Original subtitles

I'm in Royal Tunbridge Wells and I'm doing some retail renovation therapy.

What? I needed to pick up some bits!

I'm supporting the local high street.

I'm about to support the local wine bar.

Ten aspiring designers are putting their lives on hold in search

of a dream...

Yes, I am talented and it's a great opportunity for me

to showcase my talent.

..to break into the competitive world of professional interior design.

You only live once, and what I absolutely love is being creative.

With interiors guru Michelle Ogundehin at the helm...

Everyone with a passion for design thinks

they can be an interior designer.

But I'm looking for someone who has authentic talent and sees

this as a real opportunity to learn.

..they'll need to impress some of the biggest names in the industry.

Hello, '80s.

I've missed you!

This feels like an idea that should have been instantly put aside.

I am scraping the barrel for criticism because I do

love this room.

This is what we're looking for. Fearless decorating.

Each week, the designers will be challenged to transform

a commercial space...

Open the door, I'm coming in.

Oh, thought you were going to squish my head there.

..to test their creative flair...

That looks gorgeous now.

..and state of the art design skills.

Oh, sorry. Sorry, sorry.

CLATTERING

Sometimes, when you're trying to do too much at once, accidents happen.

I think you've sabotaged me. You've ruined that beautiful carpet.

It's harder than it looks!

They'll be pushed to their limits...

I think the only thing holding me back is probably myself.

..as they compete to win a major career-defining contract

with a luxury hotel in the Lakes.

That would definitely be my absolute dream.

It's Interior Design Masters.

It's week four and six designers remain.

As the competition hots up, only two have so far avoided the seat

on Michelle's sofa.

I'm really excited to get stuck into it.

I don't want to be talking to Michelle now.

I've avoided her for three weeks.

Last week, I did have to defend myself on the sofa with Michelle.

However, the comment that I did get was, did I push myself enough?

So this week I'm going to make sure that no matter what, I really apply

everything I've got and not be afraid to push

the boundaries a bit.

But for one designer, being in Michelle's office

is still fresh in her memory.

Last week was difficult.

This week, it's a blank canvas.

I have to approach it in a totally new way.

Show Michelle that I'm doing something new and step back

and look at the room as a whole.

Hello. Hey! Hi.

Hello. Hi.Six of you left.

Keep waiting for the others to turn up and they're just not here.

They're not coming back, darling. I know.

Now, Michelle, what have you got up your sleeve this week?

I'm sure it's going to be a really tough task.

Well, it might be their biggest challenge yet.

Independent stores are having a really hard time right now,

so we are moving into the world of retail.

The teams are heading to Royal Tunbridge Wells and three

independent stores - a cook shop, pet shop and camera shop - all need

a makeover to help them compete with bigger brands

and online shopping.

You'll be working in pairs, and shortly you'll be going

off to pitch to the shop owners.

Now, it's up to the business owner which design they go for.

But, as always, I need to see you work together and I want to see

input from both of you.

Now, you know the drill.

The best designed shop will see the two designers going through.

But, for the remaining four, you all could be at risk and one

of you will be going home.

Good luck. Good luck.

Good luck.ALL: Thank you.

I think it's different this week.

We can't put our own taste into it, we have to appeal to the

customer. It is really, really hard.

They'll definitely want to see some good ideas.

As a designer, how do you approach these three different shops?

You know what?

I think with any shop design, it's about window display.

It's about getting them through the door.

It's about keeping them in the shop.

Because shopping online is so easy these days,

physical shops have got to be so much more than just a shop.

They have to be a place where people can hang out and meet other

like-minded people.

And, of course, the shop owners are going to be quite protective

about their shop.

This is someone's actual business.

They've got to kind of really convince them that their design

is going to work.

Paired together to renovate the camera shop are Barbara and Lynsey.

But first to find out who will be lead designer,

they must pitch their ideas to shop owner David.

So our shop, we moved into it in, I think it's about 1984.

The world has changed.

So people would like to come in and discuss and use our advice

more, rather than just a sale.

But the shop is tired.

It has to be more attractive than it is right now.

So who's got their first design to show me?

So, David, my dad is a camera enthusiast and, for me, bringing

the materials that are actually used on these older cameras

is going to be a priority.

So I started thinking about the older kind of Kodak adverts

using the muted colours. Yeah.

The material, this kind of brushed chrome and the black leather.

And I'm just trying to zone out your shop so that we can really make

these kind of areas look very beautiful, but also

function very well. Sounds good.

So for me, I was really interested in the bit about the lighting

as well, because that can be really fun.

Maybe some of these big studio lights, but also had the films

and some of the hanging pictures.

And I started to think about the window displays as well,

kind of travel and adventure.

So I was thinking of using some of the old maps as kind of wallpaper

and things. Definitely different

to what I was expecting, I've got to say.

I love the travel idea, the travel elements.

I prefer that idea as more of a store environment.

And, yeah, I'd like to have a go with that.

I think we could do something. Great.

Now the hard work begins. Yes, now we won't sleep for the next week.

I'm just absolutely buzzing.

There is definitely more pressure this time because not only

is it such a personal project for the client, it's his living.

Next, looking to impress cook shop owners Sarah and Alan,

are designers Paul and Micaela.

What exactly is it you sell?

Is it a massive range or is it quite a compact range?

An absolutely huge range. We've got about 15,000 SKUs in the shop.

Yeah. Wow! That means it's like a doll's house then.

Yeah, yeah. I'd like a little bit more space.

I'd like the displays to be better and cleaner, with better shelving

and things like that.

I'm really looking forward to seeing your designs.

Great. Shall I show you mine?

Please.

So what I'm thinking of doing is having undulating shelves

so it will kind of lead you into the shop and around.

So we would backlight all of these undulating shelves

to highlight the pieces.

