Caribbean-resort expertise from Renovation Islandgives the Baeumlers an edge in this tropical competition. Have a look at their natural-zen home full of sensational Rock the Blockfirsts.
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Photo: Bob Croslin
The Team: Sarah and Bryan
When Renovation Island hosts Sarah and Bryan Baeumler went toe-to-toe with three other duos in Colorado on Season 4 of Rock the Block, they couldn’t quite hit that Rocky Mountain high, and another team took top honors. This season’s opportunity for redemption — in which the designer-and-licensed-contractor duo will be judged against other veteran teams hungry for a first win — is at sea level, otherwise known as their happy place. Having restored an entire Caribbean resort together, they’re heading to Treasure Island, Florida, with a distinct advantage. “At the end of this season, unfortunately, there will still be six losers — and we’re going to feel bad for them!” Bryan joked.
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Photo: Bob Croslin
You Dream It, You Build It
The Baeumlers battled for Rock the Blockredemption against Fix My Flip’s Page Turnerand Mitch Glew(Season 4); Bargain Block’s Keith Bynum and Evan Thomas (Season 3); and Unsellable Houses’ Leslie Davis and Lyndsay Lamb(Season 3). When the contestants reached Treasure Island — a barrier island on Florida’s central Gulf Coast — they confronted three-story attached homes boasting 3,600 square feet of living space, appraisal values of $1.7 million and the competition’s first-ever waterfront locations. Did we mention the homes had no interior walls? With $250,000 renovation budgets and six weeks to pour blood, sweat and tears into their properties, the coast was clear for one determined team to sail into its first overall victory. “This is wide open, so I feel like there’s not a lot for me to rip out here,” Bryan noted. “No, but there’s a lot we can put back in,” Sarah replied.
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The Kitchen, Before
There was one thing the Baeumlers knew they would not be adding back to their home’s main floor. “I think we have ample room here for open concept kitchen living. I don’t want formal dining,” Sarah said. “This is a relaxed environment.” Bryan agreed. “A formal dining room is a dinosaur,” he said. They envisioned what Bryan called a "living kitchen" that would feature an island extended for more casual gatherings.
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Photo: Bob Croslin
The Kitchen, After
Sarah created a curved wall along the kitchen’s casual dining space to counteract the attached home’s initial, boxy feel. “Because you share that middle wall [with another home], you have no opportunity for opening it up or bringing different architectural features in through that side of the home,” she explained. "So that’s what this curved wall is doing with its shape.” Wallpapered (for $3,100) to mimic the look of wood with a curvaceous barrier and an arched doorway leading into the pantry, the new kitchen is a major style moment. The Brazilian marble the Baeumlers deployed on the backsplash ($3,290) and the custom island adjoining the dining table ($4,250) also pairs beautifully with the barely-there “Nordic-y gray” tone Sarah chose for the sleek, floor-to-ceiling contemporary cabinets.