If, like us, you enjoy watching skilled interior designers at work then you’ll love this new show from Channel 4.
Hosted by AJ Odudu and judged by architect and entrepreneur Dara Huang, The Big Interiors Battle challenged eight interior designers to redecorate a room each week and compete for the chance to win a home of their own.
AJ Odudu said: “I’m so excited to be involved in a series that has the potential to genuinely change the winner’s life.
“I’m also looking forward to seeing everyone’s different styles – as a major interiors obsessive myself, I’ll definitely be on the lookout to hopefully pick up some nifty DIY tricks from this cast of pros.”
We can’t wait to see what the contestants create! Read on to learn more about the show’s format, when it’s on TV and more.
What is The Big Interiors Battle about?
Each week, the eight contestants transformed a different room and competed for the chance to win a highly-coveted prize: a two-bedroom apartment in Sheffield.
To find out if they’ve made it through to the next week of the show, contestants attempted to enter their apartment using a personalised key card. If the lights turned green, they made it through to the next episode of the show, but if the lights turn red they left the competition.
The prize and the apartments the contestants worked on have been provided by developers Capital&Centric. It was a gamble for them as they didn't know exactly what designs the contestants would come up with!
Co-founder of Capital&Centric, Adam Higgins commented: "Whether historic restorations or new builds, all the communities we deliver are design-led and attract residents with a great eye for interior style. Eyewitness Works is the perfect setting to let designers loose to deliver dream spaces that match their personalities, with one ultimately bagging a home of their own. We'll be following their every inspiration - they couldn't be in better hands with AJ and Dara at the helm."
What channel is The Big Interiors Battle on?
The Big Interiors Battle is on Channel 4.
What time is The Big Interiors Battle 2023 on TV?
The show was first aired on 8pm on Friday 21st April.
Where can I watch The Big Interiors Battle?
You can watch The Big Interiors Battle on catchup.
Where is The Big Interiors Battle filmed?
The show is based in social impact developer Capital&Centric’s high-end Eyewitness Works development in the heart of Sheffield. It's a former baking factory that's been transformed with modern apartments.
Who won The Big Interiors Battle 2023?
We don’t yet know the identity of the winner of The Big Interiors Battle 2023, but we’ll share it here as soon as we find out!
The Big Interiors Battle series 1
We’re looking forward to seeing the first batch of designers put to the test in series one! In every episode, they’ll attempt to transform a new room for the life-changing chance to win their own mortgage-free apartment.
The contestants will be watched over by experienced architect and designer Dara Huang, who will be judging their designs.
The Big Interiors Battle judge Dara Huang
American-born Dara Huang is an architect and entrepreneur with clients across the globe ranging from billionaires to the world’s most famous brands.
Dara said: “I’m really looking forward to seeing what this cast of competitors bring to the table in the hopes of winning this life-changing prize.
“I’ll be holding contestants to an extremely high standard as there’s a lot at stake here – they’ll need to employ genuinely innovative design hacks to create something original and impressive!
Dara was born in Florida to Taiwanese parents. She studied design at the University of Florida and founded the architecture and design firm Design Haus Liberty in Clerkenwell, London, in 2013.
She has worked on a number of prestigious projects including the Tate Modern and Manolo Blahnik stores.
In 2022, Dara became a British citizen.
The Big Interiors Battle presenter AJ Odudu
Onatejiro "AJ" Odudu is a British TV presenter who is best known for presenting the Channel 4 show Married at First Sight.
AJ started her career presenting BBC Blast based at Radio Lancashire. She worked in a variety of smaller presenting roles before landing a job as a presenter on Big Brother’s Bit on the Side with Rylan Clark-Neal and Emma Willis.
She’s since presented a wide variety of shows ranging from Celebrity Karaoke Club to the BBC’s Platinum Jubilee coverage. Look out for AJ on our screens as one of the Eurovision hosts this May!
AJ is a big fan of interior design and we loved seeing her reactions to the transformations on the show.
The Big Interiors Battle contestants
Get to know the Big Interiors Battle series 1 contestants…
Claire Horn, 45, from Devon
Claire runs her own interior design business in the South Hams in Devon, as well as writing her own interior and lifestyle blog. She likes to bring sustainability into all of her designs without compromising the finished look.
She's very handy with painting and decorating and upcycling is her passion.
Jamie Dibble, 33, from Cardiff
Jamie studied Fine Art and worked as an Art and Design teacher before realising that his interests lay elsewhere. He designed furniture for high street shops before launching his own design business, DeDesigns. His business involves designing interiors for serviced apartments, so he should do well on this show!
He's a jack of all trades, handy with a drill and says he's prepared to try anything!