What I was thinking in terms of colour palette is quite kind

of muted tones.

I thought navy, duck egg and a yellow. Okey-coke.

Right.

So one of the colours Micaela did use was navy,

which I like using too.

And it's beautiful when we pair that with like yellow tones.

Obviously, that's a real acid yellow. I'm not expecting you to love that, erm...

I do, though. You do like it?

Well, I like to hear that.

I think what we'd like to do is maybe work

on the visual merchandising.

I know a lot of the wall space isn't available, but it's whether

we would do something quirky on one of the ceilings.

It's something that somebody is going to come in and take a snap

of, put it on their social media.

And any attention like that is great for you guys.

So what do you think?

I'm quite interested in the undulating shelves.

Yeah. I like the colours there.

I'm not really a pastel girl, sorry. No, that's fine.

Um, so if Paul could be the lead designer on it. OK.

And then we can incorporate some elements from your design as well.

I think it'd be great.

OK, I'm happy to go with that.

It mightn't have been the exact shop that I wanted.

However, this is retail.

This should be what I know.

But I am really excited to work with Micaela and I think

we'll work well together.

You're in safe hands with us.

The bulk of my pitch was backlit shelving and undulation.

So although Paul is the lead, to have those elements in the design,

that was pretty much like 80% of my idea.

And so that's great. I'm Charlotte. Nice to meet you.

Our final pairing are Siobhan and Charlotte.

Is it Cat for short or...?

No, no, Catherine.

I've just thought with, you know, with the pet theme it might be.

They're pitching to pet accessories store owner Catherine.

What I wanted was to keep the storage in the shop.

It is really difficult.

We have so many things, but I do want it to change what it is now.

So I like the idea of introducing a new kind of colour scheme.

A modern version. Yeah. OK.

This is the visual I had for the shop. Mm-hm.

So I thought one idea would be to create a really beautiful

display, almost like ribbons with all the collars and leads.

I think I would probably wallpaper a lot of the area.

So at the moment the shelving is quite low.

So I think build that right up,

use that height for storage

and then have what you need for a customer on the shop floor.

OK. OK.

Hi, I'm Siobhan.

So in terms of storage, maybe doing like these, like little dog kennels

to kind of like zone things.

Also, what I did think about was your till point. Now, what I thought

we could do was keep it in the same place, but maybe do like a curved

corner till with like storage and, you know, like the little

small ticket items underneath.

So what I'd like to do in the window is create a scene, you know,

like big dogs in this kind of colour palette.

I really like both of your designs.

I thought they were really kind of imaginative and vibrant

and sort of more vintagey.

I think I...

..I'm going to go with your design, Charlotte. OK.

Kind of really because I think the idea of having that kind of

storage would work really well in the shop.

And I loved your idea of having a new kind of till thing

that you were talking about.

So if you can kind of perhaps throw

that in and give me some of that, that would be really great.

You totally got what I wanted. Oh, great. Yay!

OK, well, we'll do a good job, we promise.

I kind of anticipated that that vintage heritage vibe

of the building and the area would be important to her.

So I wanted to use that as inspiration, but really modernise

it up for her. Even though she's gone with Charlotte's scheme,

I still want Michelle to see I've done quite a lot of that design

rather than Charlotte making all the decisions and then,

you know, me just kind of doing stuff.

Clients convinced...

..it's off to Royal Tunbridge Wells,

and its exclusive shopping district, The Pantiles.

I can't wait to see the shop.

What do you think about, like, working together then?

Cos we've never worked together before. I'm excited. Wee-hee.

This has got to be it, this one.

It's more spacious than I thought. Yeah.

With a spend of £3,000...

PAUL LAUGHS

Oh, wow. This is a lot of stuff.

It just seems like a storeroom.

I don't even know what to say.

It's actually stressing me out, looking at how much we have to do.

..they have two days to transform the entire shop from scratch.

Oh, my gosh. The ceilings are so high.

I know we've like, we've bought loads of wood to make new cabinets.

But these cabinets aren't actually that bad, you know.

But first... Charlotte. Yeah.

Where are these going? ..they must clear the shop floor.

Oh! Steady. Yep, all right.

Fortunately, each shop has a team of multi-skilled tradespeople

to turn their plans into reality.

Hello. We've got quite a lot for you guys to do.

They wanted us to push this week, didn't they? We're going to push.

At the Pantiles camera shop...

It's quite intimidating.

..lead designer Barbara and deputy Lynsey

have been lumbered with a truckload of timber.

This is a mountain of wood

that is just about to enter into the shop.

How are we going to get all of this painted up?

The mountains of MDF are for Barbara's big idea.

Bespoke product shelving will run across an entire wall of the shop,

integrated with a client area, new counter and mini studio.

On the shop floor, cameras will be displayed

on brushed chrome tables with everything painted

in a blue and yellow scheme.

So we've got 500 here, 933 for the glass cabinet,

then we've got an arm, which is 190.

Yeah, it's intricate, but the ideal plan is to be ambitious

and to try and stretch ourselves as much as possible.

I would like to make clear this was Bab's design, not mine.

I did not come up with the slats.

She's got, like, a really clear vision of what she wants.

On the left-hand side of the store,

we're going to be building a lot of carpentry.

There is a lot of pressure that it all comes together.

So I'm just hopeful that when she sees it all,

it's what she has in her mind.

Every time I look at this, it grows.

No pressure!

In the pet shop...

The other main thing is the bone.

So that table there is going to be converted into a giant bone.

Of course.

..Charlotte is walking her team through her canine-inspired plans.

Oh, that's a good bone. Yeah, that's it. Yeah.

I really love our design, and I think because it's a pet shop,

it's just meant to be fun.

The bone-shaped table sits amongst a scheme of heritage colours

and pet-themed wallpaper.

