Regency - Brighton 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 have 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 round 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 making over one room each

in three Regency era properties, here on Brighton's iconic seafront.

Each of our three designers will work to their homeowner's brief

in similar rooms.

Panic stricken a little bit, it's not what I needed right now.

I'm exhausted!

Yes!

But only one of them can go through to the next round.

I love the pop of pink, that's great.

If she doesn't get those cabinets painted,

-that whole scheme just falls to bits.

-Yeah.

The judges have had to make a decision

about which of the three of you

shows the potential to go forward to new challenges.

The Regency period in the early 19th century

was a time of refined and elegant architecture across Britain.

Some of the finest examples are in Brighton where the Prince Regent

himself made his second home.

And where he led, many followed.

When the Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815,

investment money was freed up, creating a housing boom

and Brighton was transformed, cementing its status

as a fashionable playground for the rich and famous.

Most buildings in Brighton reflected a neo-Classical taste,

like this - Regency Square - constructed from 1818

and one of the very first squares built in Brighton.

The Square may look respectable today,

but 200 years ago, its residents indulged in the spirit of Brighton,

encouraged by Prince Regent,

leading Jane Austen to observe in a letter to a friend,

"Here is a scene of dissipation and vice

"and I begin already to find my morals corrupted."

Now, three residents of the Square are putting their Regency homes

in the hands of our amateur designers.

I remember wanting to decorate my own bedroom when I was 12 years old,

probably quite a strange thing for a 12-year-old boy to want to do.

I went from The Jungle Book wallpaper to all bright orange.

I've always had an interest in sewing and making things myself,

so I started a little market stall making cushions and I definitely

see a future for myself in design. I think that's the way forward,

that's where I want to go.

My whole life has sort of led towards this point.

My interest in interior design has really come from my mum,

she's always created a really lovely,

comfortable family home to be in.

Having children, you just become at their mercy

and I would really love to be doing something for myself.

I'm very competitive by nature, so I'm always up for a challenge.

I have the ability to walk into a room and see what's wrong

and try and rectify it.

I didn't really discover until I was 28 what I liked and didn't like,

but it's not until I started going around the antique markets,

picking up the older stuff, it's the French farmhouse look I really like.

If I can bring that sense of being proud of your home

to other people, that must be a great thing.

And if I win, yeah, fantastic, how lovely would that be?!

They'll each have £1,200 and 48 hours spread over three days,

to create a new look room for their first ever clients.

The first property belongs to Julie.

She bought this former hotel 18 months ago

to turn into a family home.

We took on quite a lot, but we're so lucky to have got

a whole Regency house.

Julie wants the unused raised ground floor

to become a formal open plan sitting and dining room.

The thing that I really like is Regency Hollywood.

The Regency look, but still with that bling - glitzy, glamorous.

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

the designers will work in.

I've seen some pretty expensive places in my time,

but it's very, very rare that you get a nice bit of architecture,

nice bit of scale, lovely little details.

What is really lovely is the architraves.

Now what tells me this is Regency

is the flatness

and then the raised moulding, that's quite special.

This originally would have been what's called the parlour.

This would be where you received people,

so they'd have calling cards and they'd arrange to meet

and you'd sit in here and have a little tea and a chat.

The first floor would be the main, what's called the drawing room,

or as it was called, the withdrawing room,

because you withdrew from the dining room and went upstairs.

OK, but that's not really I imagine how this homeowner's going to

want to use it now, they're going to want this to be their living room.

I know this homeowner. She's just had these curtains quite newly put in.

-I think she wants to keep them.

-Really? Yeah?

Fairly nice, neutral colour, I guess, for our designer to work with.

But what I'm pleased to see she's done is she's put the track

all the way to the edge and that's a nice little tip

if you're wanting to maximise the amount of sunlight in your room.

Make sure the curtains, when they're drawn, pull all the way back,

I think the brief is Hollywood, Regency, glamour,

-which is quite fun.

-Ooof! It could work, that, actually.

Charged with bringing a touch of Regency glamour to this bare shell

is 30-year-old former actor, Jordan.

The designers have all had a week to come up with a design plan,

but this will be the first meeting with the homeowner in person.

So, Julie, these are my plans for your space.

-Oh, wow!

-During the briefing,

Sophie and Daniel will be judging the designers on how well

they present their design, how they form their client relationship,

and how adaptable they are to their client's needs.

How would you define Hollywood Regency for you?

Well, I think you've actually encapsulated it on this particular

thing here, the idea of glass and I can see the grey, fantastic.

The grey and muted tones, I think, are going to work amazingly in here

with the fireplace and the curtains that you have already.

-I've got that downstairs, I love that colour.

-Ah, have you?

Really, really good neutral, but got some warmth to it,

so it's going to feel comfortable and relaxing.

The layout's not going to change too much. I'm still going to keep

one half of the room as the dining room and this half as a sitting room.

And what about the floor?

The floor we're going to carpet, a really pale, smart carpet

throughout the whole space. It's going to look very elegant.

OK, brilliant. Sounds good! No, no, it looks lovely.

