Timber-Framed Houses 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 townhouses.

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.

Oi!

Crikey.

I'm a bit stressed.

Across three knockout episodes,

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

I'm feeling a bit like, "Ah!"

Who built this?

I love it!

Judging them, two industry experts -

Daniel Hopwood...

To make it through to the final four,

they will have to impress with every inch of their designs.

..and Sophie Robinson.

These designs really do need to be outstanding.

They'll be scrutinising presentation skills...

That's 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.

Last time, three amateur designers battled to impress the judges.

The orange is definitely going to warm the design

and just make it a bit more funky.

That's just not enough.

One went home.

Two of them made it through.

I'm really, really proud of myself.

I'm just so chuffed to... to have got as far as this.

The competition's about to get even more interesting.

This time, the last two amateur designers in our group

are in Sussex, battling it out for a quarterfinal place

by bringing two medieval bedrooms up-to-date in timber-framed houses.

Going head-to-head are two very different designers.

Rob is the great inventor that comes up with quirky details.

Now, if he could turn those into one solid scheme,

I think we've got a winner.

Oh, hang on a minute.

He's up against Lucy, who is a whirling dervish of creativity.

There is nothing that girl can't turn her hand to.

It's their toughest challenge yet.

Oh, why isn't it easy?

I'm not seeing any level of calmness.

I'm seeing blind, kind of, nervous energy.

He's more of a maker than an integrator.

Only one will make it through.

The designer going through to the quarterfinals is...

The design battle's taking place in an historic spot in East Sussex.

How many of us have dreamed of living in a picture-perfect

timber-framed medieval house?

The ones here in the village of Robertsbridge

are up to 700 years old, amongst the oldest in the country,

and they easily conjure up

a romantic vision of Olde Worlde England.

Now our two amateur designers must work for 21st-century clients

and transform a small bedroom each.

I'm actually going to make the bed,

and at the end of the bed,

there's going to be, sort of, like, a little toy trunk.

Both designers have spent the past week

working on a brief from their homeowners.

I'm nervous because of the anticipation.

There's only two of us in this round,

so a lot more to lose, I think.

They've each got a small team to help them,

including a decorator and a builder.

Oh, my God, you're having a laugh.

It's easy!

They also have a budget of ?1,000

and three days to make their transformations.

This is the cave we're going to be working in.

To make it through to round three is just wicked

and, hopefully, when I go through to the quarterfinals,

that'll be even better still.

All right, those shelves might have to be moved, centred, later,

but we'll worry about that.

First up is textile design teacher Lucy.

We've got another inch this way.

Lucy is hugely innovative

and can turn her hand to almost anything,

but because she tries to do that little bit too much,

the end result is rather shonky,

when we're looking for sleek.

Now, if she can rein it in, get that quality up,

then I might be really impressed.

This time, Lucy's redesigning what was a bland guest bedroom,

which Sophie and Daniel checked out before work began.

It's a really nice light and bright room, isn't it?

Yes, it has perfect proportions.

Even though this room, I can imagine,

was carved out of a much larger room at one stage.

Lucy's clients are furniture restorers

with a very specific brief.

They want a 19th-century Swedish scheme with a built-in box bed.

I think, this time, the challenge for Lucy is going to be, actually,

to get the spatial planning right,

because the homeowner wants a built-in bed,

but in very Scandinavian style.

One thing the brief asked for is for something folksy and handmade,

and that really plays to Lucy's strengths

but she is going to have to rein it in.

Not too many makey-dos on this one.

The main challenges are that it's quite a small room.

I don't want to overcrowd it, as I might have done in the past.

She's reduced how much stuff she's adding, but the ambition remains,

with a huge, bespoke, built-in bed,

the centrepiece of her traditional Scandi scheme

of soft blues and creams,

with hand-painted floral details.

So, I'm going to show you the mood board.

She had to get the OK from client Anne before work started.

What I want to do is a very hand-finished look for you.

It's not just HER Lucy must impress -

Sophie and Daniel will be keeping a close eye on both designers,

as, once again, they'll be judged on their presentation skills.

What I want to make for you is this bed from the 1830s,

which I know you like. Mm-hmm. Yes.

I've used that as inspiration,

and I've actually found some lovely timber in a skip...

Mmm. ..which is 100-year-old pine.

Wow. Painted pine,

and it's actually blue-grey.

And then, I'm going to decorate the bed for you,

so it's going to be the central focus of the room.

That's what I wanted, yes. Absolutely. Oh, oh, great. Yes.

Lucy's using Rosemaling,

a traditional Scandinavian hand-painting technique,

to add floral patterns to the bed.

There'll be a built-in cupboard-wardrobe at the end.

Oh, wonderful, yeah. And this is your colour palette,

so the walls are going to be a rich, creamy neutral.

Very similar. More or less similar.

And then we've got sisal on the floor,

and then some rag rugs to soften that on top.

It's just what I wanted. Oh, perfect. Thank you.

I think that's a really ambitious build,

and it looked lovely in her sketch,

but to make that look like an authentic Scandinavian box-bed

is going to take quite a lot of mastery.

Just moments into work,

Lucy realises she forgot a key part of her presentation.

Right.

I've brought the floor plan to show you

cos I forgot to include it in my presentation. Yes. That's good.

Um, so, the built-in bed will be here,

and then we've got the small chest there -

such a beautiful thing -

with some more of your objects on it.

Yeah, that sounds very good.

I think she really understood the brief

and it seems the organisation of the room will be just perfect.

But, as Lucy's discovering...

25 is...

..working in these tiny, wonky rooms is a challenge.

It's massively smaller than I anticipated.

But I'm just wondering, if Laurie moves, if he's in your way,

and paints the ceiling over there, cos we can always...

I'll be in here hours to get this level,

if you want it "level" level.

Jostling for space isn't the only issue.