Siobhan's bright props are found across the shop,

but the most striking change

will be Charlotte's floor-to-ceiling shelves,

topped with huge candy-striped cupboard doors,

designed to look like fabric pelmets.

So Nick's unfortunately got the short straw of these high pelmets.

I'm thinking, is it easier to just build a cupboard

in between all of those three with a curved bottom?

I kind of wanted this idea,

so it's almost like a fabric pelmet-type vibe,

but it's cupboard storage,

so that's probably the main tricky component for the carpenters.

I think if it was me doing the design, I probably wouldn't

have done those, like, huge, massive cupboards.

But I mean, I think they're going to be great and I think they're going to look great.

But I just think, "Oh, my God, that is, that is worrying me.

"That's a scary bit for me."

You're both looking at me like I'm crazy. Stop it.

We're back here next week, are we?

At the cook shop...

What we kind of thought was this area here,

it's going to kind of have like an undulating -

the way the shelving is - to mirror that.

How big's that going to be?

..Paul and Micaela are meeting the owners,

with their plans to relocate the cashier counter.

Well, it's going to start from here, and it will be

a kidney-shape round to there.

So you'll have this side for your demonstration.

You're not tucked around here doing demonstrations.

So you're taking the old counter out. Yeah.

Paul aims to revolutionise with an updated new colour scheme

and attention-grabbing ceiling displays.

On the walls will be Micaela's curvy, backlit shelving,

all revolving around a relocated bespoke counter

in the centre of the shop...

..if they can convince the owners.

But there's two big bays round there... Yeah.

..that we need to keep a watch on.

I think so far this is definitely the hardest challenge

that we're going to face. We're dealing with a client here,

and it's important that we work with the client.

Yeah, but the counter will be here. So everything you... In real life...

Yeah. ..there's two massive bays up there. Three actually.

I think it's going to change the design quite a bit. Sorry. No.

Our clients are very headstrong.

Our job is to challenge them on that a little bit

and try and get them to reimagine the space,

which they've not done before.

I think instead of having the till in that area there,

we will make that a lot prettier, where it is, the counter.

As long as you both are happy, we'll...

No, looks good, sounding good.

It's got to work for you. We'll know on Saturday, won't we?

I need to go up a gear.

Oh! Ha-ha-ha-ha!

Tunbridge Wells, wicked. We've arrived.

Oh, look at this! Look how posh it looks.

Oh, no! I look like Toad of Toad Hall in this blooming car.

Look at it!

Time to catch up with the designers.

Hello, ladies.

Hi.

You won't believe what's happened.

Oh, God, what?

Someone's fly-tipped a load of planks outside your door.

They're going to be for the shelving that's going all along here.

Oh, OK.

When's it going to start looking...?

It's... It's slow, and then everything speeds up quite quickly.

And all the carpenters, and all the decorators have specific jobs

that they're just going to hopefully, hopefully fly through.

You two are super creative, and super ambitious.

But is that a toxic mix?

We were worried about that - whether it would be or not.

We both have said that we'd rather be really ambitious,

push ourselves harder, and then not do it,

than be, like, thinking, "Oh, we wish we'd done more."

Because the thing about this brief,

it's part design, part psychology, isn't it?

I worked in visual merchandising before,

so I used to do window displays.

I used to do...So if I'm walking down the supermarket aisle,

and I see the jam doughnuts, and I'm like, "I want them!"

That was me.That's you. You made this. Sorry.

But, yeah, like, I approached this

about what the shop owner wanted,

how he worked, how he wanted it to function.

And that's where all of this has stemmed from.

I won't hold you up any longer

because you need to get on, you really do.

At the pet shop...

We need to decide what colour we spray this.

Let's decide the colours now.

I'm not going to suggest pink.

..deputy Siobhan is about to start work on her props for the window.

I'm just like, "Do you need any more pink?"

Yeah. Yeah, we do.

I'll take the pink just in case.

I think Charlotte's definitely trying to rein me in

with the colour.

I'm just like, "Oh, let's do it like the mustard, or the pink."

You need these kinds of colours to pop.

Otherwise, you know, we don't want the shop to look dark.

At the cook shop...

Look! We could shake, like, 60 potatoes between us.

..a bright idea by Paul to shake up the shop's lighting.

So these babies are the colanders.

So they're going to be turned upside down, and then there will be,

like, a bulb connection here.

I didn't think they were just going to be as big.

It's the FA Cup!

Also under way...

Oh, wow. Yeah. These are looking really good. Yeah. Yeah.

..an unconventional take on wooden shelving by Micaela.

I just kind of dreamt it up, based on inspiration

from, like, the Grand Canyon.

And I thought, "Wouldn't it be cool to have these kind of wavy,

"almost kind of geographical shelves?"

This front is going to create the drama that we wanted.

So that will be nice.

Outside the camera shop, Barbara is upcycling.

We found these boxes.

I think they're old drawers and we have decided to paint them up

and use them on our kind of hot spot display tables.

Inside, the painters are progressing through mountains of MDF.

Who's got the white emulsion? Who's got the white emulsion?

But the same can't be said about the carpenters.

The box that's here... Yeah.

..the width this way is... 719. 720.

I feel like we're probably behind

on where we would like to have been with carpentry,

and I think, when we get to the end of the day, we may need

to sit down as a team together

and just figure out if we will actually complete

what we need to do.

At the pet shop...

..three different animal-themed wallpapers are going up.

Thought a lot about how to really bring a space together.

I've got vision - I trust my vision.

But Charlotte's focusing on an off-theme detail

in one of the wallpaper prints.

So you're going to spray every single deer?

Yeah. Take like two minutes.

When you want £400 wallpaper,

and you can't afford it,

compromise and think, "Well, we'll take that one,

"but I need the deers gone."

I think there might be a little bit too much wallpaper going on,

to be honest, in the... in that first bit.

