Half Houses The Great Interior Design Challenge

I'm constantly taken aback by the huge variety of property styles

in Britain, from character 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.

Oh, no. I'm panicking.

-SMASHING

-Ooh!

It's a bit make or break, really.

Across three knock-out episodes,

a group of designers will compete for one place in Finals Week.

Oh, why isn't it easy?

-I just like to do things properly.

-HAMMERING

Ooh, that's wonderful!

Judging them, two industry experts -

Daniel Hopwood...

Having survived Round One,

I want to see that the designers have listened to our feedback.

And Sophie Robinson...

They are going to have to

take it up a notch, if they are going to stay in this competition.

They'll be scrutinising presentation skills...

That's not the way to present to somebody.

..artistic flair...

-There's not much ambition, no.

-Yeah, it's really disappointing.

..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, four designers battled to impress the judges.

Here it goes!

It slightly rubs me up the wrong way.

One went home.

Three of them made it through.

We got there. And I absolutely love it.

I've given everything I can to this design.

I'm pleased with the whole thing.

Now, things are getting even tougher.

Our amateurs will be taking on a kitchen each

in three period half houses in north-east London.

The clients are more exacting...

-PHONE:

-The thing is, I really don't like vinyl.

-OK.

..and the judges' expectations higher...

Have you ever seen that done before?

No. It's weird.

..as the three designers fight for a place in the next round.

Where the sink was, it's rotten.

Hold on, what is that?

It's kind of a race against time.

One more must go.

The designer going home will be...

The backdrop for this challenge is the leafy Warner Estate

in Walthamstow, north-east London,

built between the 1880s and the 1930s.

These suburbs weren't just for the middle classes.

This might look like a well-to-do Victorian terrace,

but it was actually built as half houses,

pre-divided into flats, affordable flats,

for the working classes.

Now, our designers will take on the mammoth task

of transforming a kitchen each.

-Hi, team.

-All right?

The designers have been working on a brief from their homeowners

for the past week.

The competition's definitely getting tougher.

There's a lot more pressure on improving from the last round.

Kind of pushing yourself more as a designer.

They have a budget of £1,000

and just three days to complete their transformations.

The colour would be teal on this wall.

'Last time, I tried to do quite a lot.'

But, this time around, I think I've pared back.

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

including a builder and a decorator.

This is your list.

The first thing, it's in order of importance, obviously.

I like that. That's great.

LAUGHTER

-'God, I'm back.'

-LAUGHTER

Here we go again.

'A kitchen, which is going to be a nightmare.'

I'm up for it. Bring it on.

First up is garden designer Sarah from Hove.

SHE SINGS: # Goldfinger... #

LAUGHTER

Last time, Sarah lost a green ceiling,

which was a crucial part of her design,

because she didn't keep the homeowner on board.

This time, I don't want any of those design elements disappearing.

The kitchen Sarah is in charge of

was in desperate need of a redesign.

And, before she got her hands on it,

judges Sophie and Daniel assessed its potential.

This kitchen clearly needs a little bit of love.

It certainly does.

I mean, we're going to need new worktops, new doors.

You know, doing all of that,

I think is going to be mega challenging.

Sarah's homeowner asked for a traditional country kitchen,

with neutral styling and plenty of storage.

This is more about design solutions, rather than just dressing the space.

And Sarah loves to use colour and quite bold colour.

So I will be looking out to see

if she's really thought that one through.

This time, Sarah has chosen a restrained scheme

of cream and duck egg blue,

with a selection of natural fabrics.

So, I've got your board here.

-I'm going to show you the designs that I've come up with.

-Right.

As well as needing sign-off from her client, Karen,

Sarah also had to impress the judges,

since all the designers will be ranked on their presentation skills.

-This hessian here...

-Yeah.

..I want to cover this back wall in.

Oh, right. So it's interesting, putting this on the wall.

And then, in front of that, you'll have the shelves and the lights.

I like the colours.

Thumbs-up for the colour, but she has unusual plans for the cupboards.

-This lovely, soft stripe cotton...

-Yes, I like that. Yeah.

..that's actually going to be for around the front of the cooker

-and the washing machine.

-Oh, wow.

And hide all of those

and, in some places, hide a little bit of the cupboards.

Right. Okey-doke.

So she's trying to create a softness in the kitchen,

so adding fabric to walls and units.

It's soft, I grant her that,

but it's not hugely practical.

With the work underway...

She's asked us to deal with this in here,

-cos she says this isn't working.

-Yeah.

..it seems it's not just the judges

that are dubious of Sarah's curtains.

The curtains are going to be

over the washing machine and the oven.

And underneath the sink.

I'm not sure whether...

Yes, no, I think they're going to end there.

Yeah, I'm not...

Perhaps not 100% clear on that.

We've got some leftover scaffolding about,

-so we could build something on top of the drawer.

-OK.

The second designer is 21-year-old Jamie,

a carer and shop assistant from County Durham.

Last time, Jamie dropped in a project

that didn't have any thought to either homeowner or building.

This time, I want to see a lot more consideration.

Jamie's second heat challenge is to create a kitchen-cum-living area

in what was an already cluttered room.

Charming little kitchen. But...

all this has got to go, because this is turning into a living room.

You don't necessarily want to sit on your sofa

and look your cereal packets, so a lot of stuff

needs to get hidden away.

The homeowners not only want a multi-purpose room,

they also want a farmers' market theme,

bringing the outside in.

This is the perfect brief for Jamie,

because we know he's got bags of style,

but what we want to see from him is that he can understand

how people live and deliver a design that meets their needs.

But, to get this room to work,

you have to have a level of maturity as a designer,

so I'm just hoping he comes up with something interesting.