So, do we shorten the legs or lengthen the legs?

Shorten the legs.

Traditional Scandinavian beds were built high off the floor

to keep out draughts.

Lucy was planning to keep hers low, for easy access,

but her client wants authenticity.

Do you mind if we shorten the legs?

No, most of those beds, you actually step up to. Yes, I...

Actually, they're high rather than low. Yes.

Well, I think we need to take it up, like, another six inches.

Do you? Yeah.

I think it would be very nice if it was higher.

We will look into it. I'm sure it's possible.

We've measured the height of the bed.

It's got to be another 25cm high,

so the builder's now going to get the legs ready to raise it.

I know once he gets started, it won't be as awful as it is now.

Competing against Lucy for a place in the quarterfinal

is engineering manager Rob.

Rob's a wonderful inventor but he can have problems

setting those products into one cohesive scheme.

This time, I want to see brilliance,

both in product design, but also interior design.

The room Rob's working on this time started out as

a cluttered seven-year-old boy's bedroom.

This is a tiny room but I know it's for a young man.

I think it's one of the challenges, isn't it?

With a children's room, you know, obviously,

it's a place for them to rest, relax and sleep,

but it's also a place to store all their toys.

But there is another challenge in this room.

It's part of a medieval house,

so Rob has got eight-foot by eight-foot to deal with,

so good luck to him.

Rob's young client has set his sights on

a Batman-inspired fantasy den.

This is a super opportunity for Rob to do a very cohesive scheme,

and yet bring out all that great, creative product design

that we know he's really talented at. Exactly.

It's the perfect project for him, but because of that,

I expect nothing less than excellence.

Rob's going all out with a dramatic superhero scheme,

complete with a Batmobile-inspired bed,

dark walls with a menacing skyline,

and moody lighting.

For me, as a designer, this was just ace.

Superheroes, little gadgets and trick stuff,

secret bits and bobs.

The scheme is called James's Superhero Sanctuary.

Rob had to get the go-ahead from his client James

and mum Mhairi before work began.

Look at that Batmobile!

So what do you think, initially? Look at the bed.

I want my bed to be like that. What I'll... Fantastic.

Your bed is going to be like that...

Yeah!

..and on the side, where you've got these wheels, here,

that's where the little toy chest is going to be. Fantastic.

I've got some Lego, with which I'm actually going to make you

a tower lamp, like one of the buildings from Gotham. Oh, look!

One of the big things I'm going to do is the city...

the cityscape is going to go against this wall and it's going to be...

Whoa. It's going to be led with some LED lights as well.

Awesome!

All right.

Rob's bold ideas are an instant hit with James

but mum Mhairi has concerns.

The walls are going to be painted in this grey.

But, if it's OK, just to see what a bit of this looks like in here...

Yeah, of course, yeah. ..and then, if it needs to, kind of,

come up a shade lighter, that would... Yeah, we can lighten it up.

That would be ideal. Yeah.

Are we good to go?

Good to go! Have we got the seal of approval? Yes.

Whoo! All right. Let's do it.

It's a really cohesive scheme. Lots of original thought.

I mean, I love the Gotham city wall with the LED lighting.

The trouble is, that homeowner's chickening out of that strong grey,

and I think that room needs it.

I think if he goes lighter he'll lose the effect.

While the dark grey is tested on the walls,

Rob makes a start on his ambitious build.

You know, the cityscape background and the Batmobile bed,

they're going to be my two, sort of, main projects.

It's the biggest bespoke item he's tackled in the competition.

Yeah, it's looking good.

All right.

Just a little down. Yeah.

In such a tiny room, his measurements must be spot-on.

So, I'm just trying to get an idea for how it might look

by putting myself at that level,

which is a bit hard when I'm not the same height

as a seven-year-old,

so probably somewhere around about there,

if I can be something close.

Yeah, that looks cool, if I was seven.

HE GRUNTS

And relax.

Thank God we've got this shade here.

Already up against it, both designers now have

the added pressure of being judged on their presentations.

Lucy won in the first round but the victory was Rob's last time.

When do we go?

Do we ride at dawn?

I don't know if I'll win the presentation today,

because I forgot the floor plan and that's going to go against me.

I, really, fingers crossed, I hope I can pull it out the bag.

How well they've done at this stage will count

in the judges' final decision.

Nerve-racking.

As the competition progresses into the quarterfinals,

we are going to be scrutinising every single detail.

And I've scrutinised you, Lucy.

I think you presented this project beautifully well.

I understood what you were going to do in that room,

but there were no plans.

What's a project without plans?

It's where I start.

I felt quite disappointed.

Rob, I think we've seen a great improvement on how

you do your presentations,

and you created a really great rapport

with your seven-year-old client.

The homeowner, however,

got cold feet about the shade of grey that you were going to

paint on the walls, and I think you conceded a little quickly,

and it could mean that your scheme is compromised.

Had you done a better coloured, rendered,

three-dimensional sketch,

you might have kept her on board.

With a quarterfinal place at stake, this is a crucial moment.

We have taken into account every single detail,

and the winner is...

..Rob.

Well done.

Huh. Yeah. Thanks. Lucy, nice presentation -

didn't quite make the mark this time. Mm-hmm. Because of the plans.

I know.

I'm gutted I forgot my floor plan.

It's knocked my confidence a little bit, to be honest.

I'm ecstatic that I won that,

and that's, sort of, for me, twice...twice on the trot, now,

so that's a really good boost to my confidence.

With confidence levels varied, they get straight back to work,

each hoping to impress with their design ideas,

in houses that were built with showing off in mind.

The Weald of Sussex and Kent was a rich heartland of medieval England,

and if you were prosperous enough around these parts,

you'd probably have lived in a Wealden hall house -

the dreams home of their age.