I chose the cat wallpaper,

which I think's really beautiful.

And I kind of didn't want all the other stuff

to kind of detract from that. Do you know what I mean?

I think I quite like it when people are giving you the side eye

about what you're doing, because I think

that's, like, my comfort zone, almost,

because I'm used to that, like, in life.

Obviously, it is a joint effort.

We are a team, but Charlotte is the lead.

So really, the buck stops with her, really, doesn't it?

At the cook shop, inside, the wavy shelves are going up.

Outside, Paul is embarking on his big idea.

I'm going to create something that looks like a table,

but it would all be upside down.

And then this, like, mishmash of crockery is going to be stacked.

And the plan is to wire a flex through.

And that will be the light feature in the window.

We'll see how it turns out.

Hopefully, it doesn't come crashing down, but time will tell.

Paul's not the only one intent on making a mark on the ceiling.

Each spoon actually needs to be tied round,

and then I thought I could kind of thread them all together,

but I can't.

So this is going to take me a lot longer than I had realised.

So...spoons.

Yeah, there's going to be 200 spoons on the ceiling.

I can't really get my head round it.

Is there going to be anything on the shelf?

It feels like something... Just a couple of spatulas.

Yeah. Can I have my spoon, please?

We wanted there to be a few features where people might take pictures

and say, "Oh, my God, have you seen all the spoons? Have you seen the upside-down table?"

So just some talking points.

And you've been on the sofa two weeks in a row.

There was tears. Loads of tears.

It's just gives you a lot of food for thought.

I can't go three weeks in a row, can I?

Because then I'll definitely get sent home.

I think Michelle said that as well, didn't she?

Yeah. She said last chance.

I was like... Oh, my God, pressure.Pressure, pressure.

Do you wish that maybe you were the boss instead of Paul,

and then you could put your stamp on it more and show Michelle,

"Look, this is what I can do!" Yeah, I did.

I did really hope that they chose me.

And I thought I'd pitched a really strong idea.

I think he's given me a lot of rein over certain things.

So I'm kind of taking control of the carpentry.

He's taking control of the lighting.

So, yeah, we're working well together. He's not too...

He's not enforcing his way too strongly.

If I need a spoon to stir my cup of tea, I know where to come.

200 in there. You might not be able to reach them.

It's getting towards the end of day one for the teams.

And while some are happy with their progress...

Absolutely. Good? Love it.

It looks absolutely stunning.

..at the camera shop, the carpenters are grafting hard to catch up,

and the painters have downed brushes

and want to speak to lead designer Barbara.

We're kind of halfway through the bulk of all the shelving.

What my concern is, is this other stuff. Mm.

I could not knock more out if we had more space

but you're forever... Moving things around.

Over and over again. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'm quite scared.

We paint something, it needs to dry, but there's nowhere to put it

to dry, so you can't paint the next thing.

So it was ambitious to start with,

and I think it's doubly ambitious given the space.

How are you getting on carpentry-wise

with the section over here?

There's still quite a lot to do. Yeah.

If we're making it right till the end of the day... Yeah.

..and there's no-one to paint it. OK.

I am feeling very exhausted

and just feeling a bit stressed about it, I guess.

About the mountain that we have to climb tomorrow.

It's the final day of the shop refits in Tunbridge Wells.

In just 24 hours, the teams' designs will face the judges.

And if that wasn't foreboding enough, the heavens have opened.

Why have they not got the edging for the canopies up?

It's raining.

Yeah, it would be good to get the sides up, wouldn't it?

It's absolutely just coming down.

All the wood's just getting wet.

It's MDF, so basically, if it gets wet, and it's shelves,

they're going to dip.

Yeah. Action stations.

But there's one thing that will brighten even the gloomiest day.

Oh!

Hi.Oh.

Get out the rain!Oh, my God. What's happened?

Have you been vandalised?

Vandals in Royal Tunbridge Wells.

We thought it was a safe area, but it's secretly not.

Show me around, then. What have you done?

What was this shop like when you first came in?

White. Dusty.

What's this area then?

This is Cat Corner. Yeah. Cat Corner!

Oh, and you'll have a massive cat litter tray there. Yeah?

Just go on top.

This feels very Royal Tunbridge Wells, doesn't it?

It feels a bit classy, and you're going to get, like,

a posh dog owner, aren't you?

Yeah.That's probably got a Bichon Frise,

rather than a mutt. Absolutely.

Yeah.

So you won the pitch -

has the power gone to your head?

No, I don't think so.

Winning the pitch, and getting that feedback from the owner

just gives you a really good focus. But is she being too bossy?

She's even made you dress like her.

I mean, what's going on?

"Dress like me, I'm the boss."

Well, listen, you look like you've got loads to do. We have.

It looks great. Love the wallpaper.

And I'll see you a bit later. Thanks, Alan.

You can buy collars for your dog. Bye. Bye.

At the camera shop, after ending yesterday behind schedule...

The only way we're going to get anywhere near

getting this done today is to just be super efficient with time.

..today, deputy Lynsey is on the front foot.

I'm clearing this shop, so everybody can work as efficiently as possible

without having to move stuff and re-move stuff, and move stuff again.

Outside, lead designer Barbara is working on bespoke product signs.

I feel like I've placed a safe pair of hands in the store, there.

If we don't have all these nice details at the end,

these are the things that are going to elevate it for me.

Fabulous!

And that is why we're kind of splitting off

and keeping one eye on... on every part.

Get closer...with binoculars.

At the cook shop...

How are you getting on? You're not getting on, so you're not.

Don't know if there's any solid timber here.

..Paul's topsy-turvy table display is having issues.

I don't think I've got anything to attach it to.

OK, is there anything further... further in?

There's bound to be a way that I'm going to get the table on the

ceiling today. There has to be. It's part of my design. It has to happen.

