Streatham Art Deco Flats The Great Interior Design Challenge

Here in the UK, we're blessed with an enormous variety

of types and styles of buildings that we call home,

from thatched cottages to 1930s Art Deco apartments,

regency terraces to contemporary townhouses.

But sometimes, while the exterior creates a wow factor,

the interior can be distinctly lacking.

So we've gathered some of UK's most talented amateur interior designers

to show us what they're made of.

-Let's get started, guys.

-Time is ticking.

We're in the quarterfinals, and the pressure is mounting.

That's it now. I'm really happy.

I may die of exhaustion.

I really don't need this.

-Pressure's on.

-Putting them through their paces and scrutinising their

every move are judges Daniel Hopwood,

designer, and a director

of the British Institute of Interior Design...

This year, we've got new challenges

for the designers. We're really going to push them to the limit.

..and internationally renowned interior designer Kelly Hoppen.

As a judge in this competition, I want to see perfection.

I think I will be quite a hard judge.

But it's going to take a lot of creativity and hard work to be

crowned winner of the Great Interior Design Challenge.

It's the quarterfinals,

and two designers from the first round will be competing for a place

-in the semifinals.

-I need this to go up here, yeah?

Can we get the wardrobe up, please?

Only this time, they haven't just got one room to do each -

they've got two in neighbouring houses.

-Voila!

-Now I've got to unpick it all and start all over again.

They'll have just 48 hours over three days...

I've only got a few hours to get the work done. I'm just like...

..£2,000 for their two rooms.

-Big day today.

-Yeah.

-Huge day!

..and this time, their teams have doubled.

-You're the boss.

-Yeah, cool.

There'll be two builders and two decorators to manage.

We're just going like whirling dervishes.

-We're all quite crazy.

-And in their toughest challenge yet,

their first room must be finished and judged on day two.

They've got an uplighter somewhere. I don't know where that went.

They'll need to work hard to impress...

This competition is very important to me.

It's something that I've always

really, really passionately wanted to do.

It's like, please! Do you know what I mean?

Someone up there, do you know what I mean? Come on.

Smile down on me, please.

..because it'll be goodbye for one of them at the end of this round.

Streatham lies just six miles south of the City of London.

It's name, rather quaintly, means "hamlet on the street",

the street in question being the great Roman road

that went from London to Sussex - now otherwise known as the A23.

It's a little hard to imagine today, but back in the 1930s,

Streatham was one of London's most forward-thinking,

even futuristic, neighbourhoods -

its high road thronged with cars off to London's original

airport at Croydon, and crowds going to see films in its modern cinemas.

It was so busy and bustling,

it was nicknamed the West End of South London.

And just off the high street lies this testament to Art Deco -

Manor Court.

The Art Deco style burst onto the scene in the 1920s,

particularly in France and America.

It encapsulated, in one architectural style,

the decade's opulence and decadence.

It wasn't really until the 1934 Ideal Home Show,

with its Village of Tomorrow, the idea of living in an Art Deco home

really took off in this country. Built the year after,

Manor Court was designed by the innovative property developer

and architect Reginald Toms.

His ambition, to bring luxurious apartment-living

to the middle classes.

Our amateur designers have two rooms each to transform

in these glamorous 1930s flats.

They'll each be handed a living room and a guest bedroom.

The first designer returning is 49-year-old Oliver,

a hairdresser from London.

My style is a mashup.

There's a little bit of grandeur, little bit of olde-worlde charm.

I haven't had any training in interior design at all.

It does come from within. It's something that I really enjoy.

And I think I've grown better at it as time has gone on.

According to all my friends and family, anyway, so...!

Last time, he impressed the judges with his ornate bedroom

in a Regency townhouse.

But it was his inventiveness that secured him a place in the

-quarterfinals.

-Oliver's room in the first round was really good.

It was beautifully put together, very tasteful.

What I want to see Oliver now do is express himself more,

and just show what he can create as a style and as a look that he owns.

Prior to this, Oliver has been very laid-back, very chilled,

sort of winging it. So it will be interesting to see how he manages

to do two rooms with twice as many people, and get it done on time.

The first space Oliver has been asked to work on

is a rather compact spare room, belonging to Chris and Paul.

The spare bedroom, I mean, since I moved in,

it literally has housed all of MY stuff,

that is still in bags and boxes.

And this is going to really give us

an opportunity to utilise the space properly.

Although both designers have had their briefs for over a week,

this will be the first time they're seeing the rooms in person.

So when you see it physically, it just seems different.

Chris and Paul's brief is to stay true to the Art Deco style of the

building but also to inject

some opulence into this mundane spare room.

I am a bit of a perfectionist, and I think so are you.

This has to be right.

Yes, you are!

The second room Oliver is taking on is the lounge.

That's better.

Yeah, that's cool. I can't wait to get on with this room, actually.

Again, the brief is for Art Deco,

with an emphasis on a gentleman's club feel.

Kind of martini glasses, tuxedos, Poirot, that kind of thing.

Has to have seating to relax in,

it has to have a dining table so we can entertain in there.

-It's a small flat.

-It's a combination of style and content,

-unfortunately.

-Yeah.

-Which might be a hard thing to pull off.

Judging his presentation will be

industry experts Daniel Hopwood and Kelly Hoppen.

They'll be assessing how well he puts forward his design

and how adaptable he is to his clients' needs.

We're going to start with the lounge.

And I've come up with this.

-Wow. Yeah.

-First impressions, bang on.

We've got a beautiful leather sofa.

-Fantastic.

-And these original vintage 1930s armchairs.

-So we can sit on our armchairs and have a...

-Cocktail.

-A cocktail.

-A G&T.

-A martini.

-I like that.

-I want to do your skirtings black.

-OK.

-If it's OK with you.

