The Block 2026: Dining and Alfresco Reveals
It’s living, dining and alfresco week on The Block - or as we’re calling it, statement pendant week!
With some of the biggest spaces of the season to tackle, the teams had plenty of room to make an impression. Dining tables became the perfect spot to have a little fun with lighting, while the living rooms showed us some clever ways to layer light throughout an open-plan space. Outside, we were very happy to see ceiling fans making an appearance, along with radiant heating to keep those alfresco areas in action when summer is over.
House 1 | Adam and Jolene
Adam and Jolene had a good feeling about their “bougie” guest suite, describing the finished space as luxe and elevated. Shaynna was a fan of the colour as soon as she walked into the bedroom and was pleased to see the couple had taken the judges’ earlier advice on board by pulling back on the styling.
The ensuite went down well too, particularly the tile choices. Darren also picked up on something we noticed straight away: the bronze details throughout the suite. He loved how the bronze fan and switches connected with smaller elements such as the door handles.
The Lighting
The Osprey fan in bronze is very much part of the bedroom design here. Against the pinks and deeper berry tones, the bronze has enough contrast to stand out overhead and connects nicely with the smaller metallic details around the room.
Beside the bed, Adam and Jolene used Made by Mayfair Osten wall brackets in bronze with hazel alabaster. The rounded alabaster pieces break up the strong lines of the timber bedhead, and the natural variation in the stone becomes much more noticeable once the lights are switched on.
The Osten appears again in the ensuite, giving the bedroom and bathroom a subtle connection. It makes sense in a guest suite, where the two rooms are intended to read as part of the same space.
Darren’s comments about the bronze are worth noting too. The fan, wall lights, the MFL Forge switches and hardware don’t need to match exactly, but seeing the finish appear in different places gives your eye something to follow through the rooms.
The Lighting
The Osprey fan in bronze is very much part of the bedroom design here. Against the pinks and deeper berry tones, the bronze has enough contrast to stand out overhead and connects nicely with the smaller metallic details around the room.
Beside the bed, Adam and Jolene used Made by Mayfair Osten wall brackets in bronze with hazel alabaster. The rounded alabaster pieces break up the strong lines of the timber bedhead, and the natural variation in the stone becomes much more noticeable once the lights are switched on. The Osprey fan in bronze is very much part of the bedroom design here. Against the pinks and deeper berry tones, the bronze has enough contrast to stand out overhead and connects nicely with the smaller metallic details around the room. Beside the bed, Adam and Jolene used Made by Mayfair Osten wall brackets in bronze with hazel alabaster. The rounded alabaster pieces break up the strong lines of the timber bedhead, and the natural variation in the stone becomes much more noticeable once the lights are switched on.
House 2 | Chantel and Wyatt
Chantel and Wyatt described Guest Suite Week as “cruisy”, which isn’t something you hear on The Block very often! Their neutral palette continued into the guest suite, and Shaynna particularly liked the different textures layered through the bedroom. But the lighting also prompted some of the most useful judging feedback of the week. Shaynna questioned the position of the wall sconces, which sat quite far away from the bed and wouldn’t provide much useful light for reading. The switches were also out of reach once you were in bed. Marty summed up the problem nicely: “Luxury isn’t just what you see, it’s how you move in the space.”
House 3 | Lisa and Rosco
Lisa and Rosco’s living room received mixed feedback from the judges, particularly around the decision to orient the room towards the TV rather than the view. Shaynna was a fan of their colour palette, while the alfresco was a much bigger hit. Marty called it the best outdoor area they had seen at that point in the judging.
The Lighting
Lisa and Rosco returned to the Arket wall brackets in bronze with latte alabaster for their guest ensuite after using the same fitting in their main ensuite. This time, the Arket sits on either side of the vanity mirror. The long vertical proportions work particularly well in this position, following the shape of the mirror without making the wall feel crowded.
There’s a practical reason for putting wall lights here too. Bringing the light closer to face level gives the vanity its own dedicated illumination rather than relying entirely on downlights overhead.
The latte alabaster extends above and below the bronze centre detail, showing off the natural pattern in the stone when illuminated. The bronze also picks up some of the deeper tones around the timber vanity.
Darren specifically mentioned the wall brackets when talking about why the ensuite worked for him.
House 4 | Courtney and Sev
Courtney and Sev have spent much of the season trying to make big design ideas work on a tighter budget, but Guest Suite week brought a much happier judging day.
“Look at the size of this room!” was Marty’s first reaction. He preferred the guest suite to their main suite and called it a “luxurious wing of the house”. The judges found very little to fault, with Marty also predicting the space would appeal to buyers.
House 5 | Rick and Tayla
It was a challenging week for House 5, with Tayla taking on the guest suite while Rick was out of action with a knee injury. Block All-star Spence Thomson and Tayla’s twin sister Shannen stepped in to help get the rooms finished. The bedroom received some tough feedback. Darren thought the built form was good but felt the room “wasn’t there yet”, while Marty was considerably less convinced by the finished result. Things improved slightly in the ensuite, where Darren loved the green marble basin and Marty was a fan of the tile choice.
The Lighting Rick and Tayla kept things understated overhead with the Whitehaven fan in white. Against the white ceiling, the fan sits quietly within the room rather than becoming another strong visual element. The Ravine small round pendant in stone introduces a more decorative lighting detail – sadly, placed directly above the toilet, places a spotlight where it’s not necessarily wanted!