At the pet shop...

I'm losing my mind!

..Charlotte's pelmet cupboards are taking longer than expected.

Obviously, we still need to build a till, and the bone table.

Yeah, I kind of need to find out how long it's going to take

these guys to finish these cupboards and shelving

because then they need to start making that.

That's really a priority. So, yeah, there's quite a lot to do actually

when I think about it. It's a bit scary.

Nick, how far away are we from doors? Half an hour.

We're into the final afternoon of the challenge...

I'm just glad it's up.

It had to happen because this is, like, a key part of my design.

..and everywhere the trades are flat out,

while the designers are trying

to focus on their show-stopping moment.

Well, we're trying to...

..mimic the kind of camera aperture...

..lens idea behind...

..the aperture of a camera.

Here it is, the installation.

It's starting to take shape, what do you think?

Yeah, it's different.

We've got Priscila for the window. Priscilla!

We have a cake slice.

Oh, yeah, that'd be nice.

Shopping in comfort with that hanging over you.

Is this bits of hair you found down your plughole?

It's one of me wigs!

One way or another, designs are taking shape.

Just drilling holes in fine bone china.

But one team are still lagging behind the others.

Lynsey and Barbara are super ambitious.

They always push the envelope

but have they pushed the envelope a bit too much?

Look at all that wooden shelf!

That's got to go in the shop.

That's a lot of wood.

At the pet shop...

This is ridiculous. I never signed up for this.

I'm stuck. I'm stuck.

..Charlotte is vetting Siobhan's window display.

Gosh, she's pink, isn't she?

I don't know how I feel about this.

I think Charlotte's worried that the dog is going to be too much

of a statement, too big, but I think that's, like, the whole point,

you know, of the... you know, of the shop window,

to kind of draw people in.

What left have you got to do outside?

Cos we've got to get stuck in in here now.

No extras for the time being, I think, because it's finished.

It's all hands on deck in there.

I think we're going to have to get the table back in,

and not do the bone. OK, right.

It's gutting about the bone,

but I don't think we're going to have time.

At the camera shop...

..despite over 18 hours of work on the designs for the front...

Do you want to talk through what your plans are?

..carpentry in the back of the shop hasn't even started.

Well, we've still got to get these two doors on, and get it fully clad.

We need some shelves up. Definitely. Definitely.

You think that's got to happen, do you?

This needs to get start painted yellow.

That is urgent, and needs to start happening.

So I'll cut the battening,

then the box.

We've got huge things that we need to do.

We're putting together a plan of action to pare back, basically,

in that section up there.

So we're just figuring out how to plan that area

without as much carpentry.

It's your call because you're lead

but, can we, at last ditch, just put up a load of the shelving

that it's already got? The glass.

Yeah. We need to put glass shelving up here as well.

Lynsey... Alan.I'm worried.

I'm worried.

I've gone in there and you haven't really done anything else.

What's going on?

Yeah, everything's taking a lot longer

than I think we envisaged.

We may have to pull back from being able to put the shelving up

at the back of the store.

We need the client to be able to open the shop.Yeah.

And that means displaying all the products.

So try and simplify everything as much as possible

just to get kind of maximum output.

Whose fault is it?

I mean, it's tough now.

You've never been on the sofa before. No, I haven't.

And I don't really want to be.

I normally design stuff that I know I can step in and do...

Yeah. ..if we run out of time with the trades.

Whereas, when Barbara's the lead designer,

the design's fantastic, but there's elements in there

that neither of us can actually do.

OK, then you'd better go and crack on. You've only got a few hours.

Go on, Lynsey.

I'm really worried about that team.

I've never seen Lynsey so stressed

and so openly anxious about it.

At the cook shop... That would be the best thing?

I've never done it. I've never done resin, so I don't know.

OK.

..with the deadline approaching,

a freshly-decorated counter needs a finishing touch.

Micaela came up with the idea of, like, a resin top over the top

of the wallpaper that I picked,

with a lip left around the outside of the undulated area,

and then we have to pour the resin.

I've used resin, um, never. Right, not being funny,

but we actually need to read the instructions. Yeah.

Equal quantities. Stir thoroughly.

Say that again.

Pour all of yours in and I'll...

CHUCKLING

Maybe start at the widest part,

so we know how fast it's going to come out.

We can dribble that way and then dribble that way.

When it's the first time you've done something, you don't know

if you're doing it right or not. But we will find out soon enough.

Thanks.

It's going to level out itself, as well, right?

It felt quite manic the last few hours,

just because we've got so much to do.

I didn't know if it would, like,

just run to the edge, but it's not.

It's starting to come together now.

But, yeah, we do need one big final push.

That looks like ice. That's brilliant.

Let's stand back. Yay!

If I'm fixing the pelmet on, you won't be able to use them.

With time running out at the pet shop...

You're still getting the look, but they're still going to be usable.

..the carpenter can't finish the high cupboards

on one side of the store.

Do you know what I mean? Oh, no!

And Charlotte's only option is to compromise the storage

she'd promised the owner, and install a purely decorative pelmet.

We might as well not have built them shelves at all,

do you know what I mean? Yeah.

SHE SIGHS

BLEEP.

You know, I'm just wondering now, would it have probably been better

just to go with the existing shop fittings that clearly did work,

then we could have just, like, injected those fun elements,

like the bespoke stuff with the bone, all the other upcycles,

and accessories that we're doing.

That's really important to me to provide a really...

Sorry.

..a really good end product, because this is somebody's business.

So, you know, it's got to be right.

I just really want to go through this week.

For me, like, going home when it's somebody else's design

would be a real blow, really.

It's the final countdown for our teams.

# It's the final countdown.

# Do, do, do, do... #

With time running out to finish their designs...

An hour left.

Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry.

