Self Build The Great Interior Design Challenge

I'm constantly taken aback by the huge variety

of property styles in Britain,

from characterful timber-framed cottages to grand town houses.

But sometimes, the insides

don't live up to the expectations on the outside.

So, we've gathered together the most talented amateur interior designers

who think they could be the next big thing to show us how it's done.

But it's not as easy as it looks.

Why-y-y-y?!

-I've got self-doubt creeping in.

-Yes!

Across three knockout episodes,

a group of designers will compete for one place in finals week.

It seems like there's so much to do.

No pressure!

Good job. I like it.

Judging them, two industry experts - Daniel Hopwood...

What I'm looking for

is talent that can be nurtured.

..and Sophie Robinson.

I want the designers

to impress me with their creativity.

They'll be scrutinising presentation skills...

That was not the way to present to somebody.

..artistic flair...

-Have you ever seen that done before?

-No, it's weird.

..and how well they deliver their brief.

-Pretty amazing transformation.

-Absolutely beautiful.

In the finals, the best will face giants of the design world -

Oliver Heath...

Oh, my word.

..Orla Kiely...

It does look quite rough.

-..and Kelly Hoppen.

-I want perfection.

But only one can be crowned winner

of The Great Interior Design Challenge.

Our last group of four amateur designers

take on rooms that lack colour...

..lack charm, but have exacting clients.

This time, our amateurs will be updating a bedroom each

in four ground-breaking self-build homes in South London.

All four designers have a distinctive style...

-Rustic industrial.

-Considered randomness.

-Bold.

More of a Jackson Pollock than it is a Monet.

..but working to a client's brief is a different matter...

But what I don't get from this is any sense of the practical...

Who built this?

Very blue.

Yeah. It's a teal colour, yeah.

..as they battle to keep their place in the competition...

It hasn't quite got there, has it?

For me, I just feel that this space is lacking the love.

..because one must go.

The designer going home this time is...

This design clash is taking place

in a unique enclave in South East London.

After the deep recession of the mid-1970s,

Britain went through a little economic boom.

It was also a golden age for British housing.

One innovative architect, Walter Segal, though,

didn't just design his homes,

he empowered his residents to do it themselves.

This little pocket of self-build homes

is one of my favourite neighbourhoods.

'70s and '80s design may not be everyone's cup of tea,

but I think this place is rather special.

Now, our designers are updating a bedroom each

for the current owners, their very first clients.

It's the full width of the wall that will be,

literally, from wall to wall, will be the structure of the tree.

The designers have been given a brief from their homeowners,

which they've been preparing for the past week.

When I first saw the brief, I almost had a heart attack.

A world away from what I'm used to, but I think I'm going to do well.

-Paper in the middle, sandwiched.

-Paper in between.

-Almost like a Japanese sort of...

-Yes, the Japanese frame.

I'm feeling well-prepared, I've thought everything through.

They've got a small team to help them,

including a builder and a decorator.

So, I just want to try and construct something

out of MDF to go at the end.

I've got the casters.

A bit nervous, but hopefully they're going to like what I've done.

Just have to see, really.

They also have a budget of £1,000 and three days.

Do you know what? We'll see. We'll hang it and see which way it goes.

Right. I think that will be all right.

When I first got the brief, I saw that the homeowners

had quite a long list of what they would like in the room.

So, hopefully, with a bit of creativity, I've managed to do that.

It's far better to have more space than just having one,

cos you can obviously double up then, can't you?

First up is 44-year-old furniture restyler Talie,

who lives in Buckinghamshire.

As long as things don't match...

Big, bold colours, you know, I'm happy.

At my age, I don't give a monkey's what anybody thinks about my design.

It's in my house, other people can jog on.

The room Talie is working in was a mishmash of a master bedroom,

which Sophie and Daniel checked out before she got started.

Well, well...

-What do you do with a pole in the bedroom?

-I know.

That's quite limiting to the layout of this space, isn't it?

-Cos you're not going to be moving that.

-Definitely not.

It's bolted in at the top.

Talie's homeowners have asked for a daring Middle Eastern-inspired room,

with a warm and spicy colour scheme.

You might not like a Moroccan theme, but it is what's asked of the brief,

and I think probably in an attempt to bring some cohesion

to this space, and it might just do that.

But the designer clearly has to be highly-skilled

because she's got to interpret that very well

to make it look stylish and classy.

Talie's attempt at a classy Moroccan theme includes a blue colour scheme

alongside accents of yellow and red,

which she had to get signed off by homeowners Ian and Cherie

earlier on.

This is my modern Moroccan-style bedroom.

Interior designers have to be able to present their ideas clearly,

something our amateurs are doing for the first time.

What they don't know yet is that they'll be judged

and later ranked on how well they present their designs.

So, what I thought is with this blue,

-I thought we'd do the walls and it's a real kind of cosy blue.

-Yeah.

It will also make the room look quite a bit bigger.

We kind of didn't really kind of feel like...

-we wanted blue, as in blue...

-Well, it's a warm blue.

-It's a blue I wasn't thinking.

-It's more like a teal sort of colour.

Talie's pushing her homeowners on the blue.

And she has bold plans for the wardrobe as well.

You're going to have this metal fretwork,

and this is going to be incorporated in your new wardrobes

that we're having built.

-And also, it will be on the back of your bed.

-OK. Yes.

What colour are you going to paint the bed?

-It will probably be in the same as the wall.

-OK.

-Yeah, definitely.

-So, it'll blend in. OK?

-That'll be cool.

She's quite slick, even a little pushy at times, I thought.

But it was a little bit textbook.

We've both seen designs like that before,

especially in Moroccan styles.