Jordan's take on Hollywood Regency is traditional,

with dark grey panelling on the lower walls,

relying on key pieces to deliver the glamour.

The mural that you can see here, I've got a big plan for that

on one of the walls, so I won't tell you which one,

not this particular mural, but along those lines.

Fantastic. Well, I'm excited to see the end product.

Yeah, I can't wait to get started on it. The space is amazing.

That seemed to go, on the surface, really well.

It was very quick though, wasn't it?

I think they were just being a bit polite with each other.

I didn't feel that they got into those mood boards

and discussed them and started working through them.

I was concerned about that

because she kept saying, "Oh, yes, how lovely, how lovely."

They're talking the same language, aren't they?

Maybe they have just really clicked.

Jordan now has three days, £1,200 and a builder

to put the glamour back in this Regency home.

I'm just knocking in the nail heads

and obviously we need a flat smooth finish before we can lay underlay

and carpet on top. We don't want any nails sticking up

that's going to hurt anybody. Quite tedious, but very important.

This home is one of only five remaining complete houses

on the Square. Most have been divided into flats...

like this property a few doors down.

When converted, this first floor flat

retained the vast double reception room as the main living area.

It's home to Eric, Marta and their two daughters.

I really like the size,

because we've got two kids, so they've lots of space to play.

However, we don't use this area very much. It's a bit of a dead space.

Being the first floor drawing room means it's a hallway's width bigger

than the parlours below.

This is beautiful. This is the grand first floor drawing room, isn't it?

Have you seen the view? You can see the sea.

Out of these huge windows?

In that period, you'd have an ornamental balcony,

sort of Romeo and Juliet style,

but you wouldn't particularly go out on it

because people didn't sunbathe.

The flat's rented,

so the design must suit both the tenants and the landlord.

The big crime in here is the pine fitted units.

I would match it in very closely with the wall colour and this is

really easy to do and the paint companies do the work for you.

You can get those paint strips where you get the different shades

of colour, literally go up or down a shade,

rather than paint them a contrasting colour to the wall,

where you're still going to really see them.

Taking on Eric and Marta's brief for a contemporary, minimal look

is 37-year-old Alice, who trained as an art therapist.

She's decided that now is the time

to follow her dreams of becoming a designer.

The first thing I felt about your home is to zone it off,

because it's a really multi-functional space.

We've got the lounge area, the dining area,

the kids' area and the DJ work area.

The dining room area, I just thought, so lucky to be able to sit here

and have a balcony and these lovely windows.

So, I'm going to keep it in this space, but I'm going to completely

update it for you, so get you nice, new contemporary chairs.

The kids' area, what I really want to do is take away that big table

-and chairs and they like messy play, right?

-Yes.

-OK, good!

My idea is to paint a big chalkboard on the wall,

so that they can have just free playing on the chalkboard.

So, the last area - DJing and working -

leaving your DJ set-up as it is,

but again, I'm just going to update that for you. I'm going to rip out

the bottom bit, keep your shelf but then put really nice lockers.

Alice's aim is to help the family use each corner of their room

to maximum effect, and she's keeping the decor simple.

I'm going to go all white walls,

that's your kind of blank canvas and add some pops of colour.

I know you're not so keen on bright colours,

but you look beautiful in bright yellow.

I'm going to change your mind about this!

I'm an amateur, so I'm kind of just working from what I know and do.

I don't know how a professional interior designer would have

presented the mood board, designed the mood board, I've got no idea.

She's really thought about how they're going to use that space

with the work and the children and relaxing adult time

and she's creating these different areas.

I thought that was really thoughtful,

but then I wanted to know what's it going to look like?

I would have liked to have seen those areas on a plan.

That's where you start an interior design, the spatial planning,

-and there was nothing there.

-Sketch it out for them.

-Sketch it out.

I'm ready, I have the equipment,

It's all going to happen from this moment on.

Because the grand drawing room

is larger than the other ground floor rooms,

Alice has a lot of painting to do.

Oh, look! Oh, I'm wedged in!

The third room is on the raised ground floor

in a house down the street.

It's being used as a kitchen and dining room.

Trix has lived here for 15 years.

I've never felt quite satisfied with it. The floor, for example,

I've never felt the floor, having half carpet and half the floor wood,

really looks very nice. It doesn't feel like one room.

My first reaction with this room is that I really love the colour.

We've got this fantastic cherry wood dining table,

and if you put that...opposite side of the spectrum is this lovely

sort of deep blue sea green and they really work together.

They've hit on quite close to a very good Regency colour.

During that period, they loved these sort of apple emerald greens,

puce... Great word puce. Very few people know what puce looks like -

it's sort of like a pale blood colour.

..yellows,

they were just discovering ways of using chemicals to create

very, very strong colours and they got excited about it.

This is an old period house,

but actually, for modern day living it's great. You've got a lovely,

big, well-planned, spacious kitchen onto quite a good sized dining room.

Yeah, it works well.

In fact, actually what they've done is pulled the kitchen

up onto the raised ground floor from the basement,

because, of course, kitchens were originally down there.

The owners of the house would not use them,

even in the smallest of houses,

they would have had staff who would have run the kitchen.