Their owners spent their wealth on lavish timber frames,

and huge central halls the full height of the building,

and the biggest luxury of all - a private bedroom.

A 12th-century Norman abbey once stood on this site before it was

moved to a more secluded spot,

but people have been digging up its remains ever since.

This might have been part of the architrave - or archway -

of the abbey.

With such British heritage here,

Lucy's Scandinavian brief could be hard to make fit.

I'm just sanding back this old chest of drawers,

to give it an 1830s Swedish overhaul.

I'm going to paint it a kind of dark greeny grey,

and then do some detail... hand-painted detailing on it.

She's ageing the furniture by sanding, painting

and distressing it.

I'm too hot.

It's so hard in this heat, isn't it?

Thank God I'm not upholstering sofas.

Lucy's determined to keep this scheme realistic,

having been overambitious throughout the first two rounds...

I want to get the chair painted,

the table-base painted,

finish the cupboard.

Oh, I've got to make the chandelier.

Oh, and cut the ottoman in half.

..though she's proved she can deliver

innovative and impressive designs.

We've got this magical back-lit bed which just looks like it's floating.

Oh, this is super,

and I think there's some really lovely styling in here.

Hi. Hello, Lucy. How are you getting on,

on officially the hottest day of the year?

Yes, it's hard. It's really hard in this heat, I must say, but, yeah.

And you've got loads to do. Yes, yeah.

Ambitious project, again. Ugh!

I didn't think it was so ambitious for me.

It's more the builder.

Sorry, Builder.

The traditional Swedish beds are quite high.

So, have you got enough wood for it?

Cos you were going for some old pine that you'd found. Yes.

I think we have.

Erm, we might have to combine it with MDF.

I'm desperately hoping I can marry the two together and distress...

It's all right, you don't have to. I hate to use the word "MDF"

next to the pine, but I'm hoping...

Erm, you won't notice.

If she mixes MDF with the pine,

in order to make up the wood that she's lacking,

we're in trouble, because that bed

will not look authentic Scandinavian.

Rob's bed must be fit for a superhero,

requiring some intricate sawing.

SAW BUZZES With the bed that I'm doing,

because it's.. It's like a Batmobile bed

so, at one end, it has the tail fins for it,

so they're going to protrude up quite a bit.

TOOL BUZZES

How's the back looking, with the fins?

Smashing!

Yes, bring it in.

All right.

Young James may be happy,

but with his dark grey paint now dry in the room,

mum Mhairi is checking up.

Would it be a terrible bother to keep this colour here... Yeah.

..and maybe lighten some areas?

I don't think it would necessarily be the biggest problem.

I think one place where it might not be quite so bad

is the...the cityscape that I did. Yes, OK.

Make it a bit more, almost, dusky, rather than night-time. OK, OK.

After the judges warned Rob not to compromise his design,

he's taking a big risk.

HE SIGHS

I think I could have given in, but I don't feel like I did,

and I feel like I've stood my ground with it,

and the design isn't... isn't going to be hampered.

Rob has a point to prove,

after being a little inconsistent in the first two rounds.

He began by prioritising product design...

A nice little jar, but will...

would double up as a nice little lampshade.

When you walk in this room, it looks really impressive,

but, frankly, if you look behind me,

it's all really quite plain.

..and then went too far to prove he could deliver a unified scheme.

Blue, blue, blue! Look!

Everything kind of blends into each other a little bit too much.

I'd like to have seen a bit more gold in here, for example.

Now he's got to innovate and decorate in equal measure.

It's actually getting all those pieces to hang together... Yeah.

..in one overall scheme, that we really want to see.

I'm approaching it from a slightly different angle this time.

Two of the big pieces in the room, the bed and the cityscape,

although they are the bigger pieces, they're two of the, the, kind of,

the quirky touches that I'm putting into it, as well.

Which colour grey are you going to go for?

I would like to go with the grey that I came in here with,

cos that's what my design was... was, sort of, based around,

but I do want to keep the room quite light,

because the black bed and the black background,

it could suck a little bit of that...

that lightness out of the grey.

He's thinking of using a paler grey.

What he doesn't realise is that, actually,

the darker colour will look better.

All his accessories will jump out, and there are other ways that you

can make that room look lighter rather than just using paint.

We only need to get to that light fitting, with the ceiling.

TOOL BUZZES On top of their room schemes,

at this third-round stage,

the judges have another challenge up their sleeve -

to turn a load of old junk into a bespoke, stand-alone product.

The judges would like to see you.

Yeah, OK.

Bun-bun-bun!

Have I really got to go?

By setting the challenge,

we've freed the designers of the constriction of a brief,

so we can actually see

how instinctively good designers they are.

Hello. Hello.

Hello. Hi.

Now, you're both fighting for a place in the quarterfinals,

so we've decided to up the stakes a little bit.

There are a lot of things in this van.

You can take as much as you want,

and what we want you to do is turn it into something that is

either a great product or a home ware that you could be really proud of.

This is an opportunity for you to be wildly innovative.

We want you to play to your strengths

and create a statement piece that shows me and Dan

who you really are as a designer.

So, designers, you have ten minutes to rummage around in this van

and take what you want.

Get going.

If we get a few of the things out and have a look...

Sophie and Daniel will decide which designer shows

the most creativity and delivers the best item.

A win here could help them secure their place in the quarterfinal.

You just take what you want, cos I am.

I'm taking this lot here.

Yeah, that's all right, yeah.

I think this is really exciting,

because these two are both hugely innovative. Mm.

I mean, you know, you've got Rob, who makes brilliant products.

You've got Lucy, who can turn a hand to literally anything

we've shown her so far.

Lucy's pile of junk includes old coffee tables,

a copper pipe and a lamp.

I'm thinking, maybe,

some kind of light or some kind of shelving.

Rob's selected a copper basket, a broom handle and an old bike.

I've got this old fella.