..the shops are moments away from scrutiny by Michelle

and this week's guest judge,

award-winning founder

of the global retail company, Appear Here, Ross Bailey.

In your business, they've got to make

instant impact, haven't they? I mean, how do they do that?

How do they grab my attention off the street?

In my view, what makes a store so interesting is when it tells

an incredible story, when you learn about the person behind the product

and when shops try to do what you can't get online. Right?

They try and create this amazing experience,

where you really get a sense to feel the brand.

I think they need to come back.

That can't go in the middle, look at the back.

In the pet shop...

Right, so Charlotte, we've literally got 20 minutes. What?

..the makeshift pelmet is in place.

Right. We need to find clothes that are on hangers.

You what?

I think we just need to move the Edwardian counter

more in the middle, and then that's, that's the till point for now.

You all right with that? Yep.

Okey dokey.

But a final concession to the design...

I mean, the good thing is the cabinets do look good.

But the bad news is we don't have a till point.

..and Charlotte and Siobhan are out of time.

Just want to sit down. Oh, I've got a splitting headache.

When you look back at it, and think about what it was like before

we started...it's huge.

I think as a whole, what we've done is, like, really transformative.

Hopefully, it'll look like finished-ish to Michelle.

I've got my own way, Charlotte's got her own way,

and, you know, if it... Maybe if it was just up to Charlotte,

there might not be as many nice finishing touches, perhaps,

but I just wish we could have just done a little bit more.

I love this. It's got a fantastic vintage shop front.

I love the shop front. I think it's stunning.

And I like what they've done

with the kind of layering of the brand name,

so that you really kind of understand

what you're looking at here straight away.

Oh, wow.

I mean, this is pretty well a complete transformation, isn't it?

Yeah, I walk in, straight away,

it has a fun to it and it has colour to it and a vibrancy.

The wallpaper as well. I think it brings this sort of fun

to the space, which I love.

The only thing that I'm immediately struck by is, why such a tiny table?

This looks lost.

Yeah, because there's some fantastic stuff going on on either side

and then there's a little table with way too much stuff on it.

And there's actually nothing here, which I think is such an opportunity

to have created something for the dog.

Like, what is the journey of the dog that's coming in here?

Simply, where are the dog bowls?

Is there little things that they could play with?

What's the stuff that could work for the pet?

From a decor point of view, though, they've really taken a few

simple elements and run with it, haven't they?

So, I love this floating pelmet idea, which is a hiding,

hidden storage as well, which is clever.

And then repeating it over here.

They've done that classic decorating move by using colours,

bright colours up in the front, that then they carry

through to the back, which draws you through, doesn't it?

I think the idea is that you take a little selfie with your dog,

here in front of a fireplace. Yeah.

Do you know, I think this backspace, to me, is a bit disappointing.

To me, I think the one thing they've missed is making it not just a shop.

This is a place for people that love dogs and love pets

and there's nowhere to congregate.

Even if it had a little gate across there that the dogs

could have a little playdate.

Maybe you come here for fun, like that. That would be cute.

Exactly. I think the front is colourful, there's lots going on,

it's instantly playful.

It feels like, as you get further into the store, the brief has become

more and more diluted.

They maybe should have focused on the big bone table,

because that would have been your second fun moment,

with something going around on the floor.

And then this is the other moment.

So this could have been the community bit. Exactly.

Something that creates the story of the product

and the design and the brief all in one, and that playfulness.

At the camera shop...

Is that the last one? That's the last one. Yay!

..at last, the carpentry in the front of the shop is complete,

and there's just enough time for a last-minute solution

for the back of the shop.

If we put the curtain strip on there

and it becomes like a studio.

Plan Z is definitely coming together.

Considering what it was like,

it is a beautiful space now.

The cameras are looking fantastic.

You can do it.

Yeah, there is big moves that we've made that I am extremely

chuffed with, I have to say.

Well done.

Safe hug!

Well done.

Compared to what it was, it's a massive change.

We've opened it up so much.

I think, this week, I came into it going, yes, be ambitious again,

because I know in the previous weeks I've been able to smash it.

But I think this week has maybe just got the better of me a bit

and I need to learn to assess everything as I'm going along.

If I get through.

Oh, wow.

OK, so they've gone with a real dynamic, like,

catch-your-attention idea, haven't they?

I love the idea of them breaking this apart and bringing

it out, but something about it all just feels a little bit cold.

Gosh, my first impression is it feels very clean/empty.

It does a little bit, but you know what?

When you think about an Apple store or technology stores, they've always

got that sort of minimalism.

Yet, by bringing in the yellow and the curves and the plants

and different things, it's still got an interesting aesthetic.

And, actually, just that little corner where you are now,

where they've put the books, just by having that element, it suddenly

makes you think that the person behind this store is an expert,

they're well-read, they're going to have a good opinion of stuff.

There's a warmth that's lacking, a kind of familiarity or something,

that I'm allowed to sit here,

not that I've just been directed to sit here.

But what I do like that these guys have done from the others

is elements like this, where they've picked particular products out

and put them in the little showcase boxes.

It's a very consistent, considered, coherent design.

I think seeing this studio in the back is something

that suddenly makes this store relevant.

You know, why do I want to come to a camera store today?

Well, this is the type of thing that you can't get anywhere else.

Unlike maybe in the pet shop,

we have got very clear moments, haven't we, because it feels

like the whole shop is aimed at one very specific demographic,

as opposed to maybe being open to anyone.

Well, it feels like it's efficient.

It's an efficient use of the space, everything's efficient.

But I think it's un-offensive.

But there's nothing that makes me go wow.

We know that they also massively overstretched themselves,

and yet I don't get that sense

that it's been massively compromised.

But potentially, they've not thought so much about the decoration,

because the decor, if you like, is essentially two colours

and some posters and a bit of typography. 100%.

At the cook shop...

That's not very good.