I'm going to be really interested

to see what our designer's got planned for this.

There are different things you can do but this isn't a very expensive kitchen,

I don't think anybody would mind if you painted it, for example.

-Right.

-I did a kitchen once - I put wallpaper inside the Shaker panels.

-Yeah.

-Couple of coats of varnish on top so it's really durable

and it was a few pounds to do, it was a really cheap weekend project.

There's an awful lot to do here, there's a whole floor to lay,

that's going to be really time-consuming.

If they're going to be painting cabinets, I'm a bit worried.

Taking on the challenge of this space is 44-year-old Jenny

who's taking a break from the family soap-making business to try

and make it as an interior designer.

The brief was your natural colours that you've said,

so we've chosen this for your dining room which will give it

more of a formal look and this one for your kitchen.

I'm going to probably paint-effect the cupboards for you.

Where this frame has been painted and distressed and aged, I'm going

-to do on the cupboards and that's got a nice rustic feel about it.

-OK!

What I've tried to do is work with the natural materials

-and texture, as well.

-Mmm.

-I'm very much into, like you said,

-the natural linens with a little bit of luxury and interest.

-Interest, yes.

Jenny's plan is to create a rustic, French-country kitchen

with a brown colour scheme and new wood-effect floor.

-Is this laminate?

-It's laminate, but it's a very good quality one,

so it's not something you'll be disappointed with

-It's quite durable?

-It's very durable.

It's actually a major thing, is to have one type of flooring.

That's where the major budget went,

and I think the wood grain will pick up all your old wood as well.

Excellent presentation, I love the mood board, very tactile.

Because it was on that frame and everything, which was super.

Yeah, I thought she put a lot of care into it.

But I just felt that the design was going a little bit more mundane.

-A bit beige.

-A bit beige.

-Well, it all just looked very bland.

-Yeah.

And it seems homeowner Trix also has concerns about the colour.

I like that one.

Which room would you put it in?

This room rather than this brown?

Probably this...

OK, so if we get that and that colour,

when you put it with that blue it makes that grey.

You're right.

You actually lose the beautiful fabric.

-You're right, yeah. Yeah OK, no, you've convinced me.

-Yeah.

With Trix persuaded, work is now under way in all three rooms.

The designers are creating

VERY different looks in each of the interiors.

And on the outside, these Regency houses

aren't all as alike as they may first appear.

This was one of the earliest squares in Brighton

and in many ways it helped shape the rest of the city.

In the early 1800s, architects were just beginning to be recognised

as professionals at exactly the moment that this city

was rapidly expanding. So, the architect William Mackie,

as soon he finished his design, he hopped off to the next one

and left the builders to finish off the job.

But with builders' whims, investors' opinions

and corners being cut, the finished buildings were far less uniform.

Even on this one terrace, you've got three completely different designs.

Some have got bow fronts right up the top, others haven't.

Some have got canopies, others have got nothing at all.

It's all a complete mishmash.

While Mackie's vision wasn't properly realised,

other architects used it as a prototype for their own designs

and Brighton's seafront is lined with even grander squares

built in the Regency heyday.

And it's the Regency spirit

Jordan is trying to capture in his design scheme.

It looks really good, even if I do say so myself.

It's a relief, not that I didn't have complete faith in myself.

While each of our designers' rooms are similar in size, they have

different requirements on how their £1,200 budget should be spent.

Jordan's bare shell of a room means

he's prioritising his budget on updating the floor and walls.

What are your plans for the mural? Really intrigued about that idea.

I'm really excited about it myself.

It's going into that half of the room,

it's like a wallpaper and it's a Regency conservatory scene

so it's got little people and loads of big tropical plants.

They usually cost a fortune, don't they?

Yeah, they're not cheap, it's a hefty chunk of my budget

but it's going to look phenomenal, it really is, I hope.

HE CHUCKLES

The mural cost Jordan £250, and he's ordered it in advance.

The mural looks quite smart.

Oh, right, beg to differ.

No, I like that, and I love the way he's being quite bold and courageous.

I'm going to put this away safely now.

In Jordan's immaculate South London home, his love of interiors is self-evident.

Coming home should be like putting on your favourite record and, I think,

that's really important, it should be a feeling as well as a visual.

My father-in-law invested in a hotel,

he asked my partner and I actually to do two bedrooms there

so it was a real opportunity to experiment and learn a huge amount

about interiors in quite a small space of time.

Lovely, thank you very much.

Nowadays, Jordan and his partner run a coffee shop.

It's a really cute small place, really vintage style,

very different to my home which is quite contemporary.

I really would love to be a professional interior designer.

I think this could be it for me.

This is one of Julie's original pieces from the room, a Rococo mirror

which works brilliantly in the Hollywood Regency style.

Rococo was a popular style during the decades leading up to the

Regency era...

..but as ornate pieces fell out of fashion,

the clean-edged lines of Regency became all the rage.

Rococo has lots of details. A piece like this I would generally spray

but I couldn't get a spray of the same paint as the walls.

We could have used a spray gun

but for a piece this size I think it's just as quick for me

to go at it for half an hour with a brush and get it done.