We're going to go round with the black on the skirting,

and we're going to do a tiny frieze black around the door.

You know, so this is obviously the kind of the idea of, you know,

if you had wooden inlay. Because you don't have a chimney breast.

-Yes.

-You know, it kind of gives you that optical illusion that you have

got one. Would that be OK?

Yeah. I'd like to see it, actually.

Same here. Um... It's quite unusual.

I've not seen it before.

And we're going to take your carpet up,

-and then we're going to stain your floorboards for you.

-Fantastic.

Very excited to see how it's put into reality.

I can't wait to sit on that sofa.

Next up are Oliver's ideas for the small guest room.

Your living room is sophisticated.

This is a little more fun.

A little more opulent. This is an original 1930s burr-walnut wardrobe.

This is a single bed, which I'm going to make a sunrise headboard.

And obviously, we've got, like, an Art Deco detail in panelling.

It'll frame all this gorgeous wallpaper.

-Yeah.

-These are bedside tables, which I'm covering in mock croc.

What's mock croc?

Mock croc is like artificial crocodile skin.

Have you never felt mock croc before?

-Um. No.

-Only in a handbag!

It's just... It's one of those sort of fabrics, what ever you put it on,

it just instantly sort of glamorises everything.

-It's very Gatsby.

-Yes.

-Yes, it is incredibly that, yeah.

-Yeah.

Oliver is so passionate in his presentations,

and he completely captivated the homeowners,

who within literally seconds were, "I love it."

My concern is, though,

that they now have the full visual of what the room could look like,

and they might be disappointed with the finished result.

First things first, this furniture's going, so we'll be left

with a blank canvas.

The clock has started on Oliver's 48 hours.

-Perfect.

-So, for both rooms,

it's out with the furniture and up with the carpet.

I had it down as 76 inches.

Illegal to use inches, now!

-Yes, it is.

-Actually, we're out of Europe now, so we probably

can use them again, can't we?

Our second returning designer is 37-year-old Shaida,

a freelance make-up artist from Northampton.

I've always had this love for the Moroccan -

the prints and the themes and the colours, and everything.

I believe I have the skills to delegate.

I've got the leadership skills there,

and I do like to do things on my own as well.

Last time, she wowed the judges with an opulent Moroccan theme in

a Gothic revival bedroom.

And her knock for creating an ambience

won her a place in the quarterfinals.

Shaida has a very Moorish East-meets-West type of style,

and I'm just interested to see whether she can come out

of her comfort zone and follow a different kind of brief this time.

Shaida is all-go, though.

And she's passionate about interior design,

and that does mean she slips over the budget quite easily.

I wonder if she's going to control herself this time.

Shaida's challenge is to take on two rooms in the flat

belonging to Imogen and Nick. They have big plans

for their small guest room.

The spare room at the moment looks neglected, boring.

A mishmash of chairs and all sorts of stuff at the moment.

Smaller than I thought.

The homeowners want a light and airy makeover for this guest room,

with an English country-garden feel and plenty of storage.

I'd really like to see a chest of drawers!

-That's my main...

-Yeah, storage is, yeah, is an issue.

The second space Shaida is taking on is the living room.

Nice little room. Nice and cosy.

I think what we would change about the living room, definitely,

is the chimney stack's kind of painted brown.

So we have this brown theme throughout the flat

that we're quite keen to get rid of.

The homeowners' brief for the living room is

contemporary with eclectic styling,

inspired by their artwork and a nod to nature.

We've been quite open with what we like,

so it could be a challenge,

in that there is perhaps a lot of possibilities.

But we definitely know what we don't like.

So, for the guest room, took the inspiration from your two images

that you gave me. The figurine images.

So I've taken the colours from there

and used them to create paint effects.

I bought you a new chest of drawers,

and I'm going to be doing a connecting shelving there.

So that wall, as soon as you walk in, is going to be full of storage.

I wonder if it will feel a bit kind of claustrophobic.

But, you know, we need storage.

-Yeah.

-And I think what you've planned

is a really clever use of space.

And here's the mood board for the lounge.

Walls will be an off-white.

And then the main chimney colour...

-Oh, yeah.

-..will be the deep green.

Ah. So it looks quite dark.

And I had wanted something light.

-But maybe in...

-Yeah.

-Maybe just because we hate the brown

that we can't see past it!

-I know, I know.

-So maybe once the green is up...

What I've done is, I've actually designed you an all-inclusive

shelving unit, which is going to basically be taking place over here.

The TV will then be moved over to this end.

This will free up this area over here and near the window,

which means we can then have the dining table open.

Other than rearranging the layout of the room,

Shaida has also taken inspiration

from the homeowners' favourite artwork.

This is the wallpaper that I'll be using on the back wall over there.

It's not going to be butterfly overload?

-No, no.

-That was my main worry!

-No, no, no.

There's a lot going on, but hopefully, I think, in a nice way.

I'm quite confident with it.

I want to make sure, when I leave, you guys are smiling.

Not crying!

Shaida's had a very difficult brief this week.

There was an enormous amount in that that they wanted.

There's country living, there's a bit of Art Deco,

there's butterflies.

All in one small room.

She's really got to take something out to make that look good.

In terms of what it's going to look like, I'm still in the dark,

because that presentation board gave me nothing.

So I think her mood board needs to be much more specific.

If you all take one each...

At the start of her 48 hours,

Shaida is being meticulous with her planning.

I've divided the jobs between us.

Myself on the left, the painter-decorator in the middle,

and then the builder on the right.

OK, everybody turn the pages together.

Yeah. This is the door over there.

The sofa's going to stay where it is.

The team might know what's going on, but the homeowners aren't so sure.

It's so hard to think what it's going to look like finally.

I really liked it, but just don't know what it's going to look like.

If it is too much, then we might say...

Well, you know. I WILL say!