What Jamie had come up with was a botanical green theme,

incorporating old vegetable crates and terracotta accents.

We start off with going through the mood boards,

the different colours and different objects I put on there.

But, before he got to work,

he had to run his layout past homeowner Alex.

This is where the new sofa is going to be.

This is where the TV is going to go.

And then I've got some apple crates as well, which I want to be

cutting in half, so you can store your fruit and veg on the wall.

Ah!

Jamie also used the building as inspiration.

And another thing, I noticed that the Warner houses,

-when they were first built, all the doors were painted green.

-Yes.

So that's kind of the wall colour for that.

And, obviously, around the outside of the doors,

it's kind of the nice terracotta red brick,

so that's why have chosen that accent.

It's cos I like the terracotta.

Oh, it looks great. Good luck.

-Thank you.

-LAUGHTER

He has completely changed from his last presentation.

He's been much more thoughtful about the homeowner

and also the architecture, too.

He was referring to the original colours.

The thing is with green, you've got to add some light and shade with it.

Maybe a bit of white to freshen it up?

WHIRRING

With work underway,

Jamie's homeowner has some changes to the work surface height.

-Cos I've got a three-and-a-half year old...

-Yeah.

-..and they're only...about that tall.

-Yeah.

-It's nice to have something that's their...

-Something lower?

-..something that's their height.

-Whatever's best for you.

So I've just spoken to Alex and she's not... She's happy with it,

but she wants these sections at the side lower,

so the kids can kind of have access to them.

-So if we just drop it, say, five centimetres...

-OK.

below from what...

-A bit lower than that?

-Erm...

-You're going to have the worktop on top.

-Yeah.

-Say ten centimetres.

-Ten centimetres? So it's a decent step,

-rather than it look like we made a mistake.

-Yeah.

Every kind of thing that happens

is a learning curve for me. And I'm learning

and my confidence is growing, as a designer and as a person,

so it's a brilliant experience. Yeah.

But that is kind of...

Also growing in confidence is our final designer,

photographer Lily from London.

Later on, I will paint some squares,

or you can paint some squares.

Lily is hugely creative.

But last time she just made far too much.

This time, it's about quality, not quantity.

In this round, Lily is taking on

what was a rather loud, but uninspired,

top flat kitchen.

Rather nice kitchen.

It just needs the...

finishing touches, the flourishes.

It does kind of look like one of those

-shop-bought kitchens, doesn't it?

-Mm, exactly.

So, really, I think, to bring some creativity to this room,

to make this kitchen feel a little bit more special,

that would be the treat.

Lily's homeowners want to avoid any dark colours,

so their brief is for a bright '70s retro kitchen/diner.

So we really are looking out for the detail on this one.

Yeah, but steady. I don't want too much extraneous detail.

I think the theme for Lily is less is more.

But, as usual, Lily was bursting with ideas.

Her design focused on zoning.

In the dining area, she chose a bright lime green scheme,

with retro furniture and '70s style wall art

for homeowners Yasmin and Sam.

So I thought that I would paint

an Orla Kiely inspired design on this wall here.

Her plan for the kitchen was to give it a dark teal paint job.

A step away from the bright colours requested.

-So will all the walls be teal, then? Or is it...?

-No.

-Just this wall, this wall.

-OK, so just this back wall?

-Until here.

-OK.

-And then this will be the pale green walls.

-OK.

-I would like to create a trim around the ceiling.

-Right.

-It will be the same colour as the wall.

-Yeah.

-So it just takes the edge off.

-OK.

-You know, when...

-Will it make it feel quite enclosed?

-Like make it feel like a box?

-But it's not going to feel gloomy,

-so don't worry about that.

-Yeah.

And, also change the flooring into...

-an oak laminate flooring.

-Yay!

-SAM CHUCKLES

-Yeah. That'll really brighten it up a bit more.

-Yeah.

Lily is throwing masses of ideas at that room.

She's taking that dark colour over and onto the ceiling, partially.

What is the reason for that?

I was going to ask you that. Have you ever seen that done before?

No, cos, by painting the ceiling darker on the edges,

it's going to reduce the sort of outline of the room,

which is going to make it feel a lot smaller.

-It is going to look weird, isn't it?

-It's weird.

So it will be about six inches from the ceiling,

the same colour as the wall, going all the way around.

Does that make sense?

Lily's unusual ceiling border isn't only confusing the charges.

Her decorator is pretty baffled, too.

Where do I start the line?

Do I start the line back here on the very end of the wall?

-Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

-Continuous?

-Continuous. All the way around.

-Then it bring around,

-in line with that frame there.

-Er, not in line with the frame.

So in line with the back of the fridge,

where that unit is on the wall.

And then I've got make a dead straight line

-and continue the teal on the ceiling?

-Yes.

-Yes. Yes.

-All right.

-Yeah?

-OK. Thank you.

-It's going to be fun.

LAUGHTER

The contestants are cracking on with their designs.

Maybe a tiny bit higher?

But they know they're about to be judged on their mood boards

and presentation skills.

I came last last time.

So, actually, theoretically...

the only way is up.

I don't really have any ideas of what they're going to say, just,

hopefully, that they've noticed more confidence in me, hopefully, maybe.

All of this has got to be done so let's do it.

Can I apply some lippy on?

With one designer going home at the end of this project,

how well they do here is crucial.

So, we're going to start with you, Sarah.

What really impressed us

about your presentation were your perspective drawings.

However, I think you could have gone one step further

and done some elevations.

For example, where you're remodelling the kitchen with

curtains and doors and open shelving, it wasn't

made particularly clear how that's going to work and, as a result,

at the moment, your homeowner doesn't understand

how that's going to work.