And this couple wanted something a little bit edgy.

The judges may not think Talie's scheme is edgy,

but her colour choice seems to be provoking a reaction.

And see, I wouldn't have chosen that blue.

If I was going to do blue, it would be a different colour blue.

But, despite reservations, the blue is going up.

I think they're really going to like it.

Cos said they liked spicy colours and, you know,

you can have spicy colour in, you know, the blue tone as well.

And this is a pretty spicy colour.

I love it. Love it, love it, love it.

-The bed's moving down, probably about one button length.

-OK.

The second designer is 60-year-old author and illustrator Anne,

whose home in Tyneside reflects her eclectic taste.

I don't think I can pin down my style at all. I'm not quite sure.

It's free-range organic, maybe.

Anne's updating what was a busy nine-year-old girl's bedroom.

This room is just crammed. I can't bear it, actually.

Too much stuff in my opinion.

Anne's brief was for a more grown-up bedroom,

with Japanese-inspired decor.

Look, she wants a sophisticated look,

so, all this clutter is not going to help achieve that.

On the brief, she wants Kyoto cherry blossom garden.

I think there could be a lot of creativity there.

It could be quite original.

But that's a lot to demand from what is not a very big space.

Anne plans to cram quite a lot in.

Her sophisticated Japanese scheme includes bespoke artwork

and fabrics aplenty, which she explained to her young client, Anna,

and mum Claire before she got started.

-What do you think about the colours?

-I like all of them.

You like all of them? All of these here are all made in Japan.

And they'll be wrapped around some cushions. Do you like tassels?

So I was making, sort of, like, an Oriental bunting.

Do you like the idea of that?

But what I don't get from this is any sense of the practical

Well, for the main storage, there will be a wardrobe,

and that will incorporate a little dressing table.

-All right?

-Sounds lovely.

I think Anne was lulling them into a false sense of security

because there were no drawings, no plans, no elevations.

And actually, there's a lot of stuff in there

that needs editing down or storing efficiently.

And it isn't at the moment,

and we don't how she's going to do that either.

Well, Anne does have a plan - use her powers of persuasion.

You know how you want to be sophisticated?

So, you've got quite a small bedroom.

Although we can make some storage,

we can't make the bedroom bigger for you,

so you've got to tackle that corner over there.

'I don't mind. I mean, Anna could do with having less stuff.'

What I suppose I won't be happy with is if there's things

that she really loves and then there's no room

in the room for them to go back in.

I'm hoping that we can make a lovely room,

but I can't make it six times bigger than it is.

Yeah, well, they're just... We're sort of putting them in.

I'm still quite comfortable.

Our third designer is Craig,

a 28-year-old industrial textile weaver from Burnley.

I've only ever bought one interior design magazine,

but I always manage to make it look good.

I don't like mass-produced type things. I like something unique.

Craig is giving a new look to what was a very plain bedroom.

Actually, the bones of this room are rather good.

It's light, it's got the gift of fitted storage.

It just needs a bit more character, a bit more life put into it.

Craig's been asked to create a peaceful retreat.

They want this haven of tranquillity,

a space that's very separate from the busy life of parents

and young kids downstairs.

So, I'm thinking primary colours

probably aren't the way to go in here.

But Craig, it seems, thinks differently,

as his design scheme champions large splatterings of bold colour,

which he had to run by his homeowners Will and Helen

before he could get going.

You did mention you liked burnt orange, so...

That's...that's his colour.

You can see, obviously, I'm just adding that orange

sort of subtly all around the room. Not too bold.

-Mm-hm.

-I think the biggest item that's going to be orange,

is, obviously, the over-bed table.

-Orange naturally can mean emergency...

-Yes, yeah.

-..or warning, rather than calm down.

-Zigzags...

So, yeah, no, it'll be interesting to see how that works in the room

and how it comes together.

Yeah. I think that...it's that over-bed table,

-whether that's just...

-Too much?

-..one step too far, too orange.

I think what you'll find is...

..you'll want more orange if I take that out.

OK.

Craig did a really comprehensive design.

I mean, I really can get my head around that.

I know exactly what he's doing.

But, Dan, seriously, they wanted peaceful tranquillity.

They're getting totally tangoed.

It's not what they asked for.

So, I need to get this bed on up and it's going to fit that way.

Craig's sticking with his orange, though, as he rearranges

the entire layout of the room to make way for his bright centrepiece.

The whole point of sort of getting an interior designer

is for them to give you a different outlook on how to design your house.

So, I do like to stick to my guns in certain areas.

So, this is now going to be a floor-to-ceiling,

wall-to-wall wardrobe.

Our final designer is a 27-year-old personal assistant

from North London, and on a good day, she's known as Nadia.

I do have a nickname which is Nadiva

because I have been known to go down like a diva

if I don't get my own way when it comes to designing things.

Nadia's stamping her bold style

on a room that was a neglected spare bedroom.

It's a small bedroom,

but it's about to be turned into a bedroom for two young ladies.

I wonder if there's going to be enough space.

Her clients want to move their two girls, Iris and May, into the room.

So Nadia's been asked to create a magical woodland for them.

The brief is a peach. You know, fantastical woodland.

I mean, I can just see it already.

I think this is a great opportunity to be hugely creative.

Nadia's unleashed her creativity by designing

a bespoke tree-shaped bed and shelving,

an idea she had to sell to her homeowners Becky and Matthew

before any work started.

In keeping with the whole sort of nature and treehouse theme,

I have made a boxed-in treehouse for the girls.

The beds will look like swings.

And if you take a look at this picture,

they'll be suspended from ropes but they won't be load-bearing.