John Jack, 41, from Glasgow
Unlike some of the other contestants, John's main profession isn't interior design – he's actually an actor. For John, his home is his sanctuary and he's fond of classic gentleman's club-style interiors.
When he's not acting, he works with a friend who is a well-known interior designer. As a result, he can upcycle furniture and is a great painter. He's also a real magpie for antiques and loves a brilliant charity shop find.
Claire Noble, 31, from Bainbridge
Claire was adopted from Sri Lanka into a white Northern Irish family in Belfast, so she always felt that she stood out. Her large scale art designs are a reflection of this part of her character.
She studied textiles at university before realising that she was more interested in interior design. Claire has worked as a painter and decorator in the past and is now a large-scale mural painter.
Jordan Paul, 23, from Birmingham
Jordan describes himself as a "Northern lad" who still lives at home with his mum. He wants to win the competition in order to create a new home for them to share.
He loves monochrome designs, but also likes to bring in pops of colour into his interiors. He's also keen to show his love of gaming on the show.
Jordan got a first class degree in interior design. He launched his own business, but quickly decided that he still had a lot to learn. He works as a kitchen designer with private clients for residential projects.
Patrycja Koziara, 21, from Hatfield
Patrycja is an Interior Architecture and Design graduate. She moved to the UK from Poland when she was six and is inspired by Soviet Brutalism in all its glory. One of her biggest design inspirations is her great grandmother's mid-century cottage in Poland.
She can paint and decorate, is competent in carpentry, as well as in joinery, can happily create floor plans, furniture designs, components, and interior CAD drawings and renders. She also has experience working with concrete, pewter, and resin.
Justine Guillermou, 28, from London
Former aerospace engineer Justine decided to make a career change and found an interior design company, Rainbow Shaker, in 2021.
She loves colour, so it's always a vital part of her designs. She believes her space background gives her interiors a scientific edge! She is also an explosives engineer, so as well as building things up she knows how to take them down... sometimes with a bang!
Justine is a determined character, who completed her one-year interior design course in just two months.
Tara Roderigues, 37, from London
Born and raised in Wolverhampton, Tara lives in London and has two children. As a result of the global pandemic she switched from a stable job to reinventing herself as an interior designer.
Her mum is from Grenada and her dad is from India and credits her family background for her love of vibrant colours! She loves rococo and flamboyant designs. There is a real focus in her designs on sustainability, which includes natural materials and upcycling old furniture.
She studied interior design following her law degree and went on to work with established designers for a couple of years. She now works for herself as a freelance designer. She upcycles, paints and decorates.
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The Big Interiors Battle series 1 episode guide
Keep up-to-date with the latest highlights of the show in our weekly episode guide. We’ll share all of the highs and lows, plus who left the show in that episode (spoilers!).
Episode 1
In the first episode, the eight contestants got the chance to see the apartments that they will be transforming into their dream home – and could potentially win! The flats are in a beautiful former baking factory in Sheffield, with brick walls and large windows – it's the perfect blank slate for their original designs.
The contestants were asked to come up with a unique bedroom design that showcased their personalities. Dara warned that she would be looking for space around the bed, well-chosen lighting and storage. They were given a budget of £1,500 for the basic fit out and an additional £2,000 for the fixtures and fittings.
There was a mixture of unique styles on display in the finished interiors, from romantic boudoirs to theatrical bedrooms with Georgian-style panelling. Claire from Devon chose to create a Japandi bedroom, fusing together Japanese and Scandinavian design, while French designer Justine painted her room with incredibly vibrant abstract designs.
Ultimately, it was Claire who was shown the door, as Dara felt that her design was lacking in originality.
Highlights: Claire N painted a stunning original mural in her room, which Dara loved!
Lowlights: Patrycja impulsively decided to add graffiti to her mirror and immediately regretted it.
Episode 2
In the second episode, the contestants were asked to tackle the heart of the home: the kitchen. As usual, the designers took radically different approaches to their spaces.
Jordan previously worked as a line chef, so he wanted to recreate the feel of a kitchen by creating a pass between the kitchen and the dining space. On the other hand, John stayed true to his country house style by incorporating a fireplace and panelling into his kitchen.
Claire introduced another of her trademark murals in the kitchen, adding a vibrant chilli design above the cabinets.
After the success of her boudoir bedroom, Tara went for a more cosy feel for her kitchen as it's a family room.
Unsurprisingly, Justine brought in her usually colourful style with an even brighter, bolder kitchen.
In the end, it was Jordan who left the show as Dara described his kitchen as looking "like a cheap strip club"!
Highlights: Patrycja was worried about the comments from Dara in last episode, but this week she pulled out all the stops and the tough judge was utterly impressed!
