and the people who lived within it.

Span's co-founder and architect Eric Lyons

said, "People seem to like discipline and accept it."

Putting these words into action,

strict covenants were put in place here, preserving the integrity

of Westfield's design, its community and its landscape.

And that meant detailed rules.

Homeowners have to repaint the exterior every four years

and at the front, satellite dishes, aerials

and even hanging baskets are banned.

The residents' society that looks after all these rules

is still going strong today.

It's founded on egalitarian principles

and gives every owner an equal say in proposed changes to the estate.

On the outside at least,

it's preserved the integrity of the design,

though some may say it's stifled individualism.

Inside, our designers have more creative freedom.

With all the rooms having a slightly different layout,

the judges want a yardstick to measure their ingenuity.

They've given three plain plates to each of the designers

to customise for the kitchens.

I'm just going to cut some pieces of tile

and lay them out to start off with.

Julia's been inspired by a '60s fabric, and she's making a mosaic

using pieces of her white plates for the background.

It doesn't matter if it looks messy at this stage,

because it's all going to be cleaned off afterwards.

The latex-based adhesive costs ?7,

but it can take up to 24 hours to set.

I'll leave it until the end today and then grout it later.

It is taking up quite a lot of time,

so I kind of feel like I've just got to get it down

and crack on with other things now.

Kimberly's using leftover paint to customise her plates.

I'm literally going to pour it onto my plate

and let it slide down the plate,

and it should give a great dipped effect.

Once dry, she's going to attach them to a light fitting

and mount them on the dining room wall.

The consistency's important, because if it's too thick,

it's just going to go gloopy on the plate,

but too runny and it just slides straight off.

So I've got to get a happy medium.

She's added water to thin the paint.

That's it!

They'll dry overnight, so she'll finish the project tomorrow.

But Anna's gone for a much simpler option.

It's a cake stand, so the first plate...

I reckon it could just go on there, couldn't it?

She's bought two plain mugs to stack the plates on,

and then she's adding a personal touch in ceramic pen.

The greatest happiness for the greatest number of people

The concept owes a lot to her builder's glue.

That'll do nicely, and then I just need some lovely cakes on there.

There we go, exactly, yeah. Done. Perfect.

# Ta-da! #

It's the end of day two,

and the scale of transforming a kitchen

is taking its toll on all three designers.

It's, what? 7.30?

And I'm already fed up!

Probably should stay longer and do a little bit more, but I'm too tired.

I've been working on the mosaic for quite a while now,

and I'm pleased with how it's gone, but it's time to go home now.

It's getting late, and I can barely see.

Kimberly's got so much to do

she's had to take her sewing jobs back to the hotel to finish them.

SHE CHUCKLES

Oh, no!

It's 11 o'clock, and Kimberly's getting nowhere.

I need to get it done, so I'll do my very best.

If I have to get it done tomorrow, then I'll work doubly hard.

Everything's in position, isn't it, more or less?

It's day three, and our amateur designers are busily applying

the finishing touches ready for the rooms to be seen by the homeowners.

Their feedback to the judges will be crucial

in determining who goes through to the quarterfinals.

So I've got a lot of catching up to do today.

The sewing machine was missing a tiny little part,

and I found it as soon as I got here this morning.

I can crack on with it, but I need to catch up on a lot of time.

Kimberly's contemporary '60s style has meant ripping out

and reconfiguring the units and she's starting to see the results.

The builder's done a fantastic job of cutting these all to size,

and using the excess worktop to create a fold down,

which is a really modern touch in a kitchen at the moment.

But creative carpentry takes time, and there's a lot more to do.

Cabinets need dropping back and putting up,

and we even need to fit the oven in...

..and tile.

So, erm...not much(!)

At Julia's simple white kitchen,

she's already onto putting up accessories.

Across the left a bit. A bit more.

That's it. Perfect.

And she's still got more to make,

all in her signature colours of yellow, green and orange.

I've bought some picture frames on budget,

and I'm painting them really bright, funky colours

and then varnishing them,

and then I'm putting 1960s textile pieces in the picture frames,

because the homeowners love 1960s textiles.

I have to say, now the frames are coming together,

the mosaic's come together, I'm really excited.

I just hope it's going to work.

Over at Anna's homely Shaker style kitchen

she's sticking to her plan

of blue below and grey above the units on the walls,

and she's experimenting with glass colour, too.

Oh, gosh, isn't that lovely blue?

Ooh! That is so nice.

This one gives you privacy,

because obviously it's opaque and you can't see through,

but the blue I'm going to use later is transparent,

because they've got such a lovely garden there,

so I want the look of stained glass.

The gels cost ?29 a metre for opaque and ?16 for blue gel.

This is awful, because it should be really both sides.

God, it's not a straight edge.

SHE GASPS

The amateur designers are nearing their deadline.

We're really short on time,

so I'm just mucking in doing anything I can do.

There's not much we can do while we're waiting

for the wall units to be finished, so if I can help here, brilliant.