-Can they see through there?

-Into...? No.

-Between the beds?

It'd be nice to be able to chat, yeah.

-If it's possible for them to see each other between.

-OK.

-It could be a nice little...

-Hatch or something.

-Yeah.

So, the flooring

is a really, really pale wood

that's vintage in style

with sort of inscriptions on the floor to look like wine crates.

Is it possible that we could just use what's underneath here?

-Oh, what is underneath?

-Well, floorboards.

There'll be floorboards, yeah. I'm not sure what state they're in.

-It's a nice sort of look, maybe. Just natural.

-OK.

That's fine. Yeah, I will definitely

try to do something with your floorboards if I can.

Wonderful.

I think she's generally got good ideas and good creativity,,

but that board, Dan, it really gave away the bare minimum.

And the problem with that is that the homeowners

have got great imagination,

and if she hasn't filled it with some nice images,

they're going to do it and start taking over that project.

With work underway, Nadia is prioritising

the homeowners' request to use the existing floorboards.

At the moment, we're just taking the carpet up, which is really exciting,

I want to see what's underneath.

And it is beautiful, unfinished floorboards. Perfect.

All four designers are busy working,

but they're about to find out the judging has already begun.

-'The judges want to see you outside.'

-All right.

OK. All right.

OK. I'm now slightly nervous that the judges want to see me,

but I'll thrust myself upon the sword.

At this early stage, Sophie and Daniel will be judging them

on how well they pitched to their clients.

With just three places at stake in the next round,

how well they've done so far...

matters.

We wanted you to come out, as we'd like to judge...

..the way that you presented your projects.

Their presentation skills, mood boards

and drawings will all be assessed.

Anne, you created the drama, the sense of theatre

for your nine-year-old client, but no floor plan, no sketch.

Big issue in that room is storage.

We didn't see it anywhere on your presentation.

Mm-hm.

Craig, we felt you presented a very comprehensive board.

I think perhaps we felt

you steamrollered your client a little bit.

I think it'd be fair to say you're pretty off-brief

with someone who didn't want bold colour

and they're kind of getting it.

Pretty much right.

Interestingly, you accused Craig of steamrollering.

Someone else is doing that as well.

I wonder who it is. Talie.

-That would be me.

-Quite strong.

But what I did like to see was the fact that you had plans,

elevations, it was really clear.

Now, Nadia, you've got that entire picture in your head.

You know what you want to do.

And you describe it with great confidence.

But I wasn't seeing it on the board.

And, frankly, I felt it was just a little bit rushed.

I'm worried.

Now, we have already put you in order

in where we think you are right now in the competition.

Talie, you're leading.

And in second is Craig.

Third...

is Anne.

In fourth place at the moment is Nadia.

I'm not going to lie, my mood board was rushed,

so I can take that on the chin.

But what I lack in preparation I will deliver in my final product.

I would rather not be sitting here going, "Oh! Third. What's that?"

No, I'd rather just be getting on with my job.

I'd never in my wildest thought I'd come first in the briefing.

It has really boosted me to, you know, to crack on now.

I want to really transform this room. Really transform it.

Making a big impact with simple ideas goes to the heart

of the original design of this estate.

Swiss, modernist architect Walter Segal

loves simplicity in all things

and drew on influences from Japan to America to come up

with this stripped back, self-build model.

Cost-effective materials and simple methods meant that anyone

could put up these timber-framed homes.

It wasn't just the construction that harked back to a bygone era.

When these homes were completed in 1985, they must have felt weird.

What little housing we were building at the time

was mostly of the suburban type, with brick fronts and bow windows,

very traditional.

But Walter Segal was channelling a very different kind of tradition -

more kind of Tudor, timber-framed, spartan and utilitarian -

very strange in the '80s, that era of aspiration.

Talie's aspirations for a blue room are also being realised,

as the first coat is nearly up.

So, she's adding some much-needed Moroccan spice to her scheme

by painting a chest of drawers.

I absolutely love restyling things,

and making something that just looks absolutely amazing, really.

Upcycling is Talie's signature skill at home in Buckinghamshire,

but she has bigger dreams.

I would love to win the competition.

I mean, I'm in my mid-40s now, and you think,

"Is there anything else you can do with your life?"

But hopefully, this would lead to greater things, really.

While stepdaughter and husband support Talie's dreams

of being a designer, they do draw the line somewhere.

Talie has a free rein in the house all bar one thing -

that's dead animals around the house.

But it doesn't stop taxidermy fan Talie dreaming.

We'll be driving along and I'll see something like a pheasant.

I think to myself, "I could grab that, send it off."

But he won't allow me to put it in his posh car.

Painting furniture by customising it

isn't really ticking the box for me right now.

I want to see experimentation, I want to see innovation,

and I'm just getting a really competent scheme.

Across the road, Anne's builder is tackling the storage issue

while she prioritises some home-made Oriental-fringed bunting.

I discovered this by pure accident.

I was working with the fabric and realising that

it so easily fell apart,

so I thought, "If I put a row of stitches in,

"then that will hold the weave of the fabric

"and I should be able to pull the other bits off

"and that will fringe it."

Being frayed around the edges is the look Anne revels in

at her Whitburn home.

These are corbels.

They were just cheap, plaster, white.

So I've just painted them with an acrylic,

and this one fell off, so I thought,

"I know what. I'll glue it back together."

Cos, actually, it'll have that lovely distressed look,

so old and loved and worn out.

A bit like me, really.

I want to be the best I can be.

I would love to sound like this really lovely, gentle soul,

but I like to win.

The reason I'm doing the textiles today

and not sort of last as an addition is that, actually,

these will tell me what colours are in the room or not in the room.