..with more stock than any other store,

it's a mad rush to merchandise.

And lead designer Paul is feeling the pressure.

It would be the most enjoyable if I had five hours to

really get stuck in and really apply myself to this spot.

I don't have five hours, so I just have to keep going.

You know, sometimes when you're trying to do too much

at once, accidents happen.

Mate, I'm so proud.

You happy? VOICE CRACKS SLIGHTLY: Yeah.

You all right? Yeah. Overwhelmed? Yeah.

That shop was so full before

that you couldn't even really look at it and keep anything.

I just looked at it and thought, I'm starting afresh.

And, yeah, this is what we've come up with.

Part of my plan for the design this week was to push and do more

than probably what was expected.

And more than probably I wanted to do.

And we conquered that.

I think what I've come to actually realise is

the only thing holding me back is probably myself.

This is another really super-cute little shop front, isn't it?

Yep, it's stunning. My initial impression,

they've really gone with the language of that.

It's pretty. And I mean that in a good way, actually.

Now, this shop was absolutely chock-a-block beforehand.

It's a big difference to actually edit and pare down the product.

I love what they've done here with the lights,

the colanders and stuff, it's a really nice little touch,

and that feels to me design-led and interesting,

whereas I hate the spoons.

This feels like an idea that should have been instantly put aside.

It just looks a bit tacky and it doesn't work.

Whether we like the Alice In Wonderland, upside down,

and the spoons, I'm almost prepared to overlook because there's

a warmth here and a familiarity, by using the curvy shelves,

which very gently leads you all around and through the store.

They've echoed that then on the till point.

So I do feel like I could quite happily browse around in here.

It's the same cleverness that makes the colanders into a light,

but isn't that tricksy thing,

which is where they've gone a little bit wrong, over here. Overboard.

I agree. And I love how they've actually done

the little frames around particular items -

this is something that should be grabbing your attention.

And then they could be moving that and changing it about,

from a merchandising perspective, every other week.

A bit of background for you is that Paul is wallpaper crazy.

For the first time, I feel like he's chosen a wallpaper that's

actually appropriate for the language of the space

that we're dealing with,

and then even used it in a completely different way here.

And resined over the top of it.

I love this. Doesn't it take on a completely different life?

I love it. And I love the whole deal, I love the curve.

I love what they've done here.

And it's two people really out of their comfort zones,

because Micaela is all into soft stuff and upholstery. Yeah.

And there's none of that here. Yeah.

And then Paul loves his wallpaper and I think he's probably happier

dressing a beautiful bed, again, with very soft stuff.

So it's an interesting marriage of two very different skill sets.

And then this is what you've got.

I mean, it's going to be pretty tricky.

They've all succeeded and challenged themselves on very different things.

Yeah.

Judging over, the designers can now take a look at their rivals' shops.

Oh, wow.

What a difference.

I love these stripes.

This is a bit reminiscent of Charlotte's from last week.

The pelmet. Yeah.

I can definitely see a lot of Barbara in here, can you?

The curves and this, like, you know,

I love how she does these little vignettes. Yeah.

It's wallpaper and then they've poured a resin over the top.

I really like that. That's clever, isn't it?

But how expensive are those cameras?

You could just pocket one of those.

I'm just not in love with the colour, if I'm being 100% honest.

What I think is that these guys have really pushed themselves

out of their comfort zones, haven't they?

It is an immense achievement, because it's not their...

Skillset and stuff as well?

Or maybe we've just gone to our comfort zone!

Back at the design studio,

time to find out which designers are safe

and who is at risk of going home.

The worst part of the week.

I just want to know, I don't like the waiting around.

Hello, everyone.

ALL: Hi!

I'm loving all the leopard skin!

It's like being in the big cat enclosure at Woburn Safari Park.

Rawrr!

Tough challenge, though, weren't it?

Yeah. Very. I think it's the toughest one so far.

Yeah, I think so.

The judges felt that all three shops delivered solid designs,

but there was room for improvement in every space.

This week, it was a really close-run decision.

Michelle felt, in terms of design, there was one shop

that was just ahead of the others.

And these owners were blown away.

They loved the window display and the innovative lighting.

But they especially liked some of the fun and quirky touches.

So, Paul and Micaela, well done.

You're safe, you're through to next week.

Well done. You deserved it.

The spoons and the upside-down table saved us, babe. Well done.

I didn't think either of us deserved to be on the sofa,

and I really did not want Micaela to be on it three weeks in a row.

So I think the position that we're in now, we deserve to be here.

I can't believe I'm still here

and I get to do another week, another challenge.

I'm really, really over the moon.

Barbara, Lynsey,

Charlotte, Siobhan -

Michelle would like to see you in her office.

Thank you.

First time for you.

Oh, my God, Lynsey, you haven't been on!

How do you feel?

I knew we would go. We didn't finish it!

Four talented designers sitting on your sofa.

What went wrong?

Micaela and Paul, the balance they achieved between product,

consumer, the location -

they just managed to do that better than the others.

I'm just shocked that Lynsey and Barbara had a shop to show you,

because, yet again, last-minute Barbara,

biting off more than she can chew.

You've got to applaud ambition, but they forgot the fun.

I think it's an independent store

and what makes it great is personality.

And I think the way they designed the store

stripped any personality out of it.

How could you put that lovely pet shop?

There's a pink Afghan hound in the window,

what more do you want, Michelle?

What's really interesting about them,

in comparison to Barbara and Lynsey, is they went full-on decoration.

But, Alan, where was the thought for the dog?

The dog is the customer here and they forgot the dog.

To me, the problem is the playfulness of the customer journey.

What was there that made that journey

as you walked around the store? And I think they missed that.

It's going to be hard to choose one designer.

Only one person from one team is going to go home,

so I need to know who did what.

I need to know who's responsible for things.