Lily, I loved the confidence in your presentation -

a vast improvement from last time -

and I liked the idea of you using the three boards to help

the homeowner visualise your design.

Jamie, what we really liked about your board, it was very clear

and concise, but you could have taken it one step further.

I would have liked to have seen some more visuals, some,

some photos or sketches,

or illustrations of how this kind of farmers' market style

is actually really going to look.

Designers, it's essential that you have a good presentation board

in order to communicate your design,

and one of you was particularly good at that...

..and that was Lily. Lily, you come first.

The other two, you've got room for improvement.

I was joint-last instead of last.

If there is a next time, then maybe I'll build the room

in their back garden first and they can walk around it.

I need to push myself now to, kind of, show them

that I can achieve something brilliant at the end.

They thought I'm a lot more confident in presenting

my ideas, cos that's one of the things that they said -

I just need to really push forward with my ideas - and if that

came across, even if I didn't feel it, then that's brilliant.

Confidence, even audacity,

was what led to these houses being built in the first place.

The Warner Estate is made up of 4,000 similar redbrick homes.

It was built across 50 years by the enterprising Warner family

who once lived at the heart of the estate.

Blink, these days, and you might miss it,

but that was the family seat of the Warners, built in 1813.

Its elegant, Greek columns would once have looked out over

vast landscaped parkland.

Thomas Courtenay Theydon Warner, though, was a visionary

who saw an opportunity to build on the family land to accommodate

the swelling ranks of people escaping the city for the suburbs.

The Warner family created a standard look across the estate.

Doors and windows are painted a standard green and cream.

There are two originals behind me here.

And they branded the ends of buildings

and their gables with their monogram "W" or "WE",

a logo that marked out the quality rental homes

provided for you by the Warner family.

As day one progresses, the designers are also adding their own

design details to these half-houses.

In the back garden, Sarah is fashioning a wire lampshade.

I've never made one of these before,

so this is a brand-new invention.

THUNDER RUMBLES

-RAIN SPLASHES

-Oh, here comes the rain.

THUNDER RUMBLES

Is that clouds' thunders?

The weather is trying its best to blow the designers off course...

THUNDER RUMBLES

That was the gods telling us to stop making the kitchen.

..but a little bit of rain is nothing

compared to decades of damp...

Oh, dear.

..on a chipboard kitchen.

Can we build batten up the back and front?

-And then...

-Sarah's simple job of replacing the worktops has turned

into the major, time-consuming task of rebuilding the whole cupboard.

Where the sink was has been leaking for years, I think,

and it's rotten so it's all got to come out.

This is not easy right now cos I can't actually get on with anything.

The weather means we can't work outside,

so we can't get all the tools up and running,

and we're having to come up with solutions to replace

the whole back section of the kitchen,

which is a bit of a nightmare.

Overcoming problems quickly is something Sarah experienced

in round one when her clients didn't like the colour...

I now know I'm not going to be able to live with

the ceilings in this colour.

Painting back over the dark colour is going to be tricky.

..but her solution, to paint the ceiling white,

meant a compromise to her design.

It's not ideal, but it is what it is,

and I can't do anything about it now.

What I have here...

Now, Sarah needs to come up with a plan to fix the rotten cupboards

that pleases her homeowner but also works with her scheme.

What I want to do here is actually build in framework out of timber

and then have timber shelves going along.

There's no denying that Sarah's project is hugely challenging,

but she's thinking on her feet, she's coming up with solutions.

She's dealing with it in a really calm and collected way

and, I have to say, I'm really impressed.

-I'm so pleased you've got rid of this...

-Oh, you are?

-Oh, yes, it was an eyesore.

-OK.

I don't think we had a choice. It fell down when we took it out!

It's not just Sarah having to problem-solve.

Squeezing a living room and a kitchen into a smallish room

means Jamie is coming up with space-saving ideas.

This is the storage boxes which are going to house the toys,

and I wanted to, kind of, give it a padded top

so they can use it as a seating.

Creating something that can be used for loads of different things

was really important and hopefully I've ticked that box.

Jamie learned in the last round that he's not always

so considerate of both the room and his client.

Oh, are you liking it, or...?

-I'm slightly concerned that...

-Right.

-..that it's slightly more modern than we were expecting.

-Right.

DANIEL: What the brief was was traditional Scandinavian,

-and he didn't read the word "traditional".

-Traditional.

I feel like I've sort of, missed something,

kind of, researching, kind of, traditional. I don't know.

I feel really sick.

But he impressed the judges with his bold look.

First of all, I've just got to say, what a transformation.

I like this, sort of, stencilling on the shutters.

It almost looks like a Fair Isle jumper.

TOOL BUZZES

Today, Jamie thinks he's got it all covered

but the judges are concerned he's missed something with the layout.

-OK, so, TV's there...

-Yeah.

-..and unit below.

-Your TV's there?

-Yes.

Cos on your plan, the sofa was there.

So, the sofa was here, so it's kind of an L sofa.

It's an L shape. What's on that? What's on this wall here?

It's going to be crates, so it's going to be like a herb wall,

grow your own herbs and fruit and veg on the wall.

Ah, OK, so you can sit on the sofa and watch the herbs.

I do appreciate Jamie's enthusiasm

but his youthful naivete means he's missing some of the fundamentals.

-It's called getting the TV on the right wall.

-Mmm. Mmm.

You're going to be sitting at the sofa looking at a herb garden.

Also dabbling with an off-the-wall idea, Lily's painted coving is

going up and she's giving some vintage chairs a retro face-lift.

OK, this is an original 1950s-1960s teak chair,

so I'm just going to cover over it.

I enjoy being creative a lot and making with my hands

but it is time-consuming and it does put a lot of pressure on you.