They've had ?1,000 and just under three days

to deliver stylish and practical designs in challenging kitchens.

We've got 15 minutes, and I'm still painting.

It's a bit of a centrepiece to the room.

I think that's fabulous.

Julia's confident about her final touches,

but Anna's miscalculated the shelf height

she needs for her marmalade light.

I should have thought. It doesn't matter I can do it here.

The other designers finish on time, but Kimberly's got more to do.

I could cry, I seriously...

Having the added complication

of fitting the homeowners' kitchen appliances during the process,

Kimberly has overrun by three hours,

which the judges will take into account.

It's just hitting me how much this means, and I hope I've done enough.

First up for the judges' scrutiny is Anna's design.

A modern and homely take on a traditional Shaker style.

Three days ago, this kitchen was filled with heavy freestanding units

but there was no space for informal dining

and a poor layout for cooking.

Now it has completely transformed.

Anna has created a unified and calm space

with a subtle palette of grey, green and blue.

She's designed a central unit from flat pack furniture,

but invested in a quality wood worktop at ?235.

There's more storage in the new fridge unit

and her witty marmalade light feature.

Ooh.

HE CHUCKLES

AT ONCE: It's great! Sweet!

THEY LAUGH

Now we can see her use of colour,

the blue under the cupboards and the grey above,

but I have to say they're so close and subtle,

I think the effect is a bit lost on me.

She tried the blue at the top, and it didn't work, and I can see why.

But it's...all right, it's all right.

This is now the hero of the room, isn't it? This is the island.

The island. Sort of works, actually. She's got it.

This is a nice place to have your breakfast.

You look behind you, Dan, she's created a really nice display here,

and I actually really love these marmalade jars.

Looking at the other side, something that jars on me

are those window films on the dining room. You don't like?

It sort of works. I'm just not sure about the blue.

Maybe if we'd gone for the greens and the soft greens to tie it in...

It just stands out a bit.

Sophie and Daniel want to see what creativity Anna has brought

to the customisation challenge.

Remember the plates?

She's made a cake stand out of it, which I think's ingenious.

It's a really sweet, clever idea.

She's got a little story going on round the edge,

but for me that's the downfall.

It looks like it's just been done with a marker pen.

But it says, "Happiness for the greatest number of people."

Well, I think it's fabulous.

Now it's time for the judges to bring the homeowners

to see their newly-styled kitchen.

This is the first time they've seen it complete.

Wow.

Hi. Hi. Wow.

My goodness me.

Wow, look at that!

It has transformed. It's nice, this island, the square shape.

It's brilliant, actually,

because it's big enough to eat on or prepare food, to sit round.

It's really lovely, actually.

Next up, Julia's design for a simple white kitchen

with personality and fun through colourful retro accessories.

Three days ago, this kitchen was dominated by black shiny cupboards.

It felt cold and dark and clashed with the homeowners' style.

Now the cupboards have been totally transformed,

repainted in light, reflecting white,

with a warm wooden worktop and sage green tiles.

Julia added bolder colour

in her green, yellow and orange accessories.

A group of framed pictures create a feature wall.

And painted pelmets above each window

keeps the colour scheme running right through the room.

Blimey! It's a real transformation, isn't it?

I'm looking at these white cupboards.

I mean, they were black, Darth Vader gloss before,

and I can't see a drip anywhere,

and I think this is a very professional finish,

and I'm extremely impressed. It's beautifully fresh.

Also this has been stained down a little bit more, hasn't it?

I guess that they're just putting an oil on this.

It's probably got a Danish oil or something like that on it.

Danish oil.

It needs that, because it's got to withstand spills and stains,

and it'll help keep it hard-wearing.

In fact, wood is perfect for cooking,

because it's much more hygienic, even more than plastic.

It's got actual antibacterial qualities within the wood.

Exactly, so it's a good thing to have that.

I have to say, I'm looking for the customisation.

Smashed plates. Smashed plates? Oh, we're in Greece!

I had a bit of an inkling that she was smashing plates,

and she's done quite a funky '60s mosaic with it, would you say?

Yeah, that's quite cool, isn't it? It's all right.

Now what does that do for you?

I think she's done a really nice job

because she's chosen all her frames, just square or rectangle,

and it's actually quite graphic. All right, OK.

I think Jeff and Wendy are going to be thrilled with this,

but I would love the idea just to see on one of those cupboards a pattern.

It doesn't have to be all on it,

but something almost like a tattoo sprayed across.

I think when you've got clients who are up for colour and pattern

and they like modern design, you can really go for it.

Wow. That is extraordinary.

That's incredible. That doesn't look like our kitchen.

I think I'm going to cry.

It's magnificent, it's absolutely magnificent.

It would have been nice to have some colour there.

It seems to be a bit blank.

Other than that, I'm still stunned by it. It's just so beautiful.

Finally, Kimberly's design to give this original Span kitchen

a contemporary, more colourful style.

Before, this room looked drab and tired,

with a dated breakfast bar

and an old-fashioned brown and grey colour scheme.