-I think, potentially, she's a hugely exciting designer.

-Yeah.

She's really artistic, she's really creative,

but project management, seriously risky strategy,

making it up as you go along.

This is the paint that's going on the walls.

I think it's going to look mint.

It's going to look mint!

In Craig's room, the walls are being painted grey,

and his builder has nearly finished the over-bed table.

Hasn't taken you long, has it, really?

Can't wait to paint it.

Having renovated his cottage in Burnley

and run a homewares shop with his sister,

Craig thinks he's got the edge.

I think I've got the potential to win. Definitely, yeah.

I've got some great ideas.

I used to be, like, upstairs on a Saturday,

I'd be there sanding away something,

some unit down to paint it, turn it into something else.

So, yeah. I think I've got a really good chance of winning.

Craig is equally as confident when it comes to THAT orange.

Definitely think because, like, the walls are grey,

the bedding's grey, it needs something bold.

But just in little doses, so I think you'll be surprised

how grown-up and tranquil it will feel.

Well, he's certainly not compromising any of that design.

He's certainly not.

I mean, he was very assured about that orange, but have you seen it?

In reality, it's quite...it's quite strong.

Also experimenting with colour is Nadia, in her magical woodland room.

Just wanted to put a little bit on the wall

and see how that goes, really.

This self-confessed diva, though,

has spent an hour getting the colour just right.

-I love it, that's definitely the one to go for.

-OK. Perfect.

Colour is important to Nadia in her current London home,

but her interior design roots were developed much earlier.

My mum was always doing up our house,

and she still is always doing up the family home.

We have been wallpapering and painting

and trying to lay floors since about nine or ten years old.

And from there, it just blossomed.

The room looks a lot better with colour on the wall,

and I feel like I'm making a little bit of progress as well,

so this is really, really good news.

But it's been very hard to follow what she's up to

cos we haven't seen her plans.

And I know she's having to change things.

She thinks she knows what she's doing,

-so we've just got to sit back and watch it.

-Hm.

As well as their room schemes,

Sophie and Daniel have another bombshell for the designers.

To test their quick-thinking skills and creativity,

they're giving them all a surprise item to upcycle.

-Nadia!

-Hi.

-Surprise.

-I've got a challenge for you.

-OK.

Oh, please, no!

-This is...

-Thank you.

-..a flat-pack stool.

-OK.

You've got 24 hours.

Either incorporate it in your design, hack it up,

make it into something new and interesting,

but I want to see maximum creativity.

-Brilliant.

-Have fun.

-Thank you very much.

So, now I have another project

on top of the gazillions of other projects I'm dealing with.

I'm a bit bamboozled at the moment on what to do with them.

I know what I'm going to do with it. It's just finding the time to do it.

Oh!

The judges will see the upcycled items later on.

How well they adapt their flat-pack stool

will help Sophie and Daniel decide who goes home.

Day one is nearly over,

and with four designers jostling for just three places in the next round,

the mind games begin.

Are you up to speed?

Yeah. I think I've just made up a lot of ground.

I've got quite a bit to do, but I've also got quite a bit done.

I'm hoping that happens tomorrow.

I imagine they've got really good designs,

but it's still not going to be as good as mine.

I'm a little bit scared and a little bit nervous,

but I'm going to put my energy into doing this room the best I can

and hopefully it'll look magnificent.

The most tiring part of the day

is really trying to keep your head down,

focused when there's lots and lots going on around you.

I'm not going to forget being voted fourth,

I'm not going to forget that.

And hopefully, it will give me a bit of a push

or a head start tomorrow.

After a first day of tassels and tree designs,

and a whole lot of blue,

there's still an awfully long way to go

before the projects are realised.

With one designer due to go home after the judging tomorrow,

the competition is intense.

Today's going to be a big day.

It's quite a lot of coordinating to do,

a lot of building and painting at the same time.

I think I might be a little bit behind,

so I really have to get cracking real soon.

Going to try and bring the design I intended to bring,

and hopefully it's a winner.

There's a lot going on, a lot of questions being asked,

pulled in this and that direction and I'm feeling a bit like, "Ahh!"

It's early in the day to be frazzled.

And with a second coat of paint going on the walls,

Nadia needs to work out the design of her tree-shaped bed.

-So, like, sort of diagonal like this.

-Yeah.

But sort of, you know, angular.

-Thank you.

-My pleasure.

Nadia's also foraging for makeshift steps.

Oh, lord, insects, insects, insects.

But foraging and divas don't mix.

I need to get some gloves. There is no way I'm picking this up.

SHE GROANS

This should be just enough for them to step up onto their beds.

Right now, it's just a green room.

And she's got to transform that into a magical, woodland wonderland.

And right now I'm not that enchanted.

Hoping to make magic in her Japanese scheme,

Anne is taking her time deciding which colours should go where.

I need to put something other than the reds and the pinks in.

I don't want it to be wishy-washy, if you know what I mean?

So, where's that colour going?

-This colour's going... It's on the bed...

-Mm-hm.

It's going there.

-At the moment...

-Yeah.

-..it's not going anywhere else, but it might.

'I think Anne'

is in a bit of her own bubble right now.

And we're still not yet able to visualise that scheme.

We don't know what it's going to look like,

and more to the point, I don't think she does either.

On day two, all the designers have to show their work in progress

to their clients.

-How you getting on?

-I'm getting on really well.

The fixture's on, lighting's in.

I love this, all this open space, it's just brilliant.

It's exactly what we wanted.

It's a big moment for all of them -

anything they don't like now could jeopardise the whole scheme.