In the last round, Lily tried to impress

by taking on a multitude of crafting projects...

I've put so much in this competition -

so much planning and sleepless nights.

I didn't realise it would take this much work.

..but, ultimately, the judges thought less would have been more.

Maybe there's just too many gimmicks.

You've painted a border on the ceiling.

What's the reason behind that?

-Instead of buying a coving to make the edges disappear...

-Mm-hmm.

..I'll just paint. I'll paint it, so...

So it's, sort of, visually, almost lifting the ceiling up higher?

That's one of the things,

but also because they wanted this fresh, contemporary,

but homely and inviting, and I wanted that kind of cocooning.

I'm pretending to understand you but I don't,

but you said it with such confidence

that I'm going to actually believe that it's going to be a great idea.

-How about that, Lily?

-OK, that'll be great.

When Lily described that ceiling border,

I really wasn't sure about it but, now it's up,

it actually works and looks rather cool.

It's not just their schemes the designers are being tested on -

they're also getting a huge surprise, receiving a raw material

to incorporate into the rooms, to test their creativity.

-Hello, Lily.

-Hi.

-You know the routine.

-24 hours to turn this copper wire...

-Oh.

..and some black and silver wire

-into something that is integrated into the room.

-OK.

-That's kind of perfect for me today.

-There's your challenge, then.

But what I'm really hoping you're going to do with that

is be really creative.

And we'll be looking forward to judging it.

-Good luck.

-Thanks.

Wire! More wire!

How clever and creative they are...

What am I doing?

..will have a huge impact on the judges' final decision.

Slinky copper...

As soon as I, kind of, saw them,

the thing that, kind of, popped into my head is,

kind of, like a farmers' market basket that they store eggs in.

But first, loads of painting to do.

The judges will see their ideas later on.

As day one comes to a close, the designers are one step closer

to finding out who will leave at the end of this round.

I've had cupboards literally dissolve on me when we've touched

-them today, so we've got a lot of building work to do tomorrow.

-Oh.

While Jamie is full of youthful enthusiasm...

I'm just excited to get started in the morning.

I just don't want to go home. I'd rather stay.

..and Lily is weathering what is thrown at her...

We've had some sun,

we've had some rain but we did start on the painting

and it's, like, a weight lifted.

..Sarah is left having a night on the tiles.

There's nothing I love more at 8.30pm on a Thursday evening

than to be scrubbing someone else's tiles.

After a few kitchen sink issues,

all three designers are forging ahead, but there's still

plenty to do before their rooms are ready to be revealed.

With one designer due to leave the competition after

the rooms are judged tomorrow, timings are crucial.

-Good morning, guys.

-Good morning!

-Morning.

OK, lots to do today.

My list is as long as my arm.

It's kind of a race against time.

We need to get things done so we can lay the floor.

It's all about, kind of, timetable-juggling.

Today is the longest day,

erm, so I'm just excited to, kind of, see what today brings.

Yesterday, Sarah was set back,

cos she had to rebuild the rotting cabinets for her country kitchen.

I'd like to say I've got a fighting spirit, but I don't know today.

There's a lot to do. Talk to me later.

Later, I'll be like, "Yeah, I did it!"

But, right now, yeah,

a tiny bit worn down.

Down but not out,

Sarah is pushing on by creating a feature from natural-toned hessian

stapled directly onto the wall...

Beautiful!

..a big departure from her usual bold colour choices.

It's looking great.

Really great.

Perfect.

Was there something last time that you got wrong that

you've made sure you're not going to get wrong again?

Mmm, I'm didn't go green this time.

Yeah, no green.

-Yeah.

-What challenges has Walthamstow thrown up for you?

It's totally not my style

so it's a very pared-back, calm, soft palette.

No pattern, really, to speak of.

All the things that I live and breathe for.

I couldn't resist myself.

There's no holding back in Jamie's farmers' market kitchen.

It's all go as the cupboards and walls get a coat of green paint

but he is doing a U-turn on where to position the TV.

I went back and thought about it,

and I've decided to put the TV in the centre of the wall,

so you can, kind of, view it from all angles of the sofa,

which I think will work better than,

kind of, having it the way I originally planned.

Well, kind of, being the room, has, kind of...

Yeah, you realise that the space is quite small

and you need to, kind of, change things while you are here on-site.

I'm so impressed that Jamie is thinking about his homeowners

and designing this room around them,

but I am concerned they've got a lot of stuff in that kitchen

and I just don't know if he's going to get it all back in.

He's not adding kitchen storage but has designed a TV cabinet

from scaffolding board with a wallpapered back panel.

Do you do wallpapering as well?

Erm, I do, yeah. I don't... I don't do a lot of it.

-No, just so that you can tell us how to do it.

-Yeah.

I've done it before myself but I just probably...

I'm going to look like an idiot, doing it.

But inexperience is no excuse not to give it a go.

I've only, kind of, done little bits in my own home of wallpapering.

I've never done it, like, properly, as, kind of,

like this in someone else's house.

And I've always had help from...

My mam, kind of, learnt us how to do it, and...

but, yeah, but hopefully it'll kind of work

and there'll be no issues. Yeah.

Lily is also taking a gamble,

embarking on a time-consuming mural on the dining room wall.

I had to get some kind of pattern in this room,

rather than just plain.

They said "quirky".

They said they want a bit of quirky but not too wacky.

I don't think this is wacky.

Now you're on your second project, do you feel like

you've inched closer to being a professional interior designer?

I think I'm more confident with my ideas

this time round, definitely.

Erm, gosh, about professional, I don't know.

How did you feel when you got the brief? What did you think of it?

I have never designed or decorated a kitchen, even my own kitchen.

It's... It's a huge amount of work but I'm actually enjoying it.

