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House Rules RENO ADDICT

House Rules’ grand finalists revealed after their most heart-warming reno yet

In their hardest but most heart-warming challenge yet, the final three transformed a house for four kids and their carer into a place to call home. Given a brief to make the home warm and cosy with robust easy-care furniture, the teams exceeded judges’ expectations and that of the home’s caretakers, Care South, who for over 20 years have been working with vulnerable children, youth and families.

Grand finalists Ben & Danielle (QLD) and Steve & Tiana (NSW)
Grand finalists Ben and Danielle (QLD) and Steve and Tiana (NSW)

Tackling their biggest zones ever NSW were the first team through to the grand final after scoring 17 points. Queensland scored 16, edging out Victoria by only two points to claim the second spot.

So what did judges Wendy Moore and Joe Snell think?

Steve and Tiana – 17/20

After: NSW shower room
After: NSW shower room

Team NSW had the largest zone with six rooms in total including the kitchen, study nook, shower room and sitting room. From VJ boards in the sitting room and hall, to rustic lighting choices for the kitchen, the pair hit all the house rules.

After: NSW kicthen
After: NSW kitchen

“You guys have come a long way,” said Joe. “You have done some really lovely and well-designed spaces.”

Ben and Danielle – 16/20

After: QLD lounge
After: QLD lounge

The Queensland zone included the lounge room, entry and carer’s residence.

After: QLD Carer's residence
After: QLD carer’s residence

“You absolutely transformed your zone and made this home a much more welcoming one,” said Wendy. “But you didn’t seem to be firing on all cylinders in your areas of strength, colour and styling.”

Bronik and Corrine — 14/20

MAIN BATHROOM (VIC ZONE)
After: VIC main bathroom

Victoria took a risk with their design choices this week but sadly missed the mark and were sent home. The corrugated iron roof in the bathroom and their slate tile feature wall in the dining room let them down.

BEDROOM 3 (VIC ZONE)
After: VIC bedroom

“Your feature statements got the better of you,” said Joe. “You lost sight of the basics and also the house rules.”

Now only two teams remain, with Sydney father and daughter duo Steve and Tiana taking on Brisbane newlyweds Ben and Danielle in the 2015 House Rules grand final. The winner will be announced by host Johanna Griggs this Monday night (7:30pm), when the teams take on one last renovation challenge. The judges’ scores will be combined with a public vote to determine the winner.

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Designers House Rules RENO ADDICT

House Rules 2015 sneak peek video

Hoorah for another home show about to start! I have to admit I only got into House Rules at the end of the last series. I’d decided I just didn’t have enough TV time left to watch it as well as The Block, and Grand Designs and Selling Houses Australia… and all the others!

But I actually really love the concept and think it’s a fresh take on the reality renovation genre. I mean, what better prize in this day and age than having your mortgage paid off?! And I love the emotions involved because the contestants own homes are the ones being made over. It adds a whole extra element to reveal time!

House Rules judge and Reno Addict resident expert, architect Joe Snell
House Rules judge and Reno Addict resident expert, architect Joe Snell. Photo by Jacqui Turk

[contextly_sidebar id=”dYJg2Wj3UkrijqRFzB4tyMIlWTuQssGE”]I’m also a big fan of host Johanna Griggs. she’s just so down to earth and real! I think I’d like to have a coffee and a chat with Joh! And then there’s architect Joe Snell, one of the resident experts on our sister site, Reno Addict. He is so super passionate about good design, it’s contagious, and it’s great to see his TV career taking off.

Hope you enjoy the series preview video above.

We look forward to bringing you more about the Channel 7 show, due to start again soon, in the coming weeks.

Are you a House Rules fan? Which is your favourite reality TV show?

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Competitions House Rules Interviews

Host Johanna Griggs tells us what to expect from this series of House Rules and why she’d never be a contestant!

The gaping hole that The Block left in my life has officially been filled, with last night seeing the premiere of the second series of House Rules.

house rules candy ryan
The house of NSW contestants Candy and Ryan

The episode got straight into the renovations, with the first house on the chopping block belonging to NSW couple Candy and Ryan.

“You can expect a lot of chaos in this first house,” host Johanna Griggs tells Interiors Addict. “It was funny but I found when shooting the contestants kept saying: ‘I can’t believe this is a week, we thought it was a TV week!’ They were really under the pump, even the ones with trade backgrounds; they just found it so overwhelming. It’s so far from their comfort zones.”

Straight up, there are a few differences in the show’s format compared to last year’s series, with Johanna saying they needed to throw a few curveballs, because all the teams had watched the first series: “They just arrived a bit savvier this year, so we had to mix it up a bit. I think the biggest change you’ll see will be at judging time, as this series we have the judges in the studio. We just found last year that because the contestants never saw them face-to-face, it was very easy for them to dismiss the judges’ comments. But this time round they’re standing two metres away and that adds a really interesting dimension.”

Host Joh Griggs
Host Joh Griggs

Johanna in her own right is quite the renovation expert, running a construction company with builder husband Todd Huggins, and of course hosting Better Homes and Gardens, but she still doesn’t fancy herself as a House Rules contestant. “I think it’s a brilliant concept and I love that no one goes home a loser but I could not do it,” she says. “My husband and I would kill each other on camera! We wouldn’t make the 7.30pm time slot, we wouldn’t be allowed, our language would deteriorate too quickly!”

Even though Johanna and her husband work well together in the real world, she is quick to say that the show is nothing like a traditional construction site: “It’s not a normal building site, it’s everything exaggerated a thousand fold. You’re condensing a three-to-six month renovation into one. You’ve got 50 tradies on site, five other teams, you’ve got cameras in your face and you have one week where you have to get all your supplies, all your furnishings, everything delivered and all your tradies organised.”

With the next episode on tonight at 8pm, I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next. I’ve already found a favourite in Adam. That man is just so smiley, but only time will tell if he and partner Lisa are a good prediction for winners.

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