I'm going to have an aching wrist by the end of this mirror, I think.

Alice must be creative in her design,

as the landlord has asked that features like some cupboards

and the carpet remain, but she can make alterations.

Do you think we can just twizzle it round or would

we have to turn the base round?

Yeah, yeah. OK, hello! Brilliant!

Her zoned design includes an area

for part-time DJ Eric to keep his decks.

So, what I'm going to do is keep the top,

but rip out all of this

and then I've got some nice lockers

that he can lock away his vinyl so his kids can't get to it.

-Shall we take this off completely?

-Yeah.

Until now, the main outlet for Alice's passion for interiors

has been her Lewes home.

I haven't done any professional interior design anywhere else,

really just my own home

but I do have friends that come round who are like -

"Oh, you didn't have a sofa there last week," or, "Oh, your room wasn't black last week,"

because I'm always doing something new to the house.

Alice is a full-time mum,

but any spare time she has is spent on the house.

What I really love about interior design is you can change it

over time, because my style changes with the seasons

so I like the fact that everything's changeable.

I just really believe in that kind of transformative feeling

you can get.

Transforming the lighting in this room is a true test of her creativity.

My thinking is I've turned it upside-down

because the light can then bounce right off the ceiling, OK,

but I'm going to have to source some more shades.

Why?

-Because, seriously?

-Yes.

-This is why.

But they're the least of your worries at the moment, it's like decorating.

You've got a lot of coverage to do because this dark red is going

to bleed, you're going to need quite a few coats on that.

-Yeah, it's going to be hopefully just two coats, hopefully.

-Yeah.

While Alice is hopeful, there's no doubt in Jenny's mind that

persuading client Trix to go for brown was the right decision.

What'll be quite nice is once this dark blue's gone,

it'll actually make the room feel fresher.

What do you think to this colour then?

-This is the first coat.

-That's nice.

It's a bit different to the blue but I think it'll give a fresher look.

-Time for change.

-Yeah.

Mum of three Jenny lives in Devon

where she's helped build the family soap business from scratch.

I have a lovely life! I've got three shops so I have a lot to do with the

design of what the shops look like, what the soap's decorated like.

I think I have good taste, it's a personal taste to me

but I think it's a very easy-going liveable taste.

I like slate, wood, natural materials, I suppose.

People don't realise that their live-in space could be improved

just by moving some furniture around, just by changing the colour.

Jenny's passion for interiors started 20 years ago

when she took a paint-effects course.

Now she plans to use her skills to achieve her rustic theme.

You look a bit unsure.

OK, what colour were you thinking of painting it?

This colour, like the frame, do you remember the frame, of ageing it?

-Yes.

-It's just making the best of what you've got because it's lovely.

-Yeah OK, all right.

-OK?

BOTH CHUCKLE

I don't really understand why she's gone for all these

putty beige colours.

It's a Regency house and they're designed to pull

a lot of light in with those big bay windows, they will soak in colour,

they're designed for it, and yet we're being safe with beige.

And by the end of the first day, Jenny is having doubts.

My biggest fear is that it's safe,

but what's the point of spending time doing a room if someone hates it?

And she's not the only designer with worries.

This is the second coat, I'm thinking it now might be

three coats that we need, we really want it to be a nice strong white.

Still painting.

It's day two.

The designers have until lunchtime tomorrow to finish their rooms.

After a busy first day, the floors have been ripped up

and the painting's in full swing.

But taking everything out has only gone to show

just how big these Regency rooms are

and how much work there still is for our designers to do.

To make their £1,200 budget go further,

the designers have to be creative.

Right, so let's have a look at this wardrobe.

But Alice has been frugal furnishing her different zones

and has found a £31 bargain for the kids' play area.

This is my internet purchase.

I'm just debating whether to keep this green colour on,

this is the wallpaper that's going to go on there.

Is it going to go with the green or do I need to paint that?

I'm going to do it, I don't like the green. It's going white.

Another thing to paint.

The high ceilings and dimensions of her first-floor room mean

Alice has been working her way through 25 litres of paint.

You've covered the walls, that's quite a job, actually.

-Yeah.

-Have you been up all night?

Yeah, and it's still going.

I think I'm still going to have to do one more coat.

And then these are being painted as well?

OK, so these, I really want these painted but time restriction,

we're just really up against it

and I'm just not sure we've got the time so I said leave them

until last because I just feel everything else is more important.

We've got big eyes looking at you right now.

-You can't leave them.

-No.

-They are a crime, I'm so sorry.

I know! But the painting, I've got so much painting!

She has got an enormous room there to paint.

Yeah, but she hasn't had a floor to lay down

and the other two have had to get floors sorted.

If she doesn't get those cabinets painted,

-that whole scheme just falls to bits.

-Yeah.

Jordan's two-tone colour scheme forms

a line around the room above the panelling.

To create a spacious feel,

he wants that line to continue seamlessly across the furniture.

I've masked off the darker grey line and I'm going to paint that in.

Blending the furniture into the walls will create

an illusion of space.

But, to work, the line must be precise.

