‘Battle on the Beach’ Reveals a Hot Design Trend Nearly All Homeowners Bungle
The competition on Season 2 of “Battle on the Beach” is heating up, and in the latest episode, the teams work hard on what could be the wildest room in a vacation home of all.
In the episode “Kids’ Room Rivalry,” the three teams of renovators—led by HGTV stars Ty Pennington (“Ty Breaker”), Alison Victoria (“Windy City Rehab”), and Taniya Nayak (“Build It Forward”)—turn tiny beachside bedrooms into fantastical escapes that any kid would love.
With a total of $80,000 to fix up their entire Surfside Beach, TX, homes, and three rooms already done, the budget is tight for these spaces. Still, there’s a $50,000 grand prize on the line, so the teams want to impress celebrity judges Sarah and Bryan Baeumler (“Renovation Island”).
Read on to see how these three teams create amazing bedrooms for kids, and learn some valuable tips you might want to try around your own abode, too.
Add a theme—and some history
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One of the coolest parts of designing a room for kids is the ability to go big and bold with a theme. Nayak’s team, Roosevelt and Brandyn (from St. Louis), knows that a good theme can go a long way. The father and son get creative and model their bunk bed after one of the oldest transportation boats in Surfside Beach. They give their bunk bed portholes, a rope ladder, and even a nameplate that says “Elissa 1877,” after the famous boat.
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In the end, the judges are impressed.
“It’s really cool to bring in some history to a kids’ room, them being able to be on a famous boat and then be able to look it up,” Brandyn says. “It’s just the ultimate place for a kid to be able to learn and explore, and they’re going to have a great time in that room.”
Use chalkboard paint for a mural
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Roosevelt and Brandyn don’t stop with their epic boat bed. On the opposite wall, the father-son team plans on adding a fun floor-to-ceiling chalkboard, but Nayak is worried a black wall won’t impress the judges. Instead, they add a mural with flowing waves and a bright yellow sun.
The mural is light and playful while complementing the room’s nautical theme.
“In every great design, if you can tell a story, you got them,” Nayak says. It’s a good reminder that there are many ways to paint a wall in a room for kids, whether it be a fun accent wall, a wall of chalkboard paint, or even a custom mural.
Wallpapering is easy to bungle—even for designers
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On Victoria’s team are Corey and Paige (from Alberta, Canada), who give their room a simpler look, with elegant white bunk beds and a projector so kids can enjoy movies late at night. And while the bedroom wall will come alive when a movie is playing, this room is fairly stark. To add some color, Corey and Paige put up wallpaper behind the bed.
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While wallpaper is a hot trend today, Corey and Paige don’t have any experience wallpapering and it shows, with lots of bubbling where it was not rolled flat.
“I do love wallpaper,” says Sarah when she and Bryan first see this room, “but this is installed poorly.”
It’s a good reminder that homeowners (and even designers) may bungle certain projects if they haven’t done them before. If you want perfection, sometimes hiring a pro is the way to go.
Add handy reading lights above each bed
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To finish this room’s design, Paige wants to add a reading light for each bunk bed. When Sarah and Bryan tour the room, Sarah notices that each bed has its own light switch so the kids sleeping there can control their own lights.
“On each bed, there’s a lighting control so you can turn the lights on and off,” she says.
“They can read and do their own thing,” Victoria points out.
It’s a smart design choice that shows Paige was really thinking about how this room would be used. This vacation house could fit a handful of siblings and cousins, and the kids might not always want to go to sleep at the same time. Individual light switches help everyone get the light or darkness they need.
Make sure all kid-friendly features are safe
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Business partners Wally (from Dallas) and Jacqueline (from Las Vegas), on Pennington’s team, choose to give their room a glamping vibe with bunk beds that feature curtains, making the space feel like a tent. While kids might like the tent feel, Sarah points out the material they use isn’t safe for little ones.
“The reason I think I hate it, and I rarely use that word, is you’re really going to suffocate a child in there,” Sarah says. “There’s no air, they could get trapped.”
Wally and Jacqueline point out that the thick material isn’t what they expected when they ordered it, but the curtains are an easy fix. The team can switch these out with a lighter material, and kids will be able to have fun and be safe.
Who wins this battle on the beach?
When the judging is done, Bryan and Sarah announce that Roosevelt and Brandyn are the winners this week, due in large part to their historic boat/bed theme. This is especially exciting for these two, as it’s their first win of the competition.
“We’ve been second place throughout every challenge of this race,” Roosevelt says. “We finally broke through!”
“Brandyn and Roosevelt, they broke the mold,” Nayak says. “They got out of their comfort zone, they got out of that safe box that they’ve been in, and they went rogue.”
Maybe this will inspire all teams to take bigger design risks next week.
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