Oh, steady.

That huge workload has been added to,

as Lily and the other designers have been asked to prove

their creativity by integrating some wire into their schemes.

I have no idea what I'm doing here, here, you know,

as you can probably tell.

How well they rise to this challenge will affect who stays

and who leaves the competition.

Jamie is moulding the wire to make an egg basket.

There's, like, a million different things you could do

with wire, but this was, kind of, the first thing that

popped into my head and it fits with the scheme of the farmers' market.

It does fit his theme, although, it looks a bit home-made.

Yes, he's taking that farmers' market theme

just a little bit too literally.

Cool.

I'm going to make a wind chime

because that back door doesn't have any accessory on it.

The other thing I could do is make a vase out of it.

True to form, Lily can't resist stretching herself,

so is making both a wind chime and a vase.

I'll put some flowers in it or something in it

and they probably will not hate it so much.

Typical Lily, doing more than one project.

Yeah, but none of them work for me. Have you seen that wind chime?

All it's going to do is knock you over the head with a pebble.

Sarah, however, is taking an easy route.

She is simply adding to her existing wire lampshade.

I'm making a big flower.

Quite a good opportunity to de-industrialise this light.

There's not much ambition there.

All she's done is stick a bit of wire on a lamp she'd already made.

Yeah, it's really disappointing.

I was worried about whether this was right for the homeowner

but there are going to be elements she wouldn't necessarily want,

but it's all in the name of creativity.

Pretty.

The items will be judged on how well they integrate

into the entire schemes, so the judges will have to wait to see them

in the completed rooms.

With a lot to do, Lily needs to get her laminate flooring laid,

but there's a problem.

Have you got soundproof underlay for that?

-No, I don't.

-OK...

Now, can we just put the floor on top of this

and use this as underlay?

Erm, no.

-OK, so I need to get that, then?

-It needs to be sound-rated.

Being a first-floor flat, there may be building regulations

about the type of underlay for laminates, so Lily calls her client.

-OK.

-I think we need to see the lease

to make sure that we are doing what is specified.

-I don't know off the top of my head...

-Mm-hmm?

..and I can't tell you exactly where it is,

so I wouldn't be able to get it out until this evening.

Waiting until the end of the day will limit Lily's options

so she's got an idea.

-Erm...

-I mean, the other option, Yasmin,

-because we really need to change the floor anyway, was...

-Yeah.

..if I were to research on getting a wood-effect vinyl.

-Yeah, the thing is, I really don't like vinyl.

-OK.

That was one of the main reasons to get rid of what we've got,

cos I really don't like the vinyl.

Lily's schedule will hang in the balance until tonight,

when they can check the lease.

We don't want to do something that we can

get in trouble for later on,

so I'll see later.

Busy professionals like Lily's homeowners are exactly the type

of people Warner wanted to take up residence in his half houses.

Warner advertised in local newspapers. He was one of the first

property developers to do so and it's clear from these

original photographs exactly the kind of image

he was keen to promote.

These days, our living rooms are cosy and casual spaces,

but back in the late 19th century and early 20th century

when these flats were built, they'd have been much more formal

and light would have flooded in from the front,

though estate rules meant that you had to have net curtains

and you'd be fined if they were anything

other than perfectly spotless.

Spotless curtains are on Sarah's mind, too.

These are the curtains for the front of the kitchen cupboards.

Even though we haven't got any kitchen cupboards yet!

The curtains will be in front of the cooker

so the material must be heat-resistant and fire-retardant.

I didn't want this to be a flowery kitchen and when you're putting

curtains in, I think it can look a bit OTT,

although I do rather like OTT.

Sarah seems to be learning restraint...

..while Jamie is learning about practical layouts.

-With his TV cabinet finished...

-Perfect.

..his next job is to decide where to put the family fish tank.

I think I'm just going to move it...

Actually, it'll need to be plugged in.

But maybe next...

Yeah, it'll be moved, but not too far.

If that's not confusing enough...

This looks interesting.

Hold on, what is that?

He also has to put together the new sofa his clients have bought.

Hopefully it'll fit and not take over the kitchen!

'So what did you think when you got the brief for a kitchen?

'I mean, not only a kitchen,

-'a kitchen with a living space as well.

-Yeah.'

Really scared, but kind of willing to take on the challenge.

Not being in the space, as well, to see how big it is for the sofa

and everything, kind of, trying to spatial plan it.

This is what I'm here for, to push myself and kind of do these

things so I can prove that I can take on bigger things in the future.

The designers are around the halfway point of their project and

the time has come for them to reveal their progress to their homeowners.

The client generally goes away overnight, thinks about it a bit,

and then they come back with things they'd been worrying about a bit,

so I wouldn't be surprised if there were more changes,

but we shall have to see.

After her experience in the last round,

Sarah is particularly keen to avoid any deviations from her design.

-Can I touch it?

-Yes, please!

Wow... Oh, it's lovely.

Hiya!

-Oh, I love the colours.

-Lovely, isn't it?

-Yeah, they work so well. Oh, and the cupboard doors!

-Yep!

-Oh, wow! It's lucky I like green!

-It's all coming together.

LAUGHTER

The visit is the homeowner's first opportunity to see

some of the designers' more unusual concepts.

OK, these three lights, these two, will they have shades on them?

-Will they have covers on them?

-No, the lights hanging down here,

hopefully what's going to happen is that you'll get

shadows of this on the ceiling.

I think the homeowner liked the lights.

She seemed to go with it, she didn't seem worried by any of it.

However...

I'm not entirely sold, at this stage, on the lamp

which will be in the centre of the kitchen.

It would have been nice to have had, erm...

some fabric.

While Lily awaits the return of her homeowners, it's all hands on deck.