I've just done the second coat, so now I'm going to take the masking tape off

and we should have a really clean line, fingers crossed.

Boom.

Once the wet paint goes onto the tape it forms an adhesive,

so it's best to remove it while the paint is still wet

so that you get the cleanest line possible.

Ta-da!

So, Jordan seems really cool, calm and collected,

painting everything two shades of grey.

Yeah, not 50 shades of grey but if it doesn't move

he's painted it in grey, everything.

Everything, and I really like what he's done with that cabinet,

he's done it very nicely, he's got that line nice and neat

because if you are going to do something like that,

it's got to be millimetre perfect, hasn't it?

But having focused on details,

Jordan still has panelling to fix, the mural to hang and carpet to lay.

A few doors down, Jenny's getting practical.

It's going to be a work island, in the middle of the kitchen.

So, before it was a piece that was blocking out

the light of the window,

where I think, actually, when we manoeuvre it in the kitchen,

at the right position, which is probably about here,

Trixy can then move from the sink to the cooker to chop...

..and then to walk round.

So yeah, no, chuffed with that. Chuffed, chuffed.

But Jenny wants to make sure this unfitted kitchen fits with

her rustic French scheme.

You've started distressing it, is that the effect you're going for here?

I have, I'm going for an aged effect.

So this wax, this is just like a furniture polish, is it?

You can get it in any DIY store...

And any colours? Because you've gone for quite a dark colour there.

I've gone for a dark colour cos I want that aged effect.

So, you're really working the wax,

sort of with the grain of the wood actually, isn't it?

With the grain, and then what we tend to do is finish with

a nought-grade wire wool.

A lot of distressed furniture, especially ten years ago

was really streaky and showing lots of the underneath colour,

but this is actually a very subtle effect.

These rooms have had many different changes of decorative style

made to them over the past 200 years.

But it's a different story outside.

These houses are as fashionable today as they would have been

when they were built and, though they were only listed in the 1970s,

the original landowner had the forethought to put in place

some rules that would protect the look of the square.

A covenant stated that stucco plaster, a mixture of sand and lime,

be kept below the balcony level,

with yellow-coloured local brick on display above.

In fact the brick is thought to be so local,

it was cut from the land beneath our feet when the foundations were dug.

SEAGULLS CALL

Oh, it's nice to get a bit of sea air, ahhh!

The designers are halfway through their challenge.

And Jordan needs to start some of the bigger

jobs on his Hollywood Regency theme.

We're just clearing the room,

the carpet is going to be fitted in about 20 minutes' time

so we need to clear the space completely,

which is quite nice actually

because it'll be the first time I've seen it completely clear...

And I think the carpet's going to bring it all together.

But there's a problem.

You know this carpet's too small, don't you?

No, how much too small is it?

You've ordered 8 metres, and I've got 8 metres to here.

Right, let me go and find somebody.

They've just measured the carpet and it appears to be about

half-a-metre short, which could be a complete catastrophe.

Panic stricken a little bit, it's not what I needed right now.

Oh, God.

Down the street, queen of the paint-effect Jenny

is in her element ageing the kitchen.

Look at this, it's picked up the grain,

it's going to make these cupboards not look as cheap as they are.

And it'll match the flooring so I'm glad I opened me tin.

It's lime wax so what it'll do is just bring the colour out,

it'll take the yellowness out of the wood

and actually make the cupboards stand out a bit more.

Oh, I like it when it goes well!

I think 6.99 well spent.

But Jenny may have got a little carried away.

What I've just realised is that I was actually going to run past

with Trix whether she would like the lime-wash effect,

but as I'm now into the design quite a bit,

I've actually gone with my own gut instinct

and gone ahead and done them.

I think the client needs to be led, they have a comfort zone,

and as a designer, it's nice to push those boundaries.

Fingers crossed Trixy wants to cross those boundaries with me...

SHE LAUGHS

..otherwise I'm going to be a bit in trouble!

She's about to find out as Trix arrives home.

If you look at this one here.

Oh, yes, fantastic.

-This one, that is how the effect will look.

-Yes.

That's really nice.

Yeah. Oh, that's good because I trusted my judgment.

Amazing.

Oh, I'm pleased you're pleased!

You're pleased, I'm pleased.

-See you later.

-Thank you.

Alice's contemporary design is all about zoning,

and she's making sure she designs areas for all the family.

Chalkboard paint is a really cheap, good way of just having

one dedicated space that the kids can get creative on.

Not everybody has a room that they can dedicate to a playroom

so if you can, try and paint one of your walls

either in your kitchen, or your living room or the hallway.

A small tin costs £10

and to get more colour into the room Alice has an old-school technique.

I'm going to get crafty...

So, what we've got here is a very nice juicy potato.

Alice is planning to create an original canvas

by potato printing onto cloth with neon acrylic paint.

Fingers...

Splodge that on there.

What I do recommend first is just having a little practice go.

I have to think about what pattern I'm going to do.

I've just done it wrong!

The bits that haven't come out, I'm just going to dot them in.

Very tempted to cut this straight into chips, pop it with

a bit of oil in the frying pan, about 200 degrees Fahrenheit?

