Heavy/HGTV/Youtube Mitch Glew
HGTV’s “Rock the Block” season four is in full swing. In week two, the four teams of HGTV stars — Bryan and Sarah Baeumler from “Renovation Island,” Michel Smith Boyd and Anthony Elle from “Luxe for Less,” Mitch Glew and Page Turner from “Fix My Flip,” and Jonathan Knight and Kristina Crestin from “Farmhouse Fixer” — were asked to renovate the living rooms and entryways of their identical $1.9 million homes in Berthoud, Colorado.
SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers for “Rock the Block” season 4 episode 2, “Living Room Face-Off” (March 13, 2023). Do not read ahead if you do not want the winner of this episode spoiled.
Mitch Glew Made a Last-Minute Design Change Without His Partner
When they first laid out their plan for the living room and entryway design, Mitch and Page wanted to include a statement fireplace and library in the living area. They also planned to include a full bathroom for the first-floor bedrooms, complete with a dark tile shower, vanity, and stone sink.
“No risk, no reward,” Turner said of their ambitious plan, which they planned on using $30,000 of their total $250,000 budget to complete.
Later, when Page went to check on the full bathroom, however, Mitch surprised her with the news that they would only be completing a half-bathroom. “We just couldn’t do the shower. We’re out of time… it’s a lot of space to handle. Tile, plumbing, and the electrical, we don’t have the time to add a full bath,” Mitch said.
“This was a big decision made without me,” Page said in confessional, though she chose to not let this roadblock keep her down, “I don’t like surprises, but as house flippers, we know that even a half-bath shows up on an appraisal.”
Mitch and Page weren’t the only team to have to make changes on the fly. Jonathan and Kristina’s living room design plan included a fireplace covered in black brick, however as they started tiling the brick, they realized it was a dark brown, and took a risk by painting the brick black to make sure it matched the rest of the rooms in their house. Michel and Anthony also had a slight change in their bathroom, as they ran out of wallpaper before they were able to apply any to the ceiling, as per their initial plan.
Mina Starsiak Hawk & Jenn Todryk Judged the Living Room Areas
At the end of week two, the living room areas were evaluated by “Rock the Block” alumna Mina Starsiak Hawk (from HGTV’s “Good Bones”) and her fellow-redhead Jenn Todryk (of “No Demo Reno”).
The judges liked Bryan and Sarah’s statement stone wall, though they felt the two-sided fireplace they chose blocked some of the Rocky Mountain views that would increase the value of the house (the Baeumlers were the only team not to swap out the two sets of glass double doors for an accordion door that spanned the back wall to maximize the mountain view).
Mina and Jenn were not the biggest fans of Jonathan and Kristina’s choice to paint the brick on their fireplace but appreciated the added touch of a wireless speaker system (which Jonathan added with his and Kristina’s extra $1,000 from winning the kitchen area challenge in week one).
The judges loved the luxurious and “sexy” feel of Michel and Anthony’s design (including the bigger powder room than their competitors), however they worried that the pair was limiting their buyer pool with some of their decisions.
In the end, Page and Mitch’s decision to commit to a half-bathroom paid off, as Mina and Jenn loved their indoor library, half-bath, and cozy fireplace, and chose them as the winners of this week’s challenge. This means that Page and Mitch will have an extra $2,000 going into next week: the Main Suite Face-Off.
“Rock the Block” airs Monday nights at 9 p.m. Eastern time on HGTV and discovery+.