Designers, time is up.

When I was looking at Lucy's, I thought,

"Ooh, I do like the look of that," but I daresay,

she liked the look of some of mine, but she's not having it.

This is a time challenge,

and they get 90 minutes on day two to complete it.

It's the afternoon of the first day and both designers are busy.

Lucy's cream walls have been painted

and she's bringing some colour to the scheme

with subtle, authentic touches.

What I'm going to do is do a bit of hand-painting on the wardrobe,

inspired by a Scandinavian wardrobe design I found.

I'm just going to do a simple border around the door.

The colour's good.

I'm pleased with that.

There's far less restraint at Rob's,

as he puts in motion his plan for a Bat-bed with scrap tyres.

It looks cool, actually.

CAMERA CLICKS

It's been a rigorous first day.

Oh, dear, I don't know.

It's a challenge, isn't it? It is such a challenge, isn't it?

I mean, a big room was hard,

but little rooms, God, it's different.

Yeah, well, it's funny, when you get stuff in and out of the room

and, you know, people coming in

and having to duck. Having four people in there. Yeah.

The designers have been hard at it,

working to two very different briefs.

Lucy's historical boudoir...

Yeah, I think they'll be all right.

..is up against Rob's dramatic superhero den...

Yeah, it's going to look cool.

..but only one of them will succeed in going through to the next round.

There's still a lot to do,

so I think, if I can do it,

and achieve all the things that I said I'll do,

all is not lost.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow, just to get stuck in again and...

and, you know, get it done.

Day two has begun.

Beds have been built, city skylines are coming to life,

but our two designers are going to have to push themselves to the limit

if they're going to get through to the next stage.

I'm much more worried about the competition than I ever have been.

It's just having to, sort of, think on your feet,

in this kind of timescale that you've got -

that is a little bit difficult.

By the end of tomorrow,

one of these designers will be out of the competition.

Hoping it won't be her is Lucy,

whose Scandinavian box-bed design is being fitted...

THEY KNOCK ON WOOD

I didn't realise quite how big it was.

..although the wonky room isn't making things easy...

Erm, he's trying to get the end of the bed in, and it's...

It's a fraction out, so he's got to carry it all the way to the

end of the garden again to re-trim it, which is a nightmare for him.

..so she takes time to paint her antique pine

with a traditional folk design.

Basically, I did this image at home.

I painted this, to see, to check out how to do the Rosemaling effect -

just to have a go at it, experiment.

I'd love the homeowner to see a bit of the effect.

It would give me a bit more of a confidence boost, I think,

if she saw it, and it, and I was on the right track.

Yes. So, the 1830s Swedish...

Did that, kind of, faze you when you first saw it?

Immediately, it really fazed me, but then, when I researched it,

I actually really liked it -

the fact that it was so old and antique.

Each time you've done a round, each room has been really different.

Do you like that kind of challenge of throwing yourself into

something completely different?

I think I do.

I think what I know now is that I do love working to a brief

and that the constraints of that really inspire me.

Right, so, are you ready to make my lamps for me, then? Whoo!

Rob's lighting up his superhero scheme with some of his trademark

lamp inventions, with the help of an electrician.

One of the lamps that I'm doing, it's like a... It's a Lego tower.

Cool. So, I've, kind of, left it hollow all the way down,

with an outlet for the cable. Yeah.

Did you spend a lot of time on this?

Yeah, yeah, quite a lot, yeah.

The blocks are glued together with solvent cement,

to keep the wires safely inside.

Hey, yeah. Is that what we were after?

That looks great, that.

Happy with that, he's moving on to his next invention -

a secret hidey-hole.

When I started thinking about the theme for the room,

you know, a big part of that is, you know, superheroes,

and I wanted to bring that, sort of, that fun factor and,

you know, the secrecy little bit to it,

because, you know, all superheroes have their own

little secret compartments,

and I think he should have one, as well.

Rob's mounted a framed picture onto sliding hinges

he bought from a DIY store for a few pounds each.

Move it in like that, and then it will release,

and you can open the picture frame out and get to what's behind it.

DRILL BUZZES So, in theory, this would be

mounted to a, you know, fairly chunky frame behind it.

The chunky frame will create a shallow alcove behind.

Yeah, I'm very happy with that. That's working great.

So, Rob, what's it been like to work on a seven-year-old's bedroom?

Have you been out to channel your inner boy?

Yeah, it's been great. It's been a fantastic brief.

And I know you love making stuff

and you did in the first round. Yeah, yeah.

You did less of that in the second round. Have you done a bit...?

I've tried to, maybe, find a little bit more of a balance, this time.

I don't want to just be, kind of, pigeonholed as a product designer.

I'm really starting to get a feel for, you know,

doing a cohesive room scheme, as a whole.

Alongside their room schemes,

the amateurs have been given another challenge.

They have 90 minutes to transform junk from a van

into a stand-alone product.

We've devised the challenge to

ultimately test our designers' creativity.

They've got to play to their strengths and design

a one-off item that really shows us who they are as a designer.

As ever, Lucy's working hastily, with her coffee tables,

copper piping and lamp.

We're going to... It's a shelving unit with lamp attachment.

That's going to go there... Oh, that fits.

I've just thought of the name for it - TableLamp.

Inventive Rob's engineered a plan,

using the old bike and copper basket.

I'm actually going to make it into a bike-lamp.

So, I've kind of... I've already knocked together...

All my lamp fittings are pretty much all done and ready to go.

Both designers have a basic crafts box

and their builders at their disposal.

Do you think we could make it a big enough hole, Dickie,

and put this pipe all the way up the middle?

DRILL BUZZES Lucy's approach is a little chaotic.

We ought to probably cut this first, didn't we, to length?

But we don't know how long to do it.

She's chosen to turn one table bright blue,

using a fast-drying spray.