I just hope it doesn't upset things too much.

How do you guys feel about that?

Lots. We've got a lot to do.

-Lot to do.

-A lot to do.

Well, let's get started, guys.

By the way, guys. No-one's allowed to lose their pieces of paper.

Oh, no!

Yeah. If anybody does, they will end up having another job on top to do,

OK?

But one thing you really can't miss here at Manor Court are all these

windows, many of them in the original modern steel frames,

mass produced by Crittall.

We went mad for sunlight in the 1930s.

Bright interiors were more hygienic,

all that vitamin D was great for health,

and suntans were the very height of fashion.

And that brightness was also reflected

in the detail of this architectural movement.

The main entrances have simple but rather stylish porches.

Originally, they'd have had uniformed porters.

But in keeping with the modern spirit of the block,

the humans have been replaced by machine.

And it's Art Deco glamour that Oliver is after

for his gentleman's club-inspired living room.

There's actually a really happy surprise under here,

cos this looks like it's oak floorboards.

Unfortunately, it's not all good news on the floor in front.

Right, so I was told that it was

going to be wooden floorboards in here.

-And obviously, it's not.

-No.

Oliver's builder has made a disastrous discovery

beneath the guest room carpet.

These are Marley tiles, and over a certain age,

they contain trace asbestos.

Which is completely safe while they're just lying glued down

and untouched. But you mustn't break them.

So we can't touch them.

So the rod has to stay as well.

Yeah. You never, ever touch

without checking with an asbestos expert first.

When you're working on houses of this sort of age,

you've got to be aware that there's potentially asbestos in them.

It's very dangerous, and I think they've found it in

-Oliver's bedroom.

-I know. It'll be interesting to see

how Oliver reacts to this.

The second room, unfortunately, has had to be closed off and we're

waiting for word from the council as to what we can do with it.

I was going to actually use that room as my first room to finish.

But obviously I can't do anything with that room now,

so it'll have to be this room

that's going to be the first one to be finished.

And in the meantime, we're getting up this horrible,

disintegrated underlay before we can do anything else.

So this is the existing unit.

That's it. Yeah, perfect, perfect, perfect.

Over with Shaida, she's chosen her small guest bedroom

to be revealed first.

How do you feel about that?

Um...

-You're the boss.

-Yeah? Cool.

-It's fine.

Her second room to be completed, the living room,

will be finished in 48 hours.

Do you envisage all the paint on the walls -

-before we leave today?

-The first coat, yeah.

Second coating tomorrow morning.

We're on schedule, but I'd like to get a bit more done.

Shaida managing a project?

I've got every confidence in her and she'll get it done.

She's very specific in the way that she speaks.

She is calm. She is organised.

And I think she gets on with the team, which is really important.

Do you think so? I think she is a bit bossy.

No, I think she's all right, she's just got a sense of humour.

-And you need that in this business.

-Oh, yes!

For Shaida's living room scheme, she's revamping some

of the homeowner's furniture.

I'm upholstering the chairs, because I do not like that.

And also, this doesn't go with the themes.

I've never done it in my life,

so I'm guessing I need to unscrew this

and hopefully the seat will come off.

Ta-da!

You can do this, Shaida, you can do this!

This is too thick, I need something thinner than this.

Are you keeping all the fabric?

No, no, I'm definitely not keeping that bit.

Can't you just go around it?

Go around it? Stuart, you're not just a pretty face.

Oliver has also had the same idea to update the existing furniture.

I'm a dab hand at doing this.

All you have to do when you do it is make sure you do the middle

of one side first and the corresponding opposite side,

and get some tension on it.

It's kind of child's play.

I've never used one of these, ever before.

Yeah, voila.

Five to go.

The end of day one is approaching,

and both designers are working at full pelt.

I may die of exhaustion.

Exjau... Ex... What?

I'm so exhausted, I can't even say the word!

I'm sanding the chairs

because I'm going to paint them a different colour.

I have an hour left.

I've got four and a half chairs left yet.

Oliver had planned to show the judges the smaller bedroom first,

but with that off limits,

he now needs to get the larger living room ready instead.

All hands on deck.

With less time but more work needed

to get his larger room finished first,

his team have been given an extra hour to prepare the floor.

I've taken the decision to clean these rather than sand them all -

we just don't have time to spend half a day sanding these right back.

So if we, kind of, make good on them now,

then they should still varnish nicely tomorrow.

A little bit of elbow grease makes a huge difference.

Let's just crack on in the morning, shall we? Yeah? Thanks so much.

-Thank you.

-Thank you. So, first thing tomorrow,

we've got the asbestos inspector coming,

who will hopefully give us the green light to continue working

in the bedroom. So, yes, here's hoping.

It's day two, and the pressure is on for Shaida, but especially Oliver,

who doesn't even know yet

whether he'll be able to work on his second room.

Unable to start on the bedroom,

Oliver's whole team are working on the living room.

Morning, guys, hello. Right, OK, I can see you are getting on

and everything. The second coat's going on.

Can we sort out this floor? This is really, really important.

The guys have just started that now.

It's a big day today. HUGE day.

We've got so much to do today.

I didn't know where to begin, to be honest.

We've got to get the floor done, we should get the varnish done

this morning, and get that dry so we can go back in the room.

I still don't know about the bedroom.

It's a busy, busy, busy day today.

Work has been on hold in the small guest room

until an expert can pass his professional eye over the situation

and test for the dreaded asbestos.

How long do you reckon this will take?

Fingers crossed. We'll get back to our lab at the office

and analyse it, and we should be able to give you a result

-within the next couple of hours.

-Fingers crossed.

Fortunately for Shaida,

there are no such obstacles holding up HER plan for the spare bedroom.

I'm sure you all know that I need to get the guest room done today.

-Yeah.