They're going to have to fight for their place this week.

Absolutely.

What's interesting to me is

that I can see it actually in your dress -

you've got one team that took a slightly more

architectural background

and one team that's a slightly more decorative, artistic background.

So the reason that you're both here on the sofa is because I feel

that both teams, you worked to your comfort zones.

Barbara and Lynsey, if we can start with you.

You've both shown me in previous challenges that you're really adept

with all of those wonderful things that we think of as decoration.

What happened with this one?

The thing that I grasped onto was all the textures that you get

from a camera, which were quite hard, block textures.

Instead of throwing a lot of pattern at it, I almost wanted

to pare it back and keep it a little bit more concise and simple

for this camera shop.

A lot of design, though, is about juxtaposition.

The store is so much about people coming in and going on a journey.

Talk me through the journey you created for them.

One of the conversations that we had with the shop owner,

he spends up to an hour with some of his customers.

So when the customer walks in the store, he can bring them down

to a seated area and have a comfortable spot

to really go through it in detail.

It seems to me that you've understood the community,

you've understood the service, but the word that jumped out for me

is you said a comfortable space.

Where was the comfort?

Because there was maybe, I don't know, one and a half,

two seats and a little coffee table and a single plant.

Did you get so caught up that you just thought,

well, we don't need cushions?

I think we got caught up in functionality of the space

and making sure we got all those areas for them

and they all could work.

The fact that there was just so many... But can I interrupt you?

Yeah. Yeah, you nailed the functionality,

but where was the comfort?

This is the whole other side of design.

I completely agree with your comment that I was too focused on bringing

all of those textures out from a camera and maybe made

the space feel a bit too hard.

I think that that's where it got lost,

you made it all about the camera.

And I think, if you guys had made it much more about him, I think

that would have led to how you designed those other elements

and I think his personality would have come through.

ALAN: I think it was just nice to see something in the shop.

I mean, because it's like hours to go,

there was nothing there, just a pile of planks outside.

Was it bad timekeeping or was it overambitious?

I thought this could be achievable.

What I did not take into account was the intricacies that need

to be built within all these curves that we had designed.

It was so much more intricate for the carpenters to complete

and I just did not really take that on.

There is no doubt it was an incredible transformation,

but it's just that balance of ambition and reality, isn't it?

Charlotte and Siobhan, the big thing that was missing from your design

was actually the dog. Where was the journey for the dog?

You didn't even have a bowl with water in your shop.

I think we just were so manic at the end,

added things like that got missed.

I just was hellbent on delivering what we had promised

and then we just had to make a couple of cuts along the way.

My view was I loved the window,

I thought it was fantastic.

If you'd have just at the end gone, OK, let's walk through this

as the customer, I think you would have taken it so much further

and then gone, OK, now, what's the experience for the dog?

The thing is, retail is about a series of moments.

So, yes, you scored on the front window, that got people in,

but shopping is about keeping people in the shop too.

The second moment should have been that big table. Yep.

But that table, you ran out of time, didn't you?

Yeah. The third moment should have been the space

at the back of the shop. You ran out of time on that too. Yeah.

So, you prioritised decorating cupboards and putting wallpaper up.

Did you get it the wrong way around?

What took the time was the pelmet cupboards.

My suggestion was, let's keep the existing shelving

but make it look bespoke and then have time for the bone and all

the other bits and things that we didn't end up finishing.

So why did you not do that?

So, the reason I didn't do it is because, on one side,

there was just the really small, white shelving.

So I just felt like, let's get it out rather than

trying to work around those pieces.

So, Siobhan, should you have pushed harder? To kind of say, listen,

I'm adamant we need the bone table?

I think the fundamental mistake that we made was

not using that row of existing shelving.

I really think that we could have pimped that, you know,

to a good standard.

To me, this comes down to which is the greater crime,

to have missed out a bit of decoration

or to have forgotten the customer?

And also, is it the lead designer? Because, well, hey,

it was your design, or is it the assistant for not speaking up?

I just know that we could have made it more comfortable,

we could have made it more engaging.

You could have just put a sofa in there with some cushions on it.

Uh-huh, we could have just softened the area and made it more playful

but I just know that I didn't push it to the Nth a little bit more.

There should have been a stage where we should have just cut

something to do with shelving and just finish off those pieces

that we were really passionate about getting in.

This is hard.

But, ultimately, in an online era,

retail has got to be about emotion, feeling, community,

drawing people in, keeping them there,

giving me everything I cannot get from online.

So, I am really, really, really gutted.

Barbara, you drove the design on the camera shop.

I'm afraid that's why you will be our person going this week. OK.

Thank you so much for the opportunity.

And I've learned a lot, so thank you.

You know, this was hard, this was really hard.

And I think, actually, shops is probably, right now,

our hardest challenge ever.

You've gone out on a high, I want you to believe that.

Sorry, I can't really...

It's just the beginning, you're so talented.

I'm obviously gutted.

But, you know, I have worked very hard and it's just...

Yeah, it's just a shame to go out on this week,

cos I was really looking forward to it.

I feel a lot of positives have come from this.

You know, I have learned so much

and I think I've put some nice designs out there.

Hopefully, I've got a few things on my portfolio now

that I'll be able to expand the area that I've been working in as well.

The way I'm looking at it is that,

had we given Charlotte and Siobhan more time,

they could have fixed what was missing from the pet shop,

because they'd already done all the thinking.

Had we given Barbara and Lynsey more time, I think

we'd have just got more storage.

That must be for you, Siobhan, it's pink!

It is not exactly a holiday for the designers...

This is such a tiny little space.

..as they transform beach huts...

Whoo!

Where's those sailors?

..on the Essex coast.

Ugh, this is horrendous.

Stressed.

WIND AND RAIN LASHES

Is that thunder?

It's a bit of a nightmare.