Full house at the moment.

We've got the electrician, we've got the builder,

we've got the painter and I've got my mural to do,

so four people in a small kitchen trying to work around each other.

Room for two more?

-Now, I'm looking at the floor. Nothing's changed.

-Huge problem.

You were planning on a laminate. Huge problem? What's happening?

It's just this whole thing about building regulations

and we didn't know there was no underlay, we don't know what's

in the lease and they can only come back tonight and get the lease.

Lily's got a major situation going on with that floor

and I could see fear in her eyes.

I mean, it totally needs dealing with.

Leaving such a big job till the end could cost Lily time and money.

Nowadays, building regulations are often strict

when it comes to soundproofing flats,

but when these half houses were built,

noises from next door could be made into a virtue each morning.

There are even tales of neighbours instigating a four-way alarm system.

Downstairs knocked on the ceiling, they in turn knocked on the wall,

they in turn knocked on the floor and everyone got to work on time.

The floors may have been thin, but the workmanship

of the buildings was a cut above the average Victorian terrace.

Gables vary from pitched to curved to stepped, from pebbledashed

to stripy brick and these rather decorative terracotta tiles

add a touch of class to otherwise modest homes.

It's approaching the end of day two.

Lily's wait is nearly over.

She's about to hear if the homeowners' lease demands

specialist underlay for her laminate flooring.

We've checked the lease, haven't we?

Yeah, we've checked over the lease, there's nothing...

absolutely nothing in it about, sort of, noise levels and decibel levels.

I think that's good news

because that has solved my dilemma for the day.

Nothing was specified on the lease at all.

We can just use the normal-grade flooring that flooring companies

sell, so we're good.

But the delay has cost Lily dearly.

It's so late in the day, the floor will have to go down tomorrow.

Down the road, Sarah is visiting Jamie's room...

I love this wood, it's nice.

..and she seems green with envy.

It's looking lovely. She'll be very happy.

How are you getting on with yours?

-Oh, day two insanity.

-Yeah.

Exhausted.

'She seemed really stressed and seemed like she had'

a lot more to do and wanting to get straight back to her room.

It doesn't make me feel panicky cos, obviously,

I'm kind of in a good place at the minute.

I'm just kind of excited to see what tomorrow brings

and kind of seeing the end result.

But as the curtain falls on day two...

Oh, God...

..with her measurements wrong...

That's much lower than that side.

..Sarah's in for a long night.

I've got to sew them up.

I always said I wouldn't do this, be sewing up to the end.

But I just know tomorrow morning we haven't got a lot of time.

Here's my depressed face.

It's the final day of this round

and one designer won't be going any further.

To stay in the competition,

our three amateurs need to make the most of the last few hours.

'At this second-round stage,

'the scrutiny from the judges will be even tougher.'

So, last night I probably went home at about ten and it gave me

a chance to kind of clean down and get ready for today

so that we can literally get in there, finish off and dress.

I've got to build the sofa and there's a few little last bits

with the crates to go onto the wall for the herb wall.

'But Lily is the designer facing the biggest time pressure

'as she still needs her laminate floor to be delivered.'

We only got the go-ahead last night and that was, like, half six

so it had to be done this morning,

so yeah, it's all very kind of tight.

While she waits, Lily goes on the hunt for hooks

to hang her tea towels.

Look what I got!

I walked past this discarded chest of drawers

with some broken, erm...handles

and I got some and these are retro

and they are perfect for my kitchen, so look!

She's found a way to save some time, too.

They don't need to be drilled onto the wall as they only will

have tea towels so they can just be stuck on the wall with a glue gun.

Last time, Lily tried to achieve so much,

but sometimes the quality of the finish wasn't quite there.

Has she got a handle on it this time?

We know we're going to get bags of creativity from Lily

although the jury's very much out for me at the moment.

It's looking a little bonkers.

We've got loads of, kind of, stripes on the ceiling,

feature walls and there's still the original floor down there,

so if she's actually going to pull it off...is yet to be seen.

'There's a lot going on with Jamie's farmers' market theme, too.

'As the apple crate storage goes up...'

Yeah.

'..Jamie cracks on with stencilling a botanical pattern

'on his blind and footstool.'

I first kind of did this back at school.

It's nice and simple, anyone can do it

and it's nice just to use little tester pots that don't

really cost anything to transform something really simple.

Is Jamie's kitchen shaping up well?

They asked for a botanical theme and he's picked the obvious colour

choice, green, and he's put it on all the walls

and on the cupboards, too.

Concerned that they might be a little bit overpowering

in such a small space.

Green's a bit oppressive, if I'm honest.

One of Sarah's last big jobs is to fix the curtains

she made last night.

Oh, no, I can't do that.

I've just realised that this needs to be right on the end

because the cooker's here so you need to be able to run it all

the way back that way when, erm...when you're cooking.

You don't want it in front of the cooker.

'It's a sensible solution that works in addition to the fabric

'being fire-retardant.'

That's what happens when you're working

till ten o'clock at night -

not concentrating.

Last time, Sarah wowed us with some really bold colour.

Is she doing something similar this time?

Well, the brief doesn't require a bold colour story this time,

actually. It's a lot to do with the practicalities.

Exactly. Some of the things that she's chosen to do,

I don't know if they'll work that well.

'The designers have had three days

'and £1,000 to transform a kitchen each.'

I think at this stage I can just...

do what we can, do the best we can, really, at this stage.

They've been challenged to get creative with wire

and tested on their client presentation skills, in which

Lily impressed the most, but have the other two overtaken her?

Brilliant.

As the deadline approaches, Sarah is finding that old habits die hard.

I couldn't resist a little bit of floral

so I'm going to cover this old stool that I found.