That's it. Down all the way.

(OK, she's stacking a load of tables on top of each other.)

(Copper pipe in the middle. Bulb on the top.)

(Genius, and she's calling it TableLamp.)

(You love that, don't you? Yeah. It's so clever.)

SHE GRUNTS Oh, well done.

In his element, Rob is pioneering new ways of working.

I'm just making a spray glove,

which is just something I've literally just invented right now.

The yellow jam jar will replace the broken light bracket at one end,

while his broom handle and copper basket

will become a lamp-head where the saddle once was.

Who'd have thought it? They've both come up with floor lamps.

I know. Great floor-lamps, too,

and this is proof in the pudding, with Rob.

We always say he's a great inventor, and here he is,

coming up with such fantastic ideas. Mm-hm.

I think he's loving it.

This is what we wanted from our designers.

We wanted them to rise to the challenge.

With time ticking on,

both designers are racing to meet the 90-minute deadline.

How long have we got on this?

About five minutes. Oh.

How well they've transformed their junk will help determine who

will win a place in the quarterfinal.

Yeah, that's lovely.

I would call this piece the Unridable Ride.

Yeah, I'm happy, overall.

Having lost out to rob on the client presentation,

Lucy's pinning her hopes on a victory this time.

Fingers crossed, cos this is a very vintage lamp.

Yay! There you go!

Look! Dickie, look!

Yeah, it's very impressive(!)

I'm pleased with that.

Which one will take the crown?

All will be revealed later.

Now I've just got all the other stuff to do.

Back to their room schemes, and our designers are making their

changes to these medieval homes that have survived for centuries.

These buildings are made from sturdy oak beams,

infilled with wattle and daub.

Underneath this lime-washed skin, are woven branches - the wattle -

smoothed over with a combination of

mud, animal dung and straw - the daub.

It's amazing to think that such fragile materials

have survived for so long, protected from the elements

underneath those steep-pitched eaves.

The technology that went into these buildings

was hi-tech in the day - even for our day.

Entire walls, complete with doors and windows,

were prefabricated off-site,

brought to the spot, hoisted up and connected together,

like some kind of medieval flat pack,

and those curved beams are special to this area -

a medieval innovation to stop the whole frame from sagging,

to give it some extra strength.

Lucy has come up with her own bespoke flat pack -

a Scandinavian-style built-in bed...

Are we in? Are we in?

..but bad news - she's run out of pine.

Because the bed's taller than it was originally, the timber's tight.

A lot of it's come from a skip - the old pine -

and then we're combining it with the MDF,

and I want to, kind of,

patchwork it together to make it even more authentic.

Lucy's hoping she can blend the MDF into the bed frame

by distressing it first.

The builder's not overly happy with that,

but I'm going to try and persuade him.

TOOL BUZZES

Before either of the designers get any further,

their homeowners are paying them a visit

to check on the progress of their rooms.

In an ideal world, it would be further on.

Any problems at this stage could have a major impact

on their schemes.

This is at a point where, there's sort of, like,

the most change in the room so far.

After compromising a little on colour, Rob is nervous.

All the grey's on.

We're just looking at lightening the grey for the...the one wall.

His client's mum is going away on a trip,

so won't see Rob finish the scheme.

I really am very much looking forward to seeing the room.

'Today will be the last chance that I get to

'put my oar in, as it were.'

Hello. Hello, can I come in? Yes, of course. Yes.

But has Rob got it right?

How are you? Oh, wow. Look at this.

It's not that gloomy!

So, that's just the test patch of the lighter grey that we've done,

so we mixed a couple and did a few tests.

I think, you know, in principle, having something a bit lighter

to offset Gotham City is... is just good anyway. Yeah.

You know, I'm really pleased that you've done this.

I'll see you shortly. See you shortly.

'I think the midway reveal went really well.

'I haven't come away thinking,'

"Oh, God, what do I do with this? I've got to change that."

Hi there. Oh... Oh, wow.

That's different. We're on the way but a long way to go. Yeah.

But, erm... Yeah.

So, I've started to do these. Oh, wow.

These are the panel... These... Oh, for the front there.

Yes. Oh, they're nice.

It's obvious how much Lucy has taken on, even to her client.

We're now 1.30pm,

so you have not so long to go.

Do you think you're going to manage finishing everything? Erm...

I've got to do the curtains,

but I've got tomorrow morning and this evening.

Well, I'm quite speedy so I think it'll be all right.

Yeah, you'd better crack on. I'd better get back to work. Crack on.

I know, yeah, get everything done. OK.

It's just really fantastic

and the only concern is whether she'll have time to finish.

I think I'm worried slightly about timing.

Obviously, I'm human.

There's a lot to do.

Time may be against the designers

but the passing of time has made these houses what they are today.

This staircase might be rickety but it's not that old.

When the house was built, this was the outside wall,

and this, a window,

and in here, there's another charming feature.

Up there, some pargeting -

a very simple form of decorative plasterwork.

It would have been applied to the daub with a stick,

like an early form of interior design.

Before it was subdivided,

this would have been one huge space with a fire in the middle,

but it would have been very acrid.

All the smoke and ash would have flown through the air

and up out through the rafters,

but in the 17th century a fireplace and a chimney was added,

and it was a multifunctional design,

with a little cubbyhole here for storing your spices,

your salt and your wicks, to keep them dry and warm

before the advent of central heating.

Modern advancements made life easier,

but there's nothing easy about working in

these higgledy-piggledy rooms,

as Lucy's team once again tries to fit the bed.

Are you all right?

I'm crossing my fingers, Dick, Dickery-doo-dah.

We haven't checked the length or anything, which was a bit daft.

Oh, no.

It's too tall, is it? Uh-huh.

Oh, why isn't it easy?

Can't we chop a bit out of the bed?

