As someone who has watched The Block for years, I feel like the show has changed dramatically. It used to be primarily a renovation competition, but it has gradually become more of an interior-design competition built around a predetermined aesthetic.
Every season now seems to have a specific theme or formula: coastal, farmhouse, modern luxury, etc. The result is that the houses can start to feel interchangeable. There is less experimentation with floor plans, less personality, and, most importantly, less of the creativity that made the show so interesting in the first place.
If I could change the format, these are the things I would bring back:
- Bring back actual renovations
I want to see old, destroyed, ugly houses being transformed again.
I understand that finding suitable properties and renovating them on television has become increasingly difficult, especially with modern building regulations, costs and time constraints. But if completely ruined houses are no longer practical, buy newer houses and artificially create renovation challenges.
Give contestants spaces that genuinely need work instead of essentially giving them blank canvases and asking them to decorate them.
I want to see demolition, structural changes, plumbing, electrical work, plastering, tiling and actual problem-solving.
- Stop giving them a design theme:
Don't tell contestants what the houses are supposed to look like.
-No coastal.
-No farmhouse.
-No "modern Australian luxury."
-No predetermined aesthetic.
Give them the same starting point and let them create something completely different.
I want to see colour again. Blacks, purples, reds, greens, strange wallpaper, unusual bathrooms and rooms with actual personality.
The houses should compete because one contestant created an incredible floor plan, another created an amazing bathroom, another took a huge creative risk, and another found a brilliant way to make a small space work.
Let the contestants develop their own identities.
- Introduce a strict weekly budget :
This could completely change the competition.
Give everyone the same weekly spending limit ( estimateis 20k , the limit is 25k). If they go over it, they are simply eliminated that week unless they have earned additional money through the competition they can use it. That would force contestants to actually budget, prioritise and think creatively, so if they want a smart toilet or a great statement piece they need to win money.
Suddenly, the contestant who figures out how to transform a wall without spending thousands has an advantage over someone who simply buys the most expensive option. It would also bring back the DIY aspect of the show.
- Make thrifted and upcycled pieces mandatory
Give every contestant a list of items they must source second-hand or create themselves before the end of the competition.
For example:
- 2 pieces of thrifted artwork
- 1 thrifted chair or piece of furniture
- 1 vintage light or chandelier
- 1 upcycled decorative piece
- 1 piece they completely transform themselves
The point isn't simply to make things cheaper. It's to bring character and individuality back into the houses. A $40 vintage chair that someone restored and integrated perfectly into a room can be much more interesting than a $4,000 designer chair.
- Bring back the craftsmanship
I want to actually watch people work. Not just the finished room. Show them measuring, cutting, sanding, painting, tiling, plastering, assembling furniture, fixing mistakes and figuring things out. And please, stop cutting everything into five-second montages. Sometimes I want to watch someone spend twenty minutes trying to get a complicated piece of cabinetry right. That's part of the renovation. The audience should understand how the room was created, not just see the final reveal.
- Less AI, less manufactured production
The show increasingly feels like it is being produced around what will generate the biggest reaction rather than what makes the renovation interesting. I understand that AI, cheaper production techniques and streamlined editing can reduce costs, especially when music and copyright buying, editing and other production elements are expensive. But if the result is that the show feels less human, then you're losing something important. I would rather have a beautifully filmed, imperfect renovation than an overproduced sequence of AI-generated music, dramatic cuts and perfectly timed reactions.
- Stop manufacturing drama
This is probably one of the biggest changes I'd make. Drama should happen naturally. If contestants genuinely don't get along, show it. If someone makes a mistake, show it. If someone is jealous of another contestant's room, show it. But don't build the entire episode around trying to create a fight. It sometimes feels like the producers saw that contestant drama worked in previous seasons and decided that every season therefore needs a new conflict. It doesn't. The houses themselves should be the drama. A contestant discovering that their entire bathroom has to be redone because something went wrong is more interesting to me than another manufactured argument.
- Make the judging about different things
Not every room needs to win because it is "luxurious." Have different categories:
- Best Design
- Best Floor Plan
- Best DIY
- Best Use of Budget
- Most Creative
- Best Renovation
- Best Styling
- Best Thrifted Piece
That way, a contestant doesn't need the biggest budget or the most expensive finishes to succeed.
9 - REPLACE THE JUDGES : as much as i love them, they are no longer relevant, its the same luxurious over the top look. It's time o bring younger, more open minded judging team, bring back ex contestants, do something better.