So, it doesn't feel like a huge amount has been done so far,

it kind of looks empty

-at the moment.

-ANNE LAUGHS

It didn't really lighten my spirits

and I don't think it lightened theirs.

For Talie, it's the first time her homeowners

will see the controversial blue.

Little bit apprehensive.

Probably not as confident as yesterday.

-Oh.

-Very blue.

Yeah, it's a teal colour. Yeah, it is...

It's a... I think it's a cosy blue, don't you think?

It's not a...

Yeah, I think the thing is it's hard to tell at this stage.

I mean, was a bit taken back by all the blue.

It's sort of almost like a little blue box.

I think you're going to have to see it with the other colours,

cos it will complement it. You know, blue is the background,

it's the canvas, it's what you put on it that counts.

I'll try and stay out your way now.

For Craig, it's all about showing his homeowners the over-bed table.

Good.

-Mr Orange is happening.

-Yeah.

-THEY LAUGH

And their initial doubts are still there.

I think one of the concerns is just the colour and how much...

-how much colour there is.

-It is very orange.

And, also, I'm just worried about how much of me

I can fit underneath that, cos I know how high our bed is

and I'm just looking at it going, "Err..."

Nothing's phasing confident Craig, though.

It's surprising, like, if you do sort of start getting stressed out,

you tend to get less done.

So, I'm just going to pick up the pace

but I'm still going to just try and stay relaxed.

So, where did the bright orange and all the zigzags come from?

I love burnt orange myself. And the zigzags, I mean,

I know she sort of mentioned she doesn't like bold prints,

but I believe that bold prints look really good in a room

as long as you use them correctly and not too much,

so I wanted to sort of open her mind to the idea of it.

Yeah, take her outside her comfort zone a bit.

Yeah, exactly, definitely.

Out of their comfort zones, the designers

aren't just transforming a room each, they've also got to come up

with an ingenious product design from a flat-pack stool.

Anne's come up with a simple decorative idea.

I think what I'm going to do is cover all of these

with some lovely paper to make it very, very pretty.

And then assemble it as this, because it collapses

so she can store it out of the way.

I just don't think sticking pretty wallpaper on something

counts as an upcycle.

No, pretty though it is,

it's hardly revolutionary or showing that much creativity.

I've cracked it. Do I look smug?

Talie's painting hers yellow, to be a wall feature.

I waxed it to match the beams and then what I'm going to do

is put some shelving on and hopefully be able to put some...

display some nice plants or something on it.

Little plants, yeah, brilliant.

I like that it's got a practical use.

I think that's quite a neat idea.

I'm just happy with the fact it's not blue. What a relief.

I just need another pair of hands, really, another pair of feet

and probably a younger body.

Craig's also thinking shelving.

What I've done is took the back off the ladders

and I'm going to use it as a bookshelf.

He's used one half to lean up against the wall,

creating a little bookshelf.

Yeah, breaking something down to think about form

and function is pretty impressive.

I think it's a funky way of using this ladder.

So, yeah, I'm happy with it.

Nadia is turning hers into legs for a picnic table.

And the top is going to be a mosaic

of squares of plywood,

any scraps that we've got left, so that the girls

have a table to sit at.

She's changed its purpose, which is good.

Yeah, but I'm not sure what beauty it adds.

The judges have seen all four stools given a new look.

But the real test will be how well they integrate

into the final schemes, which they'll see later on.

These flat-pack stools may be flummoxing the designers,

but they fit the ethos of these bespoke egalitarian homes,

built by the original residents, on a council-backed housing scheme.

These first-time builders weren't let entirely to their own devices.

They were given detailed instructions,

almost like a gigantic piece of flat-pack furniture,

and Segal arranged for them to be given basic training

in electrics and plumbing at the local technical college.

He was determined that all members of the community, despite age,

affluence or gender, should have exactly the same opportunity.

Wherever possible, Segal got rid of the need for wet trades

like bricklaying and plastering, so that almost everything

could be done with a hammer, a screwdriver and a drill.

The whole house bolts together on a kind of grid system,

like a gigantic piece of Meccano.

You can see how simple the construction is

from this exposed, slatted staircase.

Come on, you can cut to size, you can go in.

Keeping things simple in her Moroccan room,

Talie's using offcuts of wallpaper on her drawers...

If anybody ever says it's just sticking wallpaper...

onto furniture, I'd like to throttle them.

..which means more blue.

Even a heatproof vase Talie is turning into a lampshade

has a hint of blue.

What we're going to do is turn the glass over,

pop it on there, like that, and then this will go over the top.

Hey, bingo.

Feeling buoyed, Talie visits one of her rivals.

Oh, my God, there's so much colour.

-Yes.

-Did you shred all that yourself?

-Yes.

-I absolutely love it.

Ahh.

So, we'll have some book storage there,

fitted shelves along here and there's a drop-down desk.

-The bed...

-When's the deadline?

Who invited you?

I felt slightly worried, yeah, because she's putting a lot

into that room and she looks really creative, yeah.

So, I probably wish I hadn't popped in and visited now.

At long last, Nadia's tree-shaped shelving and bed are going in.

I'm so pleased that something's up

and the room's sort of coming to life.

Wow.

-What do you think, what do you think?

-Look at all this.

I'm panicking because you've done so much

and it's like sort of bespoke, it's going to look really good.

That gave me some hope so...

Actually, I'm going to remember that,

hold on to it and use it to spur me on.

I'm a bit worried now that mine's sort of...

..I haven't put enough effort in, maybe, I'm not sure.

Craig isn't just having a crisis of confidence.

With his carpet laid, the over-bed table is coming in...

You all right, have you got that in?