I love a bit of floral, me.

With just the final touches to go, it's a far cry

from the disastrous rotted kitchen that collapsed just 48 hours ago.

We've got five minutes to go.

Who would have thought it?

This is the bit where I go...

-SHE GASPS

-.."I've forgotten that!"

It's too late now. It's just me and my cup of tea.

Sarah's brief was to create a rustic country kitchen.

Three days ago, crumbling cabinets were crying out

for some design attention.

Now it's a homely room with style.

Sarah has created a muted traditional look

with duck-egg blue units and cream walls.

A hessian wall panel adds to the soft scheme.

She's hung handmade curtains to cover the units and added storage

with open shelving as well as some floral and more modern details.

I hope when the judges come in I can hear them go, "Wow!"

cos it is a total transformation

so if they can't see the difference then, erm...

I'll be getting them glasses.

That is quite a transformation in 48 hours!

Astonishing.

I like Sarah's selection of colours as well.

This clotted cream colour reminds me of old dairies.

It's a really old-fashioned colour and, again, we all know this colour,

but it's such a successful one, this duck-egg blue works very well.

One concern we had was that there was going to be too much

fabric in here and it's not really very practical for a kitchen.

Looking at this now - move that across, Sophie -

that works beautifully cos it stays over at that side,

it's not gathering up too tightly and then that oven,

which has seen better days, frankly, is hidden most of the time.

It's done a lot in Provence, it's very trendy in France to do

that and I think it's travelled very well.

Is this a bit of fabric too much, though,

putting it on the wall like this?

Really do question how practical it is.

You've only got to open a pot of ketchup at the dining table

and it goes up there and that whole beautiful display is ruined.

You can't clean it.

As well as the scheme, Sophie and Daniel will judge each

designer on how inventive they've been with the wire they supplied.

She's used the copper wire to add some flower shapes to a wire light.

They look slightly confusing to me.

-I think it's overkill.

-Hm.

I think the homeowner's going to love it.

It's soft, it's pretty, it's functional.

If she doesn't love it, I'll have it.

How happy the homeowners are with the finished schemes will inform

the judges' final decision.

Right, in you come...to your new country kitchen in Walthamstow.

Wow.

I'm overwhelmed, actually,

because it is so different from how it was two days ago.

The colour scheme is good.

I have a slight reservation about that,

but everything else, I think she's done a splendid job.

I'm very, very pleased.

Next, Jamie's time is almost up.

We're kind of seeing the sofa and it's kind of...

The room's coming together now.

In this round, the judges have pushed Jamie

to prove his spatial planning skills.

They're great. We're done.

It's kind of overwhelming seeing your designs being made real.

I think your emotions get mixed at this stage cos you're

really happy and you're kind of sad as well cos it could be the end.

Jamie's brief was to create a farmer's market inspired kitchen

cum living room.

Three days ago, it was a cluttered room, lacking character.

Now it's a multifunctional family room.

He's cultivated natural tones of olive and avocado on cabinets

and walls.

And added accents of earthy terracotta on soft furnishings.

He's used reclaimed scaffolding board to create a TV cabinet.

And vegetable crates as extra kitchen storage.

This is the second room I've designed,

and kind of each stage you are learning all the time,

and I'm feeling more confident in myself, and as a designer.

So, I hope I've done enough to impress the judges.

SHE LAUGHS

Isn't it fun? I'm going to have to say, I walk in here and I get a

huge smile smacked on my face.

Just what they were asking for, in terms of the look.

I'm just going to do the TV test. Yeah, I think he's got away with that,

because he talked about putting it here, which would have been

a disaster because that would have given you neck ache.

-But I think by moving it into that cabinet, he's got away with it.

-Mmm.

For the first time, the judges will see Jamie's egg basket in situ,

-but has he cracked it?

-I'm a bit speechless.

Is that a good one or a bad speechless?

I don't know, there's something very childlike about it, and I think,

in this very kind of rustic, organic setting, you can get away with that.

You were concerned about all these greens, that they would look really oppressive.

And the solution was some brick accent colours, but who would have

guessed it would also be in the carrots, and a ball of string, too?

Ingenious.

This herb garden wall has always been quite a contentious issue

with us, because we felt he was being a little indulgent.

But actually what he's done is create a really lovely

collection of objects that all really hang together.

I love the letters, I love that apple crate.

But the joke goes too far by playing the same game on this wall.

I think some flat storage, painted in the same colour of the wall,

would have been a good, practical approach,

and would have just shown that Jamie not only can have fun in a room,

but he actually can be quite serious about his practicalities.

I'm proud of it. I feel like the homeowner is going to love it.

I put a lot of effort into it, so, yeah, hope it pays off.

Right, come on through to your new kitchen cum lounge cum

-living space.

-Oh, my goodness. Oh, it looks so nice.

-Oh, I'm shaking.

-SHE LAUGHS

Oh, it is too much to take in.

-Oh.

-There's enough storage for you?

Yeah, I think so. I have to say, it looks lovely.

Oh! Oh!

So exciting, I want to see Jamie so I can give him a hug.

SHE LAUGHS

In Lily's kitchen, the floor has finally arrived.

We have enough flooring.

Time has been against Lily ever

since the hold-up with the laminate floor earlier on.

I mean, it is looking good, it might just be...

We'll see, I don't know.

With just moments left, it's all hands on deck.

And put these on top.

Whoa! Let's not break that clock.

OK, right, we're done.

The kitchen is so difficult,

and I didn't know how challenging doing a kitchen is.

So, yeah, I have to be proud of what I've done.

Lily's brief was for a bright, retro kitchen with industrial features.

Before, the room was bright green and a little loud.

Now, Lily has created a different type of impact.