-Is everybody happy?

-Yeah.

-OK.

-Excellent, let's go.

The priority for today is to get the guest room completed, so

we're working on the units there.

Sanding them down, priming them, and just got to work hard today.

That looks really nice.

Perfect. I think they'll really, really like it,

because it's actually using up the space in a very, very good way.

In Oliver's living room, the final touches of varnish

are going down on the original floorboards.

It's a real show stopper.

-It looks incredible.

-Now it's another waiting game until it dries.

Kind of, give it close to two hours.

Two hours?

I'll just have to find other things to do, won't I, for two hours,

that don't involve this room?

Because of the drying time now, I've had to find my builders other things

to do, you know, but there's plenty

to be getting on with, so it's not a problem.

LAUGHTER

As you can see.

To hide the modern TV in his 1930s lounge, Oliver is making

a simple screen from MDF and upholstery nails.

Do you want a little set square,

so you can keep it the same distance from the edge all the way around?

I will grab you one.

This is what they call a nail trim.

As you see, you have every fifth one, you have a hole,

which you put one of these little pins into.

And it gives you the effect that you've studded all the way through.

If you do that and just keep it locked,

then you just go all the way around, and it keeps it nice and uniform.

Well, I've gone wrong already, so I'll have to take those ones out.

Before I got that thing for you, I said, "Before you go any further..."

-That's because I'm impatient.

-Yeah.

Massively disappointed if I went out now.

I want to change my career.

I've had a good career as a hairdresser and I've enjoyed it all,

but I just don't want to do it any more.

Doing this is hopefully a launchpad.

Before it's too late to

just have a go!

To jazz up her chest of drawers in the guest room,

Shaida is covering them

with Art Deco-inspired textured wallpaper.

I have never, ever, ever put wallpaper on a unit.

It's another first for Shaida.

Do you know what? I think I need your assistance on this.

-OK.

-Shaida decides to pass on the papering.

So, I've delegated sticking the wallpaper to my decorator.

Meanwhile, the electrician has arrived to reposition the TV aerial,

so the television can be moved to the other side of the living room.

-You just need this aerial point across the room?

-Yeah, basically.

I can tell that the make-up of the floorboards,

because they're so small,

-I'll try to get them up safely without breaking them.

-OK.

The only other way, then, obviously, is, what,

taking the wires over the skirting?

So, we can go like that, or we can go like that.

-No, the first one.

-The first one.

-OK.

-Hi, Shaida.

-Hi. You all right?

-I'm all right, how are you?

-Very well.

The electrician came in - what was he doing?

Right, so, I wanted the television to be moved from this point over to

-that point.

-Yeah, cos you're moving everything from one side

-to the other.

-I think when you walk into the room, if there was stuff

going on there and stuff going on there,

-it's just too busy.

-First thing you don't want to see is a television.

-Yes.

-It's a good tip, this, tuck it behind

and then have the dining table,

-which is something of beauty, in the window.

-That's it.

-Great.

So, how are you getting on in the other room?

We do need to work faster on that room,

because I've got to get that done today.

-OK.

-Yeah.

If you look across the rooftops at Manor Court,

you don't see many chimneys.

Fireplaces were only installed in the living rooms of the apartments,

the rest of the spaces being heated by electric fires.

In this most modern of decades,

dirty old coal was definitely not the fuel of the future.

The original fireplaces in the apartments were incredible things.

They make a big, powerful statement -

like pieces of architecture in their own right -

mass-produced in concrete,

and decorated with these sinuous and sensuous curves.

Is the floor completely dry?

-It's touch dry.

-Oliver is also keen to make a powerful statement in his

Art Deco living room.

So, I want three lines coming up from the skirting.

OK, that's great.

And here, we almost want to make out that we've got a chimney breast,

-because we haven't got one, obviously.

-OK, great, crack on.

His controversial plan is to paint

the skirting boards black, and detailing on the walls

to give the impression of wood inlay.

The black skirting is something that's going to have to be seen

to kind of convince me. I always have white skirting in my home.

But when someone says the complete opposite, and make it black, it's,

like, "Wow, OK."

I've never liked white skirting boards.

I think when you add a little bit of something dark, it just gives that

little bit of drama, it just, kind of, gives the room a grounding.

-Hello.

-Hello, Oliver.

Hello.

-Wow.

-It's a lot of hard work going on.

-Yes.

-Three hours left.

-There's just a lot of...

-A lot to be done.

..tape, and a lot of painting to be done.

The homeowners wants to have a look at the black, or are you confident?

Because you've done quite a lot for them to say no.

Yeah, I just took a gamble there.

You're very brave and I think it's good to, sort of,

make people step out of their comfort zone.

So, let's hope they love it, otherwise you'll be painting a lot!

I'd to do this last time!

Although time is running out for his homeowners to have a preview,

his competitor can't resist a sneak peek.

-Hi, how are you?

-Hello, my lovely, how are you doing?

Oh, bless you.

-It's nice, isn't it?

-It will be.

-Hard work.

-You have to see past all the tape and everything.

-Course.

-Take care.

-You too.

See you soon, bye.

I just went to Oliver's room. It's really hard work, what he's doing.

It's, you know, keeping the lines precise and what have you.

I wouldn't personally do that.

Seeing his room has actually given me a bit more confidence,

if I'm honest.

Buoyed up by her visit, it's full steam ahead in Shaida's spare room.

-Dean, how's it going?

-It's going OK.

Yeah? Excellent. Just got that panel and that panel, isn't it?

-And I'm moving the curtain pole for you now.

-Excellent. Thank you.

Much like Oliver, Shaida has her own smorgasbord of paint effects

that she wants to do.

The decorator's currently painting the blue shelf grey,

because what we are going to do is create a paint effect.

We're going to sand it down to bring the blue out.