-Push it more towards that side of the door.

-..if it fits.

That's it. And sort of try and edge it up.

Who built this?

Now, can you turn it? Take it in like that.

It may have fitted up the staircase, but now it must fit in place.

-That's all right, isn't it?

-You got the height right, didn't you?

-There we go, Anne.

-Oh, that's wonderful.

Storage is coming together in her Japanese room,

but Anne still needs to decorate it.

Above here is going to be a patchwork

of kimono printed patterns.

So, we're just going to spray mount it

and put it on the wall.

Anne hopes to protect the wallpaper with a layer of varnish.

Do you know what?

If I was an eight-year-old,

I think I'd flip me bonce looking at that.

What is it you like about the making and the doing of stuff?

I really respond to what I have in front of me.

I do plan a bit, but it's quite loose in a way.

So, I like to discover things as I'm going.

-So, it's been a learning cur...

-Oh, yeah.

-That's what you like about...

-That's what I like about it.

That's what I like about it.

I'd be disappointed if I started and finished

and hadn't learnt something in between.

Well, the varnished wallpaper

is definitely teaching Anne a thing or two as it's ruined the prints.

It's just buckling, so, you know, hopefully it'll dry out all right.

I wanted to protect it a bit with a layer of varnish,

but the varnish has made it pucker,

so, I'll have to think of something, quick.

Anne is already behind schedule.

That bit should just pull off.

So, her quickest solution is to start from scratch.

And we're doing it again.

Our amateur designers may be adapting these rooms

to fit the current owners' needs,

but the origins of these buildings are never far from sight.

Inside the houses,

the fabric from pillars to beams to plasterboard ceiling panels,

it's all on display, you can see exactly how these houses were built.

The original self-builders could have chosen the internal layout

however they wanted and still to this day, you can move doors

and walls and windows wherever you like.

You'll find this crossbeam at the heart of all the homes.

Without it, these lightweight houses

would flex in the wind,

but this really braces it together and stops it,

pretty much, from falling down.

Some might look at them and think they're a bit plain or austere,

but I think there's a beauty in their functionality.

Our designers are yet to achieve beauty or function in their schemes,

and it's already the end of day two.

It's a little bit of panic stations.

I'm like a duck at the moment.

I look all calm on the top,

but my little legs are going ten to the dozen underneath the surface.

Nadia has a long to-do list.

I need to put blinds up, I need to get the rope in,

I need to do the floor.

With time running out, her team steps in.

Something's going to have to slip,

but it's up to you to, you know, decide.

I've already, you know, mentioned it a couple of times,

"I'm going to do the floor, I'm going to do the floor,"

but I do understand something's got to give.

'So I think tomorrow is going to be sort of...'

putting it all together.

Might be a bit manic, but that's what it's all about.

I don't think I've ever been this tired.

But I trust that when I come back in the morning,

that I'll feel pretty refreshed

and be able to have a bit more energy to make it look a bit fab.

It's the start of day three.

Later on today, the homeowners and the judges

will see the finished rooms for the first time

and give their feedback, so the pressure's on.

At the end of today,

one of the four designers will leave the competition.

I would love to get through, especially with all the slog

I've done over the last few days. I would love it, absolutely love it.

I'm a bit concerned about the finish of the room.

I really need to just make it sharp

because I'm not doing the floor, I really don't have any time.

I haven't got long. And I thought I had longer and I didn't,

so I've got to just do what I can do.

Feeling a bit tired but ready to crack on.

It's the last few hours for Talie to prove her Moroccan scheme

is innovative enough, but there's a problem.

Ideally, the door was going to be red.

Unfortunately, I ran out of paint.

So...yeah, more blue.

So, Talie was going to give us splashes of bright Moroccan colour,

has she delivered that?

Splashes? There's more than splashes.

There's a hell of a lot of blue going in that room.

And, you know, this brief, it's all about being experimental

and innovative and creative. We're yet to really see it.

She's very competent, she's very professional,

the finish is good, but are we going to see the pizzazz at the end?

The list of jobs in Nadia's room

doesn't seem to be getting much shorter.

We still need to hang the rope to make it look as if the beds

are hanging from the tree in a swing-like motion.

It's all systems go right now, though, so I'm literally a bit

worried about when that's going to get done.

So, what's Nadia's magical wonderland looking like?

Well, exactly, it should be looking magical by now.

OK, she's got the beds built,

but it's still just looking a bit wooden

and I'm just not able to see it.

The artistic details are the priority for Anne.

Instead of dealing with the bigger picture of storage,

she's working on a smaller one.

I'm going to sketch out some

cherry blossom on the wall here.

So, Anne, cherry blossom, how's that working out?

Our biggest concern is - is she really going to get it finished

to a nice, high standard on time?

That's always been the big question with her.

The big question in Craig's relaxing retreat is -

is he using too much orange?

Talk about orange.

It's very luminous so I'm going to have to try

and disguise the fact that it's a bit luminous.

I have a throw, that might be going over it. Sort of dull it down a bit.

Has Craig's light, bright adult retreat finally materialised yet?

It's orange and it's rough wood and it's chevron prints,

and I think it looks fab,

but I don't think it's what they asked for.

Our designers have had three days and £1,000 to transform a room each.

They're being judged on their presentation skills

and had to prove they can think fast under pressure

to come up with an innovative new use for a flat-pack stool.

Now, their time is almost up.

For Craig, having worked

so hard to convince his homeowners on the orange,

the final moments are all about making sure

it doesn't overwhelm the room.

Much more lively.

I feel like I need a bit more orange in here,

surprisingly.

Craig's brief was to create a tranquil retreat for grown-ups.