To add to the chaos, they all have to clear the room

for the new sisal flooring to be fitted,

so Lucy cracks on outside,

making rag rugs for her Scandi scheme.

So, I'm just going to hand-stitch three of these together

to make one big rug.

It's a cheap way of making a large rug,

as they cost just ?5 each,

but it'll eat up more time.

I know what you're like, Lucy. You like making things.

Have you pared it back this time?

I'm... Yes.

I was...

Honestly? Honestly, honestly,

there's the bed, the wardrobe and the chest of drawers.

You're doing "less is more"? Oh, I'm trying...

Wow. ..for the first time...

For the first time ever in your life? ..ever.

For Rob's action-packed scheme, the garden is filling up.

Progress is flying along with the Bat-bed.

His cityscape is constructed

and there are winged creatures aplenty...

Yeah, I'm quite happy with that.

..one of which will be projected across the room from a lamp,

made out of an empty tin.

This is quite another important feature of the room,

so I just need to clean it up,

and if I can just trim this up and make it nice and smooth.

then we shouldn't have any issues with, you know,

scratching and cutting, and things like that.

The miniature MDF bat will be attached to

the centre of his lamp, so it casts a shadow across the room.

That looks pretty good.

Yeah, I'm... I'm quite happy with that.

It is tiny in here, and I'm looking out there,

and it's looking like a film set with loads of stuff.

How are you going to pack it into here, Rob?

Yeah, well, it's a good question,

but I'm going to introduce, you know, a shelf in here, as well,

so a couple of things can be lifted off the ground.

We've got a toy chest, which is going to,

sort of, fit in with the line of the bed,

so that's not really a space that could be used for playing,

but it'd be great for storage.

If you noticed, all that room's got in it is grey paint,

and everything is outside,

which shows to me that he's more of a maker than an integrator.

Leaving his blockbusting scheme in pieces across the garden,

Rob's off to see his rival's scheme...

It could be that I walk in and go,

"Uh-oh, I've got a lot more work to do."

I like that blue. That's nice. Oh, good.

Have you painted those by hand? Yes.

So, have you got much to do now?

How long are you staying? Loads. Yeah. Loads. Absolutely loads. Mmm.

..but it seems it's made him more confident.

I think some of the hand-detailing stuff that she'd done, you know,

it's really nice stuff, but it's not something I'd do,

or something I'd really have, you know, in my own home,

but I'm sure there's plenty of stuff that I've done

that she, you know, probably wouldn't put into hers.

Day two is drawing to a close

and Lucy is still worrying over her workload.

I've got to finish this bed,

do the door for the wardrobe-cupboard,

erm,, make curtains, pillows, things like that.

I want to go through, but at this stage,

I can't see the wood for the MDF.

SHE CHUCKLES

Rob has finally got a key piece of his design into the room.

I'm just, kind of, looking at the cityscape that I've brought in.

It seems to work really well, I think.

The light's fading a bit.

We're going to start wrapping up and get back to the hotel,

get a bit of sleep, so I'm ready, you know, firing on all cylinders,

to go hard at it again tomorrow morning.

It's the morning of the final day.

Later on, the judges and the homeowners will see

the finished rooms, and what they think of them

will determine which designer gets through to the quarterfinals

and which one leaves the competition for good.

There's just hours left for them

to convince the judges that they deserve to be a quarterfinalist.

I didn't get a real lot of sleep last night so, you know,

the start of day three's proving to be a little bit of a killer.

I will nail it.

I haven't nailed it yet, but in the next few hours, I will.

Lucy's finally painted the bed

but there are still the intricate wardrobe panels to finish...

I need to do this in about half an hour.

It's got to be right, so, yeah, it is a lot of work.

..but she's easily distracted.

How about if we move the wardrobe up near the window?

No, cos then the...

I think you need to get things finished first,

and then arrange the furniture, personally. Do you? Yeah.

There's no holding her back.

Dickie, I'm sorry.

Just give me two minutes, cos I'm a monster.

Just grab it. I'll probably swap them back again.

Yeah, I expect you will. Get off.

Sorry. You can punch me. HE LAUGHS

Lucy seems to be her usual whirling dervish of creativity.

That's kind of how she operates -

firing commands to her team, left, right and centre,

and they're all just chasing to keep up with her.

Oh, you're going to like these.

She's already onto the next task -

adding character to some plain, shop-bought curtains.

I've made these borders with hand-embroidery,

cos I like the idea of the handmade in this room,

and, erm, it's sort of a folk... It gives it a folk element.

It's felt. It's all recycled materials.

But this 11th-hour make is proving tricky.

It's just the way of doing things like this - it's horrid.

Over at Rob's, a different kind of drama is shaping up.

I've glued my...my Bat-light,

and I've assembled that, so I can...

I can tick that off as well.

Erm, you know, I'm mindful of time.

I've kind of got less than two hours,

so, you know, there's quite a bit of doing.

Like building the bed - if he can get it in.

Up a bit more, yeah. Oh!

Yeah, this side can just go as is.

DRILL BUZZES With all the pieces together,

the battle to build the Bat-bed begins.

We've got 48 minutes.

It's a complete madhouse in Rob's room.

I know. He's finally broken.

He's been so cool, calm and collected,

and we've been seeing all this stuff that he's making in the garden,

that he's got to cram into this little room,

and the pressure has definitely got the better of him.

With both designers working to wildly different briefs...

Two screws up there.

..the judges will compare their creativity by seeing how well

they transform junk into a stand-alone product.

Wow. That's my upcycle.

And hopefully it's a good indication of, maybe,

how my mind kind of works.

'A win here will strengthen their chances of securing

'a place in the quarterfinal.'

Now, this is what I call a challenge.

This looks fantastic. LAUGHTER

This is Lucy's, and you can see she's got

a collection of side tables, which she's stacked together.