And I'm creating a paint effect with this sponge.

We've got two hours and 15 minutes left.

We've got to completely finish all of the painting in this room,

attach the doorknobs to the units,

and attach a mirror, and put up the curtains.

And I need to then accessorise the room.

Why do I make so much work for myself?

And also not one to shy away from hard work,

Oliver is busy making his bespoke cushions for his living room.

The asbestos people have just rung.

No asbestos, no trace, so we're safe to go back in there.

-So, nothing at all?

-No.

-So, absolutely, we can just crack on?

Absolutely safe, we have got the all-clear.

I'm going to go up there and crack on.

All that drama, wondering what's going to go on.

Finally, we can actually crack on with the room.

It means we are massively behind on it.

I don't know if we are going to get it finished.

At least we can make a start on it.

And without delay,

Oliver needs to get some of his team started on the bedroom to have any

chance of finishing by tomorrow.

Just want to check that this is the colour, this is what

you expected it to be before I crack on and do the whole room.

Absolutely perfect, yeah. Wonderful.

-Hello.

-Hello, Oliver.

-Hello.

-Well, what great news.

I was feeling very disappointed that you weren't going to be able to

access that second room.

Oh, I know. The thing is, it is brilliant, the only problem is,

obviously now we are massively behind on it.

In real life, there are always things that go wrong on jobs.

And somehow, you have to shift and manoeuvre people around.

-So, you know, it's a good lesson.

-Yes.

-Thank you.

-Bye.

The judges are keen for both the designers to demonstrate

their creativity on a level playing field.

So, here's your creative challenge.

Come up with something clever.

You don't have to use all of them.

So the competitors are being given identical items to artistically

incorporate into their scheme.

Ta-da.

If I was to saw through there, drill through there and drill into that,

that kind of makes almost, like, a goblet shape.

Quite a Deco little trophy, actually.

-If you just bolt them together, and that'll be cool, yeah?

-OK.

I want to use this as a candleholder.

I'd like for these to go central in the table.

But what I want is for the table to be a lot smaller.

-Easily done.

-OK, thank you, awesome.

-See you in a bit.

-Thank you very much.

The results of both of their creative challenges will be judged

in the rooms later.

We've got half an hour, guys. Let's make every minute count.

Oliver is about to hit his deadline to present his first room,

the living room, to the judges.

You are doing so well, Johnny.

Unluckily, the black borders aren't going to plan.

Peeling paint is just another problem for Oliver to deal with.

Do you know what? I really don't need this.

You know, it's, like, please,

someone up there, do you know what I mean?

Come on, smile down on me, please.

They've got an uplighter, somewhere, I don't know where that went.

-Hope it fits.

-Easy on the black.

-I'm going to need a hand with this.

We need to get the coffee table, so can somebody put the screen up

-for me, please?

-Yeah, yeah.

-We are just going like whirling dervishes,

-we're all quite crazy.

-Can we have some black paint, please, guys?

-Brush. A brush.

-A brush?

On the mantel.

-Is there much smears?

-At the top, right at the top.

Oliver's time is up.

I'm just being fussy, like I want more plants, and I want more glass,

and I want more flowers - but that's just me.

You know, it's great, it's cool, it's nice.

Yeah.

It's the Elton John in me sometimes!

Oliver was given the task of creating

a 1920s gentleman's club-style lounge.

Only a day ago, the room lacked character or style,

despite the original features.

Now it's got Gatsby-inspired glamour.

The Art Deco theme is reflected

in the salmon pink walls with black detailing.

Oliver has revealed the original floor

and he's added vintage armchairs,

treated with fire-retardant spray

to make sure they comply with modern safety standards.

His ingenious screen hides the modern TV.

And era-appropriate styling

transports the room back to the roaring '20s.

All of a sudden, it just all fell into place.

And it's, like, boom, it's done.

-He's good.

-Sophisticated, Art Deco...

-Gentleman's club.

I love the Martini bar here, the two club chairs.

He's got that incredible, eclectic way of doing something.

It's got an edge. I think the screen's fantastic.

-The screen's ingenious.

-It's really clever.

What a clever idea about hiding a TV.

-Fantastic.

-And, do you know, so easy to make,

cos all it is is a few panels of MDF.

I love the texture that he's done.

It's kind of like this matt black, which links into the walls,

which also, such a clever way for people to, sort of,

put panelling in a room, make it look more authentic,

but with a slightly modern edge to it.

I'm not sure about that sofa being pushed in that corner.

I would have quite enjoyed the idea

of the sofa sitting here, in front of the fireplace.

But the other thing which is a bit odd -

it's a bit "Mrs Haversham old wedding dress" -

are those net curtains.

They are certainly not what you see in a gentleman's club.

-Let's sit in one of these chairs.

-I need the martini there.

You can pretend.

Cheers.

That creative challenge?

-Yeah.

-I mean, to be honest,

probably could have done something a little bit more.

I think he's been under a lot of pressure

because of the whole situation of being delayed. I think he's done

-a pretty good job here.

-Fair enough.

Oliver was supposed to show the homeowners a piece of the black,

and time didn't allow. And he's just motored on and finished it.

It is a very big statement piece in the room.

I see the logic of it, but will these homeowners like it?

I'm not sure.

The homeowners' opinion will be taken into consideration

by the judges when they make their final decision.

I have followed their brief. I've slipped a little bit of myself

in there, you know, with the black skirting boards and stuff.

I've taken a bit of a punt, bit of a gamble, but it's good.

It's a nice room.

Amazing.

This isn't our flat, is it?

It's not the same place.

You wanted Art Deco, you've got Art Deco.

Wow.

-Sorry.

-Are you OK?

This is brilliant.

I always wanted to reveal the floorboards.

And the black -

that works. It's perfect.

So, does it answer the brief?