I don't want it to look perfect, it is supposed to be...

to kind of go with the style and the colour of the fabric,

nice and uneven. It's basically a DIY piece of art.

It's going to look great.

Alice may feel optimistic about her artwork,

but she does have other concerns.

It's just a few more little tweaks,

again it's these wall lights are causing me a bit of a stress.

Any solution on those?

Yes, I did manage to find a round glass ball which goes with

the contemporary feel but I'm tempted to spray-paint them

a colour because then they are going to be all white.

Just do it.

-I don't know, I don't know if that would be a bit too much.

-No, never too much.

-There's a lot of wall lights, there's six.

-Yeah, yeah.

I think you've got to punch some colour

and design in here to stop it just all being one big lovely white room.

After discovering the carpet measurements were wrong,

Jordan needs to order more.

So they roll it out to see how much extra they need.

Pretty close, you know.

I guess, at that...

Looks like we've got an end of the roll so the people have left

the extra metre on the end of the roll and that's saved our day.

It's been measured short but just through chance there's enough.

You got an end-of-roll piece of carpet... So we're fixed...

through luck.

Oh, my God, we lucked out, thank you so much,

you're like my guardian angel.

HE LAUGHS

The new carpet has cost around £340,

so he's using a clever but cheap alternative to create

the illusion of panelling with strips of wood.

I've got this in my own home,

and once he's painted one colour, it just gives that impression

of a panelled room, and I think it's going to look quite luxurious.

Oh, look he's got his knuckles out, Jordan.

LAUGHTER

With panelling, you'll find it's usually best to have a little

-less space at the top and a little more on the bottom.

-Ah.

There is, in classical architecture, that's how it works,

there's a ratio, it'll visually balance it, it'll look a bit fake, if not.

OK, cool. Thanks for that.

I'm just not sure about all this glue-on moulding thing, you know.

It's a bit naff.

It's the wrong period too, it's actually quite Georgian

rather than Regency, they were more panelled rooms then.

With so much changing inside these rooms...

..it's reassuring to know some things outside remain the same.

It's easy to walk down a street

and miss those telltale signs that show us how we used to live.

This looks like a manhole cover

but it's outside lots of the homes on this street.

In fact, it's a coal hole, coal used to be delivered from the street,

down a chute, into the basement of each individual property.

Also, notice how the pavement suddenly changes here,

that's because originally this was a passageway to stables at the back,

shared by all the houses, made into a complete home in the 1990s.

To give the judges a benchmark of all three designers' talents,

they've set an extra challenge to customise a Regency bust

and include it in their scheme.

Oh sweetheart, let's go and get rid of your acne.

They're all relying on their signature looks.

Alice gets her chalkboard paint out.

I like the drips, right down her nose!

Jordan is getting precise.

I'm going to undercoat it and I'm going to spray the top half in gold.

While Jenny's distressing.

She's better olive, isn't she?

Oh...!

Day two is drawing to a close.

Tomorrow the judges will decide which amateur

shows enough promise to go through to the next round.

And Alice is relying on all the help she can get.

I've roped in Eric to help with the dreaded pine cabinets.

Aren't I lucky I've got a really nice homeowner?

Tomorrow it'll be the mural, I'm really excited, actually,

it's going to be fantastic, it's sort of the piece de la resistance!

I thought the designer would come in and go, "Oh, put that over there, please."

And, "Yes, I'll have that," and, "Darling, doesn't that look wonderful!"

I don't like painting any more!

I'm exhausted, it's completely dark, I've got to go to bed.

Today's the day the rooms will be finished

and seen by the residents. Then they'll give crucial feedback

to the judges, who'll decide who goes through to the quarterfinals.

Good morning!

Jordan has left hanging the dramatic centrepiece for the whole room

until just hours before his deadline.

It will have a huge amount of impact,

everything else is quite simple and subtle.

The pressure's on a little bit, I'm feeling a bit nervous this morning.

It comes in four separate metre-wide panels.

Oh, my God, I'm so excited.

HE LAUGHS

Heavy-duty wallpaper paste is applied to the wall

and the mural can be positioned while the paste is still wet.

You don't get a second chance.

Yep, one shot.

It's crucial that the first piece is absolutely vertical

or all four panels will be wrong.

It's all been building up to this moment,

it sounds really cheesy but, yeah, it's making me smile a lot.

HE LAUGHS

Alice has finally finished painting her room a brilliant white.

Now she wants to get some colour into the scheme.

Which way is the wind blowing? That way, isn't it?

I'm going to put some gaffer tape down so that when

I've finished spray painting, the glass ball won't stick to the paper.

Test patch.

That looks fine, and you just need to do thin layers

so don't go mad on your first layer because it will run,

it will look heavy, it just won't work.

And just keep shaking it every now and again as you're going along.

Looks like a big bit of bubble gum.

SHE CHUCKLES

Just go down...yes.

Oh, my God!

Alice has kept down costs with £5 lampshades.

Here it is...

And she's commissioned a family portrait for just £30

to personalise the room.

I'm going to be really, really super careful with this

because this is really special.

That's really, really lovely.

And for Eric's DJ zone, she's creating some pop art.