This one got painted blue, and then we've got a little lamp on the top.

I notice that's stuck on with Blu Tack...

Oh. ..so I question the construction values.

Yeah, but in 90 minutes, the concept is brilliant.

So, from the sublime... to, what is this?

It's the sort of thing you'd see at a festival, isn't it?

This is designed to go in one of these big, loft-style apartments,

cos obviously this isn't going to fit into your average semi.

It's kind of quirky. I love the way that the yellows tie together,

so he's thought of it visually tying in. And gold handlebars.

It's fun and it's got humour and it's very now.

'The judges now have to make a unanimous decision

'on which of these pieces shows the most creativity.'

We did ask them to come up with a finished product,

and I think this is a little bit more sophisticated.

I think they both are absolutely fun.

I love them but I think this is going to be the winner.

Rob is in a strong position,

having won both this challenge

and the client presentation judging earlier on,

but Lucy could still overtake him if her room scheme outshines his...

..and she's determined to show she has learned from past mistakes.

God, that's gorgeous.

Choosing the right number of items to display

from her homeowner's Scandinavian artefacts.

I've got to be so careful not to overcrowd the space

when I finish, cos there's so much stuff,

so I just want a few...

Maybe just, like, four things like that.

She may be learning restraint...

Dick, can you put these here?

..but, having spent three days and ?1,000,

things are as chaotic as ever.

Oh, my Godfathers!

After struggling to balance authenticity with practicality

earlier on, Lucy is being risky adding more modern lighting...

Did you say? Did you want it up or down? Up!

..and a ?95 rocking chair.

Look, you just get a bit of that. It's white emulsion.

Don't overcrowd the scheme.

It's been a long time since I've done anything like this,

and it's so tiring and overwhelming but so good.

Lucy's brief was to create a traditional,

Swedish country-style scheme.

Three days ago, the room was plain and unexciting.

Now it's a cosy Swedish boudoir with charm.

Lucy's designed a 19th-century-style Scandinavian box-bed

with built-in storage.

She's gone for a traditional folk theme,

with hand-painted designs,

curtain trim and rug,

balancing those with contemporary touches.

The homeowner wanted a Swedish country-style bedroom.

In the time, yeah, I think I nailed it.

DOOR OPENS

There's a real feeling of magic in this room.

That's my first impression.

I would love the idea of sleeping in this bed.

Mmm! It feels really cosy, and in the winter,

if it had some curtains behind it that you could draw across,

it'd be lovely. Very romantic.

What is great is the fact that

you're seeing the graining of the word,

rather than some flat MDF and... Which is here, though,

but I think she's managed to blend the old wood and the new wood

in together quite well. Yeah.

What's letting it down for me is the patterns in the panels.

It just looks a bit like she's done it with a dry, flat brush.

But I think it's supposed to look very handmade, quite folksy,

quite humble.

She's got the colours absolutely spot on,

because she's got the blues and she's got that lovely rusty red.

One of the many details in here that I've spotted

that I really love is the treatment of the curtains,

which really enhances, I think, this folksy theme.

But I think I would have been a little bit more generous with it,

and maybe taken that lovely detail at the bottom

and put it up higher so you could see it.

I think she's gone to a lot of effort to authentically

distress everything to look antique,

but then we've got a very modern, flat-pack rocking chair in there.

Yeah, but it's got the right shape, which I like, and I also like

the fact that there is the element of contemporary in the room.

This is what I love about this, you know.

There are times when you just think it's just total madness,

and everything's random, and you're looking here,

and there's method in the madness. It's all here.

The concern with Lucy was she might overcrowd this room -

put too much stuff in it -

and in a small space like this, especially a guest room,

there needs to be an element of serenity,

and I think she's just about got that right.

I think the homeowner is going to love it, actually.

I think it's what she is after.

I might be completely wrong. I hope not.

Come on in. Your new guest bedroom.

Oh, my goodness, what a bed!

Well, you can't miss the bed.

No, I mean, I wanted it to be the focus, and look at it.

And then the curtains - absolutely lovely, aren't they?

And then this chair is so much better than

the one that was in here.

Do you think she's come up to scratch? Yeah.

I'm really, really pleased.

Rob's time is nearly up and he's still got lots to bring in...

We have about... It says 15 minutes. ..18 minutes.

We've got to bring the unit in, two lamps and the trunk. What?

Ooh!

..but there's trouble with the toy box.

Oh.

Erm... Oh!

All right, if you turn that way, Dave.

Yes. Oh, yes! Hallelujah.

MAN GRUNTS

After compromising his dark scheme

on his client's wishes earlier on... HE BLOWS AIR

..Rob must balance the grey walls with moody lights.

Yeah, all right.

Looking good.

I'm... I'm really chuffed with the room.

It's... It's all, kind of, really just come together at

well and truly the 11th hour.

Rob was asked to create a Batman-inspired fantasy den

for a seven-year-old.

Before, the room looked small and over-cluttered.

Now Rob's designed an adventurous den

with a bed fit for a caped crusader.

He's turned the walls dark grey,

with one lighter grey to contrast a cityscape.

He's brightened things up with yellow storage,

atmospheric lighting with LED lights,

a bat motif,

plus other bespoke pieces.

Finally, there's a secret compartment fit for a superhero.

I'm actually most worried about two things,

one of which is... is the reaction of...of James,

but I do need the judges to... to like it as well.

Oh. Oh!

Oh, what a little den, eh?

It's a Batcave and it's just what they asked for. Yeah.

Isn't that ingenious? It's really clever.

Yeah, and it's nice that he's used real wheels,

cos that feels a little bit more grown-up

than just a painted bed. Yeah.

I'm really glad he kept this darker colour on the walls

because it means that his lighting is looking really super.

Absolutely, and he's cleverly closed the blinds,

so it gives it more of an atmosphere in here.