Three days ago, the room was basic with an awkward layout.

Now it's got a contemporary feel.

Craig's muted grey scheme

is complemented with bursts of burnt orange.

He's added natural wooden accessories to soften

the look of the room

and built a central over-bed table, also in his signature orange.

I think their sort of concern with the boldness of the orange

and the zigzags is sort of going to go away because it is very subtle.

This is so well put together, isn't it?

I must say, I do like the orange,

it does have an air of sophistication,

and yet it's also uplifting.

I'm just aware that she said

she didn't want it to feel kiddie-like in here,

and bright oranges can look quite childish.

But teamed with the grey, I agree with you,

it looks very sophisticated.

Now, in the brief, they wanted a computer desk for their bed...

This isn't bad.

Well, it's supposed to move... Ahh, you know what's happened here?

There are wheels on this, but this lovely deep pile carpet

is stopping it from moving.

It's also the moment of truth to see how well

Craig's upcycled flat-pack stool fits with the scheme.

We know they needed storage for their books,

-so I think that's a good use of what was given to him.

-Really good.

It's a little bit of lateral thinking that we were expecting.

So, the big ask of this room was to be a complete sanctuary,

child-free zone.

I think he's just about got away with it.

Although, I must admit, I'd put a lock on the door

and then they can't get in.

How well each designer fulfils their homeowner's brief is crucial

to the judges' decision.

I think they'll like it. I hope they like it anyway.

-SHE GASPS

-Oh, wow.

-Come on through.

Oh, wow. This is amazing.

So, Craig convinced you to have this orange.

-Yes, he did.

-What do you think about it now?

I do like it and I'm glad he kind of challenged me a bit.

It does feel a lot more sophisticated and, yeah,

he was right.

Good on you, Craig.

Now, Talie's time is almost up.

And after the earlier battle of wills over all the blue,

she's relying on finishing touches to add warmth.

I'm definitely happy with the lamps, it will give a beautiful pattern.

I think it looks lovely. I really do.

Talie's homeowners asked for a creative Moroccan scheme

with spicy colours.

Before, the room was plain and simple.

Now, it's a colourful master bedroom.

Talie has used a teal blue across walls and furniture

with red and mustard accents.

She's used subtle Moroccan patterns in the wardrobe and wall panels...

And dressed the room with bedside lighting and quirky accessories.

I'm so nervous about the judges going in the room.

It's been a hard, hard slog but definitely worth it.

The brief was for a warm and spicy colour palette.

I quite like it, it's a warm blue, it opens up the space.

But, you know, she promised that she was going to add all these warm

and spicy colours with the accessories

and it's just a little bit of red and a little bit of yellow.

I do like that wallpaper on the panels there,

I think that works really well.

One place Talie has added accent colour is her upcycled shelf.

I always like that piece of wood, it always looks great, you know,

with the cross on it.

There's something rather nice about it. And she's taken that onboard

and, I think, done something which is rather nice.

It's not completely rocking my world of thinking out-of-the-box,

mad creativity, but it is useful.

There's a little level of creativity -

I know that she made these. It's rather effective.

But, you know, this was a brief that asked for experimentation

and something artistic, and it is a little bit

sort of colouring in by numbers.

I think the room looks lovely, I don't think there's too much blue,

I'm really looking forward to the homeowners seeing it.

-Wow.

-Oh, wow.

-Colours work really well.

-Yeah. It's a nice blue.

It really does bring out the wood.

What about the Moroccan touches?

I know Ian loves it, but for me,

it could have been a little bit more...wow.

That's done.

Next due to finish is Nadia,

whose fourth place after the client presentation

is still playing on her mind.

I'm not going to lose.

I have to have this in my head that I'm not going to lose

so I don't, to be honest.

She must bring the magic to her woodland scheme

in the final minutes.

I want to give the effect of fireflies being caught in jars,

so I'm literally just hopefully going to deposit this in here

and hide the battery pack.

I am hot, I smell

and I really need to just stand in the breeze right now.

SHE SIGHS

Nadia's brief was to create a magical woodland

for two young sisters.

Before, it was a functional guest bedroom, lacking personality.

Now it's a spacious bedroom with playful character.

Nadia's tree centrepiece gives the illusion

of two swinging beds, against soft-green walls.

She's exposed the floorboards, added tree-shaped shelving

and placed wooden accessories around the room.

I'm hoping the judges will say,

"Wow, transformation, this looks amazing.

"Nadia's number one."

This is a great piece of design, these kind of suspended beds

within this sort of tree silhouette.

I think it's absolutely brilliant

and it definitely encapsulates that sense of playfulness.

But I think that it needs to be a little bit more

obviously a tree.

At the moment, it just does look like plywood.

In other words, they could have painted it and then treated it

almost like a mural that becomes three-dimensional.

For me, I just feel that this space is lacking the love.

One thing Nadia did dedicate love to was her upcycled stool.

I love the idea, but if we hadn't produced that step,

then there would have been no table in here

and the thing starts to feel a little bit bare.

I mean, for example, that could have been so much bigger

and they could've had lots of sort of work things and display things.

I think what we've got here is some really good basic design.

But I just feel like it's lacking detail.

We know she's hugely creative,

but I'm definitely not getting that feel of magic.

I think the girls are going to be so impressed with their room.

They've got places to hide, store things.

Any child, I hope, would be proud of that room.

-Come in, ladies.

-Wow.

-Go on, give them a go.

-Wow, look at this.

-You can't see, but we've got a hole.

-Oh, my goodness!

-Hello!

-These two look pretty happy.

They look extremely happy, don't they?

I think she's done really well and met the brief brilliantly.