I've asked Eric because he, obviously loves his music,

to choose four of his favourite album covers that I can frame.

It's a really nice, easy way of doing it.

Look, that looks great!

But not all of her handiwork is making it into the scheme.

Potato painting, I've kind of put it to one side,

in fact, I've put it in my bag, I'm just going to forget it

because it's just looking a bit shoddy.

Down the street, Jenny's found something else to give

the rustic paint-effect treatment to.

Not too fussed if some of the original basket is showing

on the outside, because I think that that's quite nice, but I certainly

want the paint to have a bit of depth rather than just a wash.

So, two coats will have to be given.

I just don't want it to look bland, that's my fear.

But I actually quite like it bland, so that's also not a fear.

But whether it's enough impact...?

That's the bottom.

That should be the very top of the dado rail, basically.

Jordan's struggling to get his picture perfect.

We're just moving the whole image up about an inch,

when the second piece went on which has got these two gentleman,

I planned for them to be standing on the dado rail,

and when we put the second piece up,

we were probably going to chop them off at the ankle.

I'm such a perfectionist, I would have noticed it,

anyone else probably wouldn't have picked up on it

coming into the room, but just... when you've got something

in your head a certain way, it's just nice to follow it through.

The amateur designers have had £1,200 and three days

to make these tired rooms fit for their Regency heritage.

I'm ready to start dressing and getting my zones in order

but some of the paint is still wet.

It will be up to Sophie and Daniel to decide who has

fulfilled their client's brief the best.

What was that rule he was saying yesterday?

The gap at the top should be bigger than the gap at the bottom?

And all three are racing to finish.

Dining area, flowers, vase, chairs, curtains, done.

DJ area, bust, done.

I'm feeling a little bit flustered.

Well, I know I've done my best, whether it's enough, I'm not sure.

Kids' area, rug, yes.

SHE WHIMPERS

Hey...

First to be judged is Jordan's design -

a glamorous Hollywood take on Regency style.

Three days ago, this was a neglected dumping ground

with no flooring and tatty walls.

Now, it's completely transformed with brand-new carpet...

..painted panel-effect walls...

..and updated vintage pieces.

Jordan kept colours restrained using two shades of grey,

allowing key pieces of mirrored furniture

and that mural to stand out.

How elegant, eh?

I've got a big smile on my face.

Mural's working well.

Yeah, it does, it's very strong

but I do think he chose the right wall for it.

Because while you're sitting down relaxing...

BOTH: You don't have to look at it.

The only thing I'm unsure about is this room was perfect architecturally,

he's added the chair rail,

he's added the panelling, which was not necessary, it wasn't required.

Jordan's used his Regency bust as a table decoration.

I think this shows that Jordan's got a really nice stylist's eye,

it's just a nice little cameo, it's almost like a still-life painting.

Also, it's really simple, all he's done is dip it half into gold paint

-which lines up with that perfectly.

-That idea.

Most people if they were going to paint it two colours

in the first place, they'd paint the colour up to here

and then do the rest, but actually by creating the line here

it's almost created this cool, camouflage effect.

It all just coordinates, let's say.

Well that'd where I'd be moving into criticism,

I do feel everything's painted with the same pot of paint.

I would have liked a bit more punch of colour,

something just to highlight the room a bit more.

How well each designer fulfils their brief is crucial to the

judges' decision.

Homeowner Julie hasn't yet seen the finished room, until now.

SHE GIGGLES

Oh...!

It's fantastic. Yikes.

It's absolutely what I would have wished for.

Does it feel like home?

It feels my fabulous home, my fabulous home!

Next, is Alice's contemporary living room with different zones

designed for all the family.

It was a vast, cavernous space with old-fashioned decor

and little in the way of style or personality.

Now, it's crisp, clean and minimal, with freshly-painted walls

and woodwork and some blasts of colour.

Alice has created a children's play corner, DJ work-zone,

and grown-up dining area overlooking the sea.

As well as adding some very personal features.

Oh, it's really fun, isn't it?

I'm liking being in here, aren't you?

Yeah, she's got a really lovely sense of style.

It's fun, it just says family to me, you know.

I love... This is such a great zone she's created for the children.

I love the pop of pink, that's great.

I'm really glad she decided to paint not all but some of the lights.

Let's come and have a look. It's so fresh. So optimistic, delightful.

I love the mix of the two different styles, Eames-style chairs

with the antique, I love that sort of blend.

-And there she is!

-There she is!

So, this is what she did with her,

-she's made her into a headphone holder.

-Brilliant.

I think that's so clever.

Useful and beautiful, how about that?

-Yeah.

-My favourite bit is that bay window with the rather grand,

almost French-style table, the Eames chairs

and just casually the flowers in the old ginger jar, look great.

What will Eric and Marta make of their reinvented room?

Oh, wow.

Very nice.

It's amazing, it's lovely. My God, look at that!

It's become your home.

BOTH: Yes, definitely, definitely.

Finally, it's Jenny's design for a rustic country-style kitchen

and dining room.

Three days ago, it was a fully-functioning,

if a little lifeless, room with blue walls and mismatched flooring.