I think he's gone slightly beyond.

It is that opulence,

it is that sophisticated gentleman's club that we were looking for.

It is really not a presentation of Art Deco, it feels like Art Deco.

Shaida's time is running out,

so she's adding some final flourishes to her spare room.

-SHE GASPS

-Oh, what a shame.

And her time is up.

Now that the room has come together, I am so pleased.

-Really pleased.

-Shaida's brief

was to design a light and airy guest bedroom

with an English country-garden feel and plenty of storage.

Yesterday, it was cluttered, crammed,

and completely lacking in any style.

Now it's a storage heaven.

Shaida has built in a chest of drawers

embellished with textured wallpaper,

using various paint effects on the wardrobes and the shelving.

To make the room dual-purpose, she's added a folding bed

and finished off the scheme with some Moorish touches.

I'm actually really excited to hear the feedback from the judges

when they see what I've done with it.

This has come a long way.

-It certainly has.

-Her accessorising is always perfect.

-Really good storage.

-It's very good storage.

Fitted furniture is really expensive to do.

So what she's done really cleverly

is actually get an old set of drawers,

and then she's set it into these simple MDF boxes,

which most people could make and save a fortune.

Just to give it that little edge, she's used a pressed wallpaper,

so it is also giving it texture.

I think it's really effective.

It's clever. She's totally done something brilliant here.

But the interesting thing is it's very Moorish again.

And I think she's got one style.

I mean, the lights that are hanging here are very Moorish,

this is Moorish, the cushion covers.

I don't mind that, because I think what she's done is really exciting.

I like the look. Let's see what the homeowners are going to say.

We like it, we think it's a great style,

but we know it's not to brief.

Oh, wow.

Oh, wow.

-This is VERY different.

-I did not think it would look like this.

I love the colours.

I can't believe how much storage she's made.

What about the style of it? It doesn't really feel

-VERY English country garden.

-We can never put our finger on exactly

what we liked. We knew what we didn't like, and there's nothing

here that I don't like, so I think Shaida, ten ticks, two thumbs up,

I just love the room so much.

So, we've seen two rooms that they've done now.

And I have to admit, I think it's a really close call but for completely

-different reasons.

-No, I agree.

Shaida is ingenious in terms of the way that she pulls things together,

regardless of whether it is quite Moorish and maybe is slightly

off-brand of what the homeowners wanted.

And Oliver has created something that is really fantastic.

Both finished on time.

Both finished in budget.

But also remember, we were looking at Oliver's main room,

but we were looking at Shaida's second room.

You're absolutely right. You know, you can't make a call on it

until you've seen both of them having done the same rooms,

because a bigger room is much easier, let's face it,

than a small room like that.

It's approaching the end of day two,

and both designers are pulling out all the stops.

It's been a lot more busy than it was yesterday.

And now we've just got one more room left to finish off tomorrow morning.

Still got quite a bit to do, but we're getting there.

I've marked out your bed head here.

Yes. Perfect. Tomorrow, we'll do the guest room.

I think we're going to have to go at a furious pace from the offset.

That's all I can do is just try. You can't say any fairer than that.

-Are you OK?

-Yes, thank you, how are you feeling?

Yeah, it's...it's been really up and down for me today, you know?

I had massive disappointments and things out of my control.

It's make or break tomorrow, isn't it, at this stage of everything?

-Yeah.

-And I certainly don't want to go home yet.

-Yeah.

-How about you?

-Still got a bit to do,

but I'm confident that I'll be able to get it all done.

You know, we're just going guns a-blazing, you know?

It's the last day.

But will it be Shaida or Oliver who gets through to the semifinals?

There's no holding back,

as Oliver gets straight to work on his small guest room.

Morning, guys. All right?

-Yeah.

-Right, so, you're cracking on with the painting.

-What about the door frame?

-Leave that.

We're already against the clock,

so we've just got to keep going.

Here we are. Last day.

I sat in the morning at 5am, and I did another list.

-THEY LAUGH

-OK?

It's competition time. It is head-to-head today.

I'm still confident.

Over in Oliver's guest room, the decorator is busy putting up

the Art Deco-inspired wallpaper, which will frame the bed head.

While out in the garden,

Oliver is in the process of transforming two bedside tables.

I've managed to get two G Plan little chest of drawers.

Obviously, they're from the 1960s, and not quite correct,

so I'm just going to spray-glue the fronts,

cover them in some mock croc,

just to give them a sort of touch of luxury,

bearing in mind they probably would have used real crocodile in those

days. This is a great way to adapt furniture you have at home.

It's really quick and it's really affordable.

I mean, I got several metres of this,

and I think it comes to something like under £20.

Oliver's had quite a tough time.

Yeah, poor old Oliver. But, do you know what? He just got on with it.

But he's answered the brief of gentlemen's study,

but he hasn't overdone it, and I think that's really good.

So what are you demanding from him for his second room?

I really want to see something a little bit different.

It's a guest bedroom, so I want to see him be a little bit more daring,

and maybe even do something that's quite rich and elaborate in design.

In Shaida's living room, there's a buzz of activity.

I have still got quite a bit to do.

But we will finish on time.

My main concern is the painting,

because I need that to dry in order for me

to start accessorising the shelves.

As part of her homage to the homeowners' butterfly artwork,

it's being mimicked in the wallpaper going up...

-All of this goes in, perfect.

-Yeah, OK.

..and the matching curtains.

They have got some subtle butterfly prints on there.

And even cool, calm Shaida is feeling a bit fluttery.

I'm feeling really anxious and nervous.

Feeling like I've got butterflies in my stomach.

And I've only got a few hours to get done. I'm just, like, "Uu-urgh!"

A challenging two days for our designers.

-How's Shaida shaping up?

-She's done really well.

My concern is that she LOVES this Moorish look.