Yeah, and that allows him to show off all his lighting effects,

although I am questioning whether there's enough lighting in here,

because you don't want it to feel dark and gloomy all the time.

But it does look really good.

I have got a bugbear, though. Oh, what's that? These toy boxes.

They're really large and they just are a place for kids to shove stuff,

and if you want something that's at the bottom,

you're going to have to empty the whole thing on the floor. Oh, yeah.

I just don't think they're very practical.

And that's a secret cupboard where grown-ups can't get in it.

Oh, yeah, and voila, look at that!

Keep all your secret bits and bobs in there. Perfect.

This clearly shows that Rob can pull off a whole cohesive scheme.

Mm. I think by matching all the fitted furniture and the bed,

in the black, going for the grey all the way around the room,

and then just having final, sort of, feature lighting and, you know,

a few quirky product designs,

it's just enough to make it interesting.

But it is like putting a jigsaw puzzle together, and he,

I think, was a little scared at times, but has pulled it together.

And, overall, the room that I've delivered, I think it is, you know,

a nice, cohesive space for, you know, a child to be in,

and I want him to love it, really.

BOY GASPS Wowzers!

You wanted a Batcave. Yes!

You've got a Batcave.

It's the most coolest bed I ever seen in my life!

Yeah! What do you think? What do you think?

There's a bat up there. Yeah.

There's a bat above you here. Yes.

Is it batty enough? Yes.

Rob's got that right, yeah?

Yay!

What do you think your mum might think of it?

It would be...smashing.

There you go, double thumbs up for Rob.

Oh, yeah! TOM GIGGLES

You look nice.

You've got a different outfit... With both rooms scrutinised,

all the designers can do is wait. Oh, are you all right?

How did it get on? Yeah, well, it's done, isn't it?

Yeah, yeah, done. Now I'm pleased.

'If the judges let me go through to the next round,'

I will be ecstatically proud and happy,

and just, yeah, amazed and really chuffed.

I was pleased with it but I think

yours was good. Have you got a picture of it or anything?

'I hope that I do get through.

'You know, I really do, but I'm as confident as I can be,'

and I'm going to go in there,

you know, with a brave face on and...

and, you know, await the judgment.

I mean, terrifically difficult rooms this time.

I mean, they're all higgledy-piggledy with beams

everywhere. There're dark. They've got creaky floorboards.

And throw in a heat wave in the middle of it all as well.

Now, Rob's always been a really good product designer,

but you wanted to see a really coherent, cohesive scheme from him.

Did you see it? Yeah, I think he's achieved it.

Well, he caught the atmosphere, didn't he?

I mean, he had a little bit of a wrangle with the homeowner about

the depth of grey that he was going to put on the walls,

and we're just really pleased to see that he stuck by his guns.

How do you think he's progressed throughout the rounds?

Massively. Wouldn't you agree?

Well, he's consistently good at being inventive,

and making wonderful and interesting things.

As you can imagine, his young client adored it.

He loved the bats! I'm a bit worried about the homeowner, though.

She'll never, ever get him to go to sleep in that room, you know that?

Now, what did you think of Lucy's scheme,

after all that creative chaos that she always seems to go through?

We were both really impressed, because, not only has

she taken the homeowner's brief on board, and done it really well,

but she's just shown that extra little bit of style too.

And I think she's really reined it in to just the right level.

She had a very precise brief, though - 1830s Scandinavia.

Well, this is where Lucy shows us quite how versatile she is.

She can do everything from futuristic all the way to

something that's a very, kind of, antique look.

And she did it, also, for a very exacting client.

I mean, she loved it.

She loved, you know, both her take on the Scandinavian style,

but she also liked those little

contemporary, different touches as well. Great.

So, this time, you've got two very creative designers.

How are you going to sort the wheat from the chaff?

They're all wheat. There's no chaff.

It's going to be very difficult to make a decision between the two.

'There's only room for one of these amateur designers

'in the quarterfinal.

'After Rob's two successes earlier,

'has Lucy done enough to overtake him?'

For many people, living in a beautiful medieval cottage

is their idea of heaven,

but it takes some skill to make sense of

those higgledy-piggledy rooms, and you two have done it.

And you both completely nailed your briefs.

I mean, who would have thought that we'd have a

folksy Scandinavian guest bedroom

and a Batcave hidden behind these chocolate-box exteriors?

As a result, we've found it quite heartbreaking

having to make a decision.

The judges, though, have made their tough decision

and the designer going through to the quarterfinals is...

..Lucy.

Well done.

Yeah, well done, yeah. Congratulations. Thank you.

No, no, I'm really happy for you. Thank you. No, I am.

I'm pretty gutted, really, to be going. You know, the...

'Just the sheer amount of work that I've put in.'

A lot of effort, a lot of, you know, blood, sweat and tears.

Well done, Lucy. Thank you. It was brilliant, and it was a fine line.

'I am so disappointed to lose Rob.'

He is such an exciting designer and he's good.

Look, he won the presentation judging and the challenge,

'but he was up against Lucy,

'and her room was close to perfection,

'and that's why she's the designer going through.'

Thank you. DANIEL LAUGHS

It was a very tough decision between the both of you. Thank you.

You've both done really well.

'Really, really surprised,'

and ecstatic to go through to the next round.

Oh, I just...

Are you pleased? Absolutely.

It's just so good. Oh...

It's taking me so long,

looking round and seeing all that you've done.

Going forward, if Lucy maintains this level of perfection,

she's one to watch.

Oh, I've really enjoyed it. Thank you.

It's daunting now,

so, yeah, the ball's going to roll all over again.

Next time, in Peak District country cottages,

a brand-new set of four wannabe designers fight it out...

Good job!

..for three places in the next round.

The designer going home is...

It's Biscuit Week.

Must try not to drop them.

It's going to be messy.