Interview with Katrina... The Block 2011

Week 1... Amie and Katrina Guest Bedroom

I have been a fan of The Block since the very first episode was shown almost 9 years ago. katrina has very generously allowed me to ask a few questions about her experience so far on The Block.

1. When you found out you were going to be on the Block, how much design preparation did you do? Did you have all your paint schemes in order, tradies to ring, pictures of furniture, shops etc

Katrina We didn’t have a great deal organized. There was no time. We won the eliminationchallenge and had 3 days to return home and pack. With 3 kids, the last thing on my mind was the design! We had some friends give us phone numbers of tradies, but it was really hard to ring them and ask them to drop all of their jobs and come and help us for 8 weeks. It wasn’t easy and the tradies we thought we would use didn’t end up as our final tradies!

2. Did you change your mind in how you were going to decorate once you found out they were Victorian Cottages?

Katrina No, not really… I didn’t decorate necessarily for the style of the house from the front. I decorated for the potential buyer. Who was buying the house and what age/demographic/style are they?

3. During filming, did you look at other properties in Richmond/Melbourne to work out the best layout and function of a terrace home?

Katrina We did have a scout around. But as you saw in last week’s show we were given a floor plan of the home and we had to stick to this plan. These were the council approved plans. This made life so much easier!

Amie and Katrina

4. In the first week of moving in, what was your single biggest challenge that you and Amie had to face? And what was the single biggest highlight of the first week?

Katrina The first night in the house was a massive challenge. Just finding somewhere to sleep was difficult! It was freezing and the toilets were outside! Argh!! The biggest highlight was finishing 1 room! This meant that I realized the house was ‘doable’. It really could be renovated!

5. In regards to Room 1 (which was just beautiful by the way) how did you feel about the judge’s comments? Did you take their suggestions on board for Room 2? Did you decorate to what they would like?

Katrina We only ever heard 2 sentences of comments from the judges when we were at Scotty’s Workshop. We never spoke to the judges so their feedback was limited. We did listen, but it didn’t mean we always agreed with them!

Best of luck girls for Week 2! I think your office idea is fabulous...lets hope the judges do as well. A big thankyou to Katrina in taking the time to answer my questions.

Mrs B xxo