You were worried about that, weren't you, whether she was going

-to be a one-trick pony?

-I mean,

she's good, and what she produces is good. But it's just the same.

I'm hoping that that main living room is going to be

her jewel in the crown. We're seeing the beginnings

of something really good,

because she's got the spatial layout absolutely spot-on.

Oliver's time is almost up,

and he still needs to make his padded headboard...

..and cushions.

Ordinarily, at home, I'd get a tape measure out and I'd proper measure.

There's no time, do you know what I mean?

So I'm doing it all by guesswork.

I was doing great until I realised that actually I've sewn

this piece of fabric all the way wrong way round,

so now I've got to unpick it all and start all over again.

HE CHUCKLES

So, we've got half an hour, apparently.

Jeez.

Can we get the wardrobe up, please?

Excuse me.

Oh, for...

Have we put the rug down? Oh, we haven't, have we?

We only see a little bit of it.

Oliver's 48 hours are up.

That's it. I've kind of done everything.

That's it, guys, guys, we've done it, we've done all of it.

Right, good luck, well done.

-Good luck, Oliver.

-See you later.

Do you know what? It's madness, really, you know,

cos I didn't actually find out that I was actually going to be even

down to do this room, or do anything with this room,

sort of since yesterday afternoon.

Really, to consider we've done it in such a short space of time,

you know, it looks really lovely. I'm so proud. I really am.

Oliver's brief was to create a functional spare bedroom

in an Art Deco style.

Two days ago, what this small space lacked in function,

it made up for in clutter.

Now it's a glamorous guest room.

Oliver has added a pull-out guest bed covered with sumptuous cushions.

He framed 1920s-inspired wallpaper to create a backdrop

for the bed head.

And a vintage walnut cupboard adds storage.

While the mock-croc cabinets bring a little luxury.

Kelly said to me, you know, you need to plan.

And I thought I had done that - well, I HAD done that!

I dread to think how things would have turned out if I didn't actually

have any planning. So, I guess she certainly was right.

Wow.

-Opulent.

-Definitely very opulent.

-Art Deco.

-Very Art Deco.

This is quite clever, isn't it?

By just putting a bit of beading around.

-Love that.

-Nicely mitred in that, sort of, slightly Art Deco shape.

It sort of fits.

And I LOVE that wallpaper.

I must say, I do love the colour of the walls.

I think it's one of those scenarios where, if you go slightly darker

and it's a small room, it makes it feel very cosy.

On top of that, also, by using a brown mock croc,

he is just putting an air of masculinity into this room.

Cos it's quite...a pretty feminine room for two boys.

-No, it is.

-Yeah.

-Only problem.

What, you mean the clash of patterns, and that cheap zebra?

Absolutely no need for that zebra print.

I don't think this rug goes in here.

My gripe is that the brief is opulence and Art Deco,

and in the Deco period they loved using pelmets.

And I'm looking up there, and it's just not...

it's just not pleating well.

-I like.

-Right, I don't, I really don't.

I'd hate all that bunching fabric.

Our concern, it might be a little bit too much of an Art Deco theme.

Well, it IS, isn't it?

But I think, overall, he's put his own twist on it.

By not putting the pelmet up and not doing the obvious things,

I think he's done OK.

But will it be too much Art Deco for our homeowners?

-Wow.

-Oh, my word.

-Wow.

-How different could that be?

Faux croc, the faux croc.

Oh, yes. That really, really works.

I was worried it was going to be too shiny, you know?

I think it really is going to work.

Shaida's time is coming to an end,

but she still needs to put together the second part

-of her creative challenge.

-What do you think, guys?

-What do you think?

-A butterfly mobile.

-What do you think?

Come on, guys, man. Come on, guys!

It's meant to be, like, "Wow!"

Creative challenge complete, it's time to dress the room.

Stuart, Stuart? I need this to go up here, yeah?

Central.

Oh, no, no.

No, that's too heavy.

-Thanks, guys.

-And her 48 hours are up.

Well done.

Done.

Shaida's brief was for a bright, classic,

modern room with hints of nature and mixed patterns.

48 hours ago, the room had plenty of potential,

but lacked a cohesive style.

Now, it's been given a fresh lease of life.

Shaida has rearranged the layout

so the dining table takes pride of place,

while the TV is less noticeable.

A theme of butterflies adorns the walls and furnishings.

And bespoke shelving offers plenty of storage.

So, today, basically, I'll be going home, or I'll be staying.

And I need to just breathe and, you know, take a step back.

Oh!

Wow!

Well, they asked for modern, bright and classic,

-and it is.

-I'm pleasantly surprised.

It's lovely, isn't it? Walking through this room and having that

as the view, rather than a TV sitting in the corner,

really makes it work for me.

-Shaida understands about good layouts.

-Mm.

And I think she's been clever in the way she's created the different

levels. You've got the TV in there.

I like it also when boxes are made around something that exists.

It's a brilliant idea.

And I am so pleasantly surprised and happy

that we don't have any paint effects, just pure white.

I could have done with a little bit of colour, maybe, in these.

You know, I need some.

Not so happy with that. This, to me, looks unfinished.

There is a butterfly theme going on here.

Look, we've got more butterflies.

There's this matchy-matchy thing, as well, have you noticed?

That's too high street, frankly.

The judges also need to assess

how well Shaida's creative challenge integrates into the room.

Oh! It's like cowbells, I think, isn't it?

And it's got spray-paint on it.

I just think this is a bit of a copout.

I think the only thing that gets close to being decent

is these candleholders.

And, I suppose, there are times when you might need to have candleholders

-that don't fall over.

-I don't mind that at all.

The overall feeling of this room really works for me.

I think she has delivered what the homeowners want.

She has. She's followed a very complicated brief with a lot of ask,

and she's kind of covered it.