Finally, Anne's pulling together the last elements

of her sophisticated Japanese scheme.

-So, that's right at the bottom of the door.

-Yeah, yeah.

Hanging it, hang on. Oh, sorry.

There's sweat running down my back at the moment.

Sorry, I'm perspiring.

Oh.

Her time is up, but she hasn't quite finished.

Well, yes, I've still got some finishing off to do

and get the doors on that we've made.

We ran out of time. But I guess that's part of the learning process.

Anne was asked to create a Japanese-influenced room

for a nine-year-old.

Three days ago, the room was cluttered and chaotic.

Now, it's bright and colourful.

Hand-painted cherry blossom and patchwork wallpaper

add decorative interest to the room.

A grown-up beauty corner adds sophistication

and Anne has crafted her own cushion covers and bunting.

Even if the wardrobe doors haven't been fitted.

Our fear was this was all wonderful and creative

and lots of energy and thought gone into all the sort of furnishings,

but it isn't quite a finished project.

Let's just forgive her for a second

and let's just think about the things that she's designed.

To ask for a dressing table and storage and a desk

and a sofa and a spare bed for friends in this tiny room,

she's delivered on all of that, well done.

Delivered on all that, but what about the upcycled stool?

She's tied it in nicely with her scheme, but it's very decorative,

it's not particularly experimental or innovative.

And also it's shoved in the corner with no use whatsoever.

I think she's spent too long doing all the pretty bits

and not actually thinking of the overall, bigger picture.

I think Anna will love sleeping in here.

Wouldn't you?

I certainly would.

-CLAIRE WHISPERS:

-Oh, wow.

Wow, look at that.

Look at the floor, wow.

I wasn't expecting it to be on the floor.

No. Oh, look at the bunting.

Presumably there are doors made.

I was a bit worried right at the beginning

whether she would achieve it all, cos it's very ambitious.

With nothing more to be done, it's the long wait to find out

who will stay and which one will go.

I don't want to go through to the next round,

I need to go through to the next round.

The idea of doing it all again is pretty full-on.

I am pretty competitive so, yeah, I definitely want to go through.

I really, really want to succeed in hopefully having

a career in interior design.

Now, Craig seems like a capable soul. Did he deliver?

I think he styled the room beautifully.

But, you know, maybe a bit magazine tear sheet,

and that makes me worry a little bit about Craig.

I mean, he's somebody who just creates a look

rather than designed for a specific individual.

Well, homeowners love the orange,

they love being taken out of their comfort zone...

Well, he's done the job of an interior designer -

he's answered the brief and he's exceeded their expectations.

What about Nadia? What did you make of her design?

To come up with the idea of having that sort of tree

with the beds hidden behind was beautiful.

It just needed a little bit more done with it.

-Well, the kids adored it.

-You know what?

This is a creative family, maybe they like the idea

that it's all there for them, but they can now embellish.

So, you two loved Talie in her presentation,

you gave her top marks.

We knew what that room was going to look like,

and that's what it looked like.

But what I want to know is, what do the homeowners think of the colour?

They weren't phased by the colour, they quite liked the colour.

But she didn't feel like she'd been taken out of our comfort zone

-and given anything new and extra.

-I mean, Tom, none of us

were taken out of our comfort zone in that room. We said it all along,

she's not showing us anything we haven't seen already.

Now, Anne was after this kind of Japanese cherry blossom,

that's quite a brief.

Did she achieve it?

She did so much original stuff - making and doing

and one-off pieces - which made that project feel very creative.

But that's where she fell down too.

She got caught up on the detail and failed to manage the bigger picture.

Well, interesting you should say that.

The homeowners picked up on the problems - the practical,

the fact it wasn't finished.

-We loved the creativity and all the design...

-Yeah.

-..but those practical items.

-I mean, we picked up on those too.

Well, one of them's going home today,

so which one's it going to be?

The spirit of self-build Walter Segal style

is all about rolling your sleeves up, doing it yourself

and being completely transformed by the experience.

I think all four of you have experienced

some kind of transformation.

I know the homeowners definitely have.

And it's been especially hard for all four of you

because those rooms are actually particularly small.

Also asking all of you to be original and creative.

And well done, you've all really risen to the challenge.

So, the designer going home this time is...

Nadia.

OK.

It's all right.

'I'm really upset by that cos I feel like'

I tried to create more of a concept than some of the other designers.

Like, none of them have my imagination.

None of them.

Nadia has the potential to be a great designer,

she's really creative and very original.

But I could see that she'd actually missed out on some basic essentials.

Oh, thank you, thank you.

-You've done very well.

-NADIA LAUGHS

They're happy, I'm happy.

I got through to the second round!

Oh, my God.

Do you like it?

Talie is meticulous about every single detail

but she runs in danger of stifling her creativity.

In the next round, I just want to see her let go.

-Well done.

-Group hug, group hug.

Very proud of myself, I worked very hard. I gave everything,

you know, for that time. And that makes me feel really good.

Anne has a really exquisite creativity

and her love of detail makes her a really special designer.

But if she's going to move much further forward in this competition,

she has got to get her head around the bigger picture

and view a room as a whole.

-I got through.

-Yay!

-Oh, that's fantastic, excellent.

-Well done.

Yeah, I feel brilliant, I got through to the next round so,

yeah, it's exciting.

Craig did a brilliant job taking his homeowners

out of their comfort zone, but what I want to know

is how is HE going to cope when the brief takes him out of his.

Next time, Arts and Crafts houses in Bournville, where Anne...

Help!

Craig...and Talie...

I can't deny, I'm worried.

..compete for just two places in the next round.

The designer not going through is...