Now it's a bold and modern mix of blue and yellow

echoed in the blinds, tiles and dining chairs.

The breakfast bar has been freshened up with a wrap-over worktop,

and there are child-friendly and imaginative details.

But Kimberly had to spend some time

adapting her design to her clients' requests,

meaning she rushed finishing off the tiling, paintwork and edging.

Ooh, wow.

It's cracking.

THEY LAUGH

Look at this! How clever is that, to think that through?

That's really smart kitchen detail, you know?

Have a look at that. It might give you tears.

That is so sweet, Henry's little art wall.

I love the detail on the blind.

This is an excellent idea, so affordable roller blind,

she's only had to buy a small amount of fabric,

so it's very cost-effective, cos most of the time the blind's up,

so you get the full potential of the fabric.

I think the yellow with this blue-grey works really well.

Yeah, very, very nice colours. I've just spotted dipped plates.

I know, isn't it great? That's worked very well, hasn't it?

Again that's telling the story of the colour scheme.

The yellow, the grey, with the black highlight.

But when you look around,

beautiful and pleasing to the eye though it is, it's not finished.

No. We've got grout missing. She ran out of time.

Nice.

I'm very pleased with the brick wall.

I think they worked really hard to restore it,

and I'm very pleased, I'm very, very happy.

She's done a fantastic job,

considering our tired old kitchen two days ago.

Also what I quite like, she's actually left out one of the tiles.

They're actually original tiles.

Are they original? Yeah. We weren't sure.

They're original. Are they? Yeah.

You know what? I'm going to frame it and put it on the wall.

Do frame it. I will.

Now the judges must decide who's delivered the best design

and shows enough promise

to go through to the next round of the competition.

It would mean the world to me to win,

because it would be recognition that what I've done is really good.

I think I'll make my homeowners happy.

I'm not entirely sure

I'm going to meet up to the criteria of the judges.

I'm not even thinking about winning.

I'm just happy to take each step as it comes.

I'm grateful for the opportunity, and anything beyond this is a bonus.

Now, judges, it gets personal for me because I live in a Span estate,

so I'm really, really intrigued

to find out how our designers have done.

Who should we start with? We'll start with Anna. Anna.

Well, I didn't think she'd got it.

I didn't think she was getting there with the island,

and I didn't believe she'd succeed.

It was a shocker when I walked in,

and she came up with an idea better than I could have.

It worked really well, fantastic. It's amazing for you to admit that.

Yeah! It's very rare, very rare!

But she put together a look for them,

and a lovely palette of colour,

and gave it some identity and some style.

Julia's clients were a different kettle of fish.

They seemed to know and love the Span look.

What a transformation. That was an incredible transformation,

and it did look gorgeous.

It's light and fresh and friendly.

Truly a cook's kitchen as well.

But I felt a bit disappointed, I think it was a little bit safe.

Kimberly had a bit more of a difficult time, didn't she?

She had some delays because a cooker arrived and it was far too big.

There was a lot of messing around with those units to get it right.

I think we've got to give her her due on that one.

Did she deliver? Was it worth it?

Designwise, I think it worked very well,

that look with the dark colours, the bright, punchy yellows.

Come on, this is a competition,

and I want to see designers push themselves

and show us what they can do.

I feel Kimberly showed some real artistic creativity

with some of her ideas.

There were some real special touches there.

Come on, you two. How did they do this time?

Well, they've all answered different problems,

and they've all come up with perfect solutions.

I wonder which way we're going to go on this one.

Goodness, designers, you've had a time, haven't you?

A kitchen, ?1,000 in three days, you must be exhausted.

But you all delivered.

Unfortunately you can't all three of you win, which is a real shame.

I wish you could, but you can't, and these two have decided

which one of you is going to go forward to the quarterfinals.

And the winner is...

..Kimberly.

Thank you!

I'm very pleased for Kimberly. She had a really hard challenge.

Yeah, she's done very well.

It's just been great fun, really great fun.

I've just loved it. The design experience has been brilliant,

working as a team's been brilliant, it's all just been great.

We saw some very professional, some very strong results this time,

but Kimberly just had that extra little push,

that extra level of creativity.

SOPHIE: She was very late finishing,

and there's still quite a lot of snagging to do.

Having said all that, she shows that she's confident with colour,

she's not afraid to use it, and I really felt that going forward,

she's going to come up with more original ideas.

'I'm really, really excited.'

The feeling that this has given me

and the process and the learning has just been incredible.

I can't wait to do it all again.

Thank you so much.

'I think the judges saw my passion for interior design.'

I didn't expect it, it's amazing.

More than 50 years after they began

with their strong sense of community and bold modern design,

Span Developments and architect Eric Lyons

continue to be celebrated all around the world.

Now with their redesigned kitchens,

hopefully our residents will have even more to celebrate.

Next time, 18th century Georgian almshouses.

It's open-plan living in miniature.

But bringing these tired rooms up-to-date

is fraught with challenges.

We are running behind yet again.

There are things that I know are problematic.