It's time for the homeowners to see their completed room.

-Ta-da.

-Whoa.

-Wow.

-It's like a completely different room.

I love all the little touches she's put in.

And I don't think the wall is too overpowering.

And, also, the all-important TV angle is, actually, nowhere near

-as bad as I thought it might be.

-Do you want to test it out?

Do you want to sit down, make sure you can see?

THEY LAUGH

-That's about right.

-I'm really, really happy.

-It's amazing.

-All right, fabulous!

From Shaida, you really wanted to see if she was going to be

adaptable, flexible, do something other than her stock Moorish style.

-Did you see that?

-Well, we sort of did, and we didn't.

In one of the rooms, it was completely the same.

Very Moorish. But in the larger living room, for me,

she really turned a corner.

What we're seeing with Shaida

is that she's a really adaptable designer.

It pulled together and looked right.

Even though we had some toile de Jouy

against very brightly coloured chairs,

against this sort of...quite chintzy looking butterfly wallpaper

on the back wall, it sort of worked.

And her space-planning was extraordinary.

-Sounds like she's got the full package.

-Yeah, maybe over-pleasing.

If she's going to go for this pattern clash,

then REALLY go for it.

The wall, which was a panel behind the sofa, was too polite.

She should have just filled that wall with a pattern. But, instead,

she just made it a bit timid because she was a bit unsure

-what the homeowners might think.

-I mean, they love the room.

-Brilliant, I'm pleased.

-It's fantastic news.

Now, Oliver was in his element with that brief.

Shaida had a very, very loose brief,

whereas this one, with the Art Deco,

it was very specific and a very, very tight brief.

I'm concerned that this Art Deco dictated a lot to him.

He could have been a bit more inventive with the Art Deco theme,

-updated it a bit?

-Yeah, exactly.

I just wanted to see maybe a little bit of something fresh.

I didn't want to walk into a historic sort of room,

I wanted to see if there was a way that you could rip up Art Deco

and throw it back together again and have something new.

-Oh, no.

-No?

I, sort of, disagree, because he has a style.

He's already got something that he owns

and he puts his spin every time - that I've seen it -

on the brief that's been given to him.

And to do a Deco gentleman's club, that's quite a big ask.

But, I think, he's done it in a way that has just got that edge,

that eclectic look.

And how about the old creative chaos that you saw in the first round?

He had a threat of asbestos in the spare room to deal with,

and he did it. He did it with utter calm.

That is a sign of a good designer.

You know the answer - the homeowners adored it.

Adored it, adored it - we had tears in one room,

we had smiles in the other.

Those guys are going to sit there every night drinking martinis,

and just loving it.

You've got two very strong designers.

Both of whom have learnt and developed from the first round,

we've got four very happy homeowners -

who are you going to pick?

It's not easy and I'm not sure if we are even in agreement yet, actually.

No, I don't think so, because I think they've both come so far,

they both equally have extraordinary talents.

It's very, very tough.

This is probably the worst part of this whole process,

it's the waiting. These little voices start speaking to you

in the back of your mind, like, "Oh, you could have done this different,

"or you could have done that."

You're starting to second-guess yourself.

-SHAIDA:

-This competition is very important to me.

Something that I've always really, really passionately wanted to do.

Art Deco is such a powerful and distinctive style of architecture.

It can faze even the most professional of designers.

But you two have risen to the challenge.

You've both done incredibly well to get through to this point,

but only one you can go through to the next.

But you should both be extremely proud of yourselves.

These two have "ummed and ahed", and debated and argued,

but they've made their decision. The designer going through to the

semifinals is...

..Oliver.

-So, Shaida, I'm afraid it's bye-bye.

-Well done.

Oh, my God!

Thank you so much.

-Congratulations, go on.

-You did the most brilliant job. You really have.

But this might not be goodbye, as in a twist, Kelly and Dan will be

bringing back an eliminated designer as a wild card for the semifinals.

And we were blown away with what you did.

Our decision today was very tough, but I think in this instance

Shaida was just a little bit behind Oliver.

But it doesn't mean to say that she's not good.

She's VERY good. She listens,

and she is an incredibly authentic designer.

Thank you so much.

-Oh!

-It's beautiful.

For us, you deserve to win, cos this is brilliant.

This has been an amazing opportunity for me to get my foot into interior

design and actually continue from now on.

Thank you.

No need for three rugs!

'Absolutely amazed.'

I just... I'm elated, you know?

I keep... I do this all the time, I keep thinking, "That's it, end of,

"end of, finished." You know, "You've done your time."

But then it's, like, "You've done it again!"

It's madness. It's absolutely crazy.

-You won!

-Congratulations.

-That's brilliant.

-Well done.

-Well done.

Well deserved. That's brilliant.

Oliver went through because he showed us that he can handle

classic design perfectly.

And he created, also, a wonderful mood in that space,

which these guys are going to enjoy for many years to come.

Congratulations. Go on.

All credit has to go to Oliver.

He knows how to design, he knows how to edit,

he's very good at presenting, and he's good in a crisis.

Winner of the whole thing?

There's no reason why I can't.

What do I want from Oliver in the next round?

Well, it is the semifinals,

and I just want to see if he can be a little bit more individualistic,

and let his hair down.

There's nothing like Art Deco to add a splash of Hollywood style

to a home. Architect Reginald Toms knew exactly what he was doing

here at Manor Court.

80 years on, Art Deco remains as popular and fashionable as ever,

inspiring modern-day designers like our own two, who've left their own

little splash of glamour in these most stylish of flats.

Judges, you've got three semifinalists,

but my maths isn't that good, but I know you need to have four.

Next time, one designer gets a second chance.

-You see, I disagree.

-Who's it going to be?

-There's one that we're both very sure of.

-Exactly.