She's used a bold teal colour to zone the kitchen,

which continues to the ceiling as painted coving.

A playful mural gives a nod to the retro.

And the vinyl floor has been replaced by a light laminate.

I hope the judges think that there is some new, inventive things

that I've done.

And it's surprising enough.

The triumph of this scheme, for me, is the way she has zoned

these two areas using colour.

The fresh green here, in this corner, and a darker,

more cosy vibe in the cooking area.

Both the homeowners asked for bright and fresh,

and I think Lily has been pushing it a little bit,

going for this very dark teal on the walls.

Yes, but most people think that to make a room feel fresh, you just have to paint it white.

What she has gone and done is play with some interesting colours

and then added a paler floor,

which has bounced the light into the room, and she's put this

border on the ceiling, which links everything together very well.

Lily used her wire in a few different places in her retro room.

She's been really busy, but this is what Lily does.

-She has loads and loads of ideas.

-It is classic Lily.

She has lots of ideas and she experiments with them,

but I'm not sure that any of them are hugely successful.

Maybe just one good idea would have impressed us a little more.

I mean, I have to question some of the decisions with the detailing.

We've got little hooks here...

using glue. So, the quality of finish, I'm sorry,

is really not up to scratch.

So, this seems, to me, somebody who is really ambitious,

really creative and perhaps trying to do too much,

and therefore not actually getting the basics right.

It would really make me so happy to go to the next round.

It would make me even happier

if my homeowners are completely

pleased with my design.

-Wow.

-Wow.

This is good. Floor looks good.

This whole unit over there looks just amazing.

I'm not quite sure about the colours yet.

It's obviously really bright and airy at the moment,

but come the dead of winter, whether it will be light enough

in that area, but I guess only time sort of will tell with that one.

But in terms of looks, it looks fantastic.

With all three rooms scrutinised,

the amateur designers await their fate.

I don't feel like I've had a chance to really show what I can do.

And I know that I can do much more,

so, yeah, if there is a reason to get through, that would be the reason.

Hopefully, the judges have seen I've improved from the last time,

and maybe want to see me again in the next round.

I'm a little bit nervous about the judges' decision.

Anyone could go, the other two are really good,

and I just hope I've done enough.

So, judges, kitchens this time. The most challenging room in a house.

Not only that, all three briefs required very different solutions.

And it's also been really fascinating to see the resourceful ideas

they have of updating the kitchen without having to remove it.

Sarah was asked for a country kitchen in Walthamstow. Did she deliver it?

What I like about Sarah is she went that extra mile and actually

produced something that was thoroughly charming and really creative.

For example, the little curtains around the kitchen units

-really looked good.

-Fabric wall, I wasn't so convinced.

It looked good, but I don't think it is that practical.

The homeowner loved it! Loved it!

The only misgiving she had, really, was the exposed metal. But the rest of it she loved.

Who can blame her for liking that design, because it is an absolute transformation.

It does actually tick all the boxes.

Jamie's homeowners asked for a botanically-inspired kitchen

cum living space. Did he create one?

He absolutely nailed the look.

It was gorgeous, it was coherent, it was comprehensive.

But interior design is more than just styling, it is actually

addressing the practical issues in a room,

-and I had some doubts he achieved that.

-The homeowner adored it!

-She was bowled over.

-And he actually read the brief.

And interpreted beautifully to make that client happy.

I just knew she would love it.

Lily was asked for a fresh kitchen with retro and industrial touches.

She came up with a really bold colour scheme.

We will thoroughly commend her for that.

I don't think it was what the homeowners maybe asked for,

but original and creative, and definitely something neither of us had seen before.

It was, but that room wasn't just about colour,

it was about finishing, and the quality was not brilliant.

She had glued these pegs on the wall,

which were going to fall off any second. Not great.

The homeowners loved the transformation.

They were not entirely convinced about the colours,

and certainly the practicalities of that dark side of the room.

Well, she took a punt with that colour scheme. I think even Lily would admit to that.

So, because they had a kitchen this time, they worked so hard.

It's really going to be a tough one, isn't it, Sophie?

These Warner flats were designed to be compact but efficiently

planned, a spirit, I think, all three of you have channelled this time.

And kitchens, that is a tough challenge, given 48 hours,

but all three of you have completely blown us away.

-Well done.

-And it is a very fine line between all of you.

These two have had a tough job,

but they've decided that the designer going home

this time will be...

..Lily.

Oh, Lily. Oh.

-You were brilliant. You were brilliant.

-Oh, my God.

-I told you.

-Yours was amazing, though.

-I'm gutted, to be honest.

Obviously the finish wasn't good enough.

I mean, yes, we just really ran out of time with the floor,

it was a big job. Do you like your new kitchen?

Oh.

While Lily might lack confidence as a designer,

here schemes certainly don't. They are really bold and hugely creative.

What lets her down is perhaps being too overly ambitious,

and the quality of the detail really isn't there.

Well done!

Me and Sarah.

-Oh, my God, guess what, though.

-What?

One away from the quarterfinal.

It's kind of becoming real that getting through twice, maybe

-I am good.

-HE LAUGHS

Come here. Oh, thank you so much...

Moving on, Jamie has got to look at the practicalities.

It's all about spatial design that he's got to master.

Yeah, Jamie is great. And I think he'll give me a run for my money.

-What do you think?

-It is lovely. I'm...I'm speechless.

We work for it.

What I'd really like to know now is,

could Sarah do something contemporary?

We've seen two quite vintage looks.

If she can pull off modern, it could get exciting.

Next time in '60s riverside apartments, Jamie...

-Ah!

-..and Sarah...

-That is insane.

..battle it out for one place in the quarterfinal.

The designer going through is...