Now, it's a more unified room with new wood floor,

toned-down colour scheme, and matching curtains.

Jenny reconfigured the kitchen units to create a central island,

and has used paint effects to age them.

My first impression is it FEELS so much bigger,

having this one floor unifying this space has transformed it.

She's kind of made this room a little bit more classic

and traditional which now matches in with that beautiful

dining furniture that Trix really loves.

And I like this idea, this does work.

It really, really works.

You can cook, you can reach, it's much more, because imagine

you have to keep doing that and that, that'd be difficult.

-Great logic.

-I feel like Delia Smith.

Yeah, you could, chop-chop-chop. Great idea.

We like this bit of space.

Yeah, I really think this end is very successful.

I know she had quite a strong argument with Trix about wall colour.

Jenny was like, "No, no, no, the wall colour has to match the curtains."

And it does, and to a fault I would say, it's too monotone.

-Do you think so?

-I like to see the fabrics

and the wall colour have some kind of contrast.

I think it makes the room feel a little bit bigger by being

the one colour, just that one thing which creates one feeling is

all right for me, I don't mind that.

We're looking for a splash of colour, I think

the splash is the turquoise, but the turquoise is a bit too subtle.

This is our Regency-inspired bust,

no, I'm not surprised that it's had a distressed treatment.

It's great, it's just not very inspirational.

No, but, then, it is in keeping with the rest of the room.

Homeowner Trix wasn't initially convinced by the brown scheme,

but will now see it complete for the first time.

Hi... Oh, wow!

LAUGHTER

This is just totally amazing.

I think she's been so creative, and I love the colours, I love

the blue it was before but it had been that colour for a long time.

Well, it makes you stand out beautifully.

LAUGHTER

-I am now the blue!

-You're the blue.

For the designers, it's an anxious wait.

I don't think I could have done any better.

I really want to go through to the next round,

I want to do it all again.

This has just cemented the idea that I definitely want

to go into interior design in a big way, the idea of creating

a space for somebody to enjoy and live in is brilliant.

I'd really like to get through, you do what you do

and it's just nice that people appreciate what you can do.

So, judges, how did our amateur designers do?

Brilliantly well, I was astonished actually, it all went very smoothly,

in budget, there was no fluster, in fact.

Everybody seemed very in control.

I thought Jenny did a really beautiful project,

I had serious doubts about it in the beginning

but it pulled together, there were some ingenious practical solutions

which none of us even thought about and the end result was great.

She had a client who loves colour and it's just saying to me

perhaps Jenny can't work with colour.

And then you've got Alice who isn't afraid of colour at all.

No, I wanted more of Alice, I think

she was just being a little bit too cautious about her scheme,

I think her ideas were fantastic but there wasn't enough of it.

It lacked a focal point, when you're dealing with a room of that

large proportion, you kind of need somewhere to draw your eye.

She needed a collection of pictures grouped together,

it just made a really strong colour block to balance with all

the other bright colours she'd got dotted around.

But she was really withheld by a client who wanted white minimalism

and a landlord who wouldn't let her put any colours on the walls.

How did Jordan do?

It was very considered, it's very controlled.

I'd have liked to have seen a bit more colour.

That's the big question, isn't it?

Can Jordan, if he does get through to the next round, can he do

anything other than monochrome? It was very, very neutral.

It sounds like you've got three really strong candidates,

you're going to have your work cut out picking one.

Yeah, absolutely.

So, your first real project for a live client!

It's quite an incredible feat.

You all had a very difficult challenge because these rooms are

really big, in fact it wasn't one room that you were dealing with

but it was two, yours was especially big, you had a kitchen to deal with,

there was a lot of space to handle in three days.

So, I hope all three of you will go forward in your future projects

having learnt something from this experience,

but the judges have had to make a decision, about which of the

three of you shows the potential to go forward to new challenges.

And that designer...

is Jordan.

APPLAUSE

LAUGHTER

Thank you...

I feel incredible, I feel exhausted, I feel over the moon.

-I love it, thank you!

-Fantastic.

Yeah, I'm absolutely ecstatic.

You just give it the kiss of life, and I mean you've given it a snog.

HE LAUGHS

You totally pulled it off, Jordan. You totally pulled it off.

Jordan had to win,

he just had that extra bit of sparkle that we've been looking for.

I'm really excited that Jordan's going through to the quarterfinal,

he's got real drive and real passion, I'm really hoping

we can see him work with more pattern and colour next time.

You've just got to top that now.

BOTH: Yeah!

I'm feeling OK, I've really enjoyed the whole experience.

Thinking of ideas and actually implementing the ideas

and seeing it in somebody else's home was really, really nice.

A little bit gutted, I enjoyed doing the job

but Jordan certainly did that wow factor.

SHE CHUCKLES

I'm exhausted but-but just totally thrilled,

I just can't wait for the next challenge.

Next time in the first of our quarterfinals,

designers take on

the challenge of re-designing rooms in these thatched cottages.

This is so charming.

But only two can go through to the next stage of the competition.

Oh, my God, the plaster's falling off!

# Duh-duh-duh! #