Lowlights: Patrycja made the mistake of not ordering a sample of marble for her worktops before choosing her tiles, resulting in an unfortunate colour clash.
Episode 3
The pressure ramped up this week as the contestants tackled their bathrooms with just 72 hours to finish their designs. Unsurprisingly, they were all feeling the pressure of the tighter deadline.
Dara informed them that she was looking for individuality and creativity, but that the designs still needed to be practical.
Claire took the bold decision to make her design look like a "bougie club bathroom", complete with graffiti and one of her trademark murals. However, she was racked with self doubt and ended up repainting her mural three times.
Jamie was marked down for his lack of styling in the kitchen challenge, so he went to town on his styling in episode three. His efforts paid off and Dara said she felt like she'd been transported to a holiday destination.
Patrycja opted for a more lowkey design this week, choosing jungle-themed wallpaper, teal tiles and terrazzo tiles. Dara felt that she'd played it too safe, but she survived another week.
John switched up his tile and went for a more modern look this week, helped by some gorgeous handmade wallpaper. However, he couldn't resist sneaking in some panelling.
Justine, as usual, went for bold colours with curved murals on the walls, a blue-painted ceiling and yellow grouting around her white tiles. Our favourite element was a dinosaur toilet roll!
It was great to see Tara stepping out of her comfort zone. She decided to get in on the mural action and covered her wall in an colourful abstract design.
Ultimately, it was Claire who left the show as Dara felt that her design lacked finesse.
Highlights: Dara interrupted the contestants to introduce a Maker Challenge: the designers had to team up with local artisans to bring a bespoke feature into their rooms – which they'd also be judged on. It was interesting to see the designers working with the crafters to bring unique elements into their interiors, from embroidered bath mats to concrete clocks.
Lowlights: Due to an ordering error, John ended up with three metres of handmade wallpaper instead of three rolls. He had to cut his paper very carefully to make sure it fit onto his wall!
Episode 4
This week the contestants were pushed out of their apartments and sent into the centre of Sheffield to transform a cafe together.
Dara asked the designers to work together to produce one cohesive design, but assigned them each an individual aspect to work on. The brief from the cafe owners was "retro Scandi", but could the designers successfully move away from their signature styles?
Tara was given the difficult task of painting the walls, which meant she had to navigate everyone's sections and find colour schemes that worked for everyone – with mixed results.
Patrycja was assigned the front of the cafe and the entrance and seemed to spend most of the episode in an anxious state, clashing with Justine because she accidentally painted Patrycja's table the wrong shade.
John couldn't resist bringing his usual theatricality into the space, adding a draped red curtain to a section of the wall.
Justine also stuck to her trademark bright colours, but made the basic error of making her foldaway bench too high. As a result, it wasn't functional seating for the cafe.
In this episode, Jamie really shone and Dara was unable to find fault with his bar area.
Overall, Dara felt that the designers failed to make a coherent design together and was particularly critical of Patrycja and Justine. In the end, it was Justine who left the show in week four.
Highlights: Jamie created a stunning bar area using tables that had been cut in half to make shelves. Dara and the cafe owners were both impressed!
Lowlights: Tara painted a lovely mural on a wall, which turned out to be part of John's gallery space. He made the difficult decision to paint over it for practical reasons, but Tara was clearly disappointed.
Episode 5
As the competition intensified, the final four contestants were tasked with creating living rooms in their apartments. Dara asked them to create zoning within the space, style their dining tables and show her something unique about their personalities.
This proved challenging because the designers had limited space to work with. Remember when the contestants created their kitchen designs in episode 2? The kitchens were actually part of a larger open plan kitchen and living space, so the living room designs also needed to blend in with their existing kitchen designs.
For Tara, the living room also has to have space to be a home office, so she designed a bespoke TV and desk unit. The desk could be hidden behind a screen when not in use, but after it was assembled she realised that her design didn't work: there was a shelf at head height.
Luckily, she came up with the idea of cutting away a curved section of the shelf above to make room for her head! Her solution paid off and Dara loved it.
John had been asked by Dara to tone down his country house-inspired interiors, but he couldn't resist adding a second fireplace to his room. However, once he'd combined it with some more contemporary touches the finished result impressed Dara.
Meanwhile, Jamie created a lime-washed room with a sophisticated style. His room included a cosy reading nook and a bed for his dog to snooze in.
Patrycja planned a raised platform for her dining table, but struggled to complete all of the aspects of her design. When she began peeling away the tape around her mural, the paint began to lift off the wall, which only made her more stressed.
Highlights: John added a large mirror to his room to give the effect of a second doorway, making the living space feel much larger.
Lowlights: Patrycja was struggling with the scale and ambition of her design, so AJ took her for a cuppa to help her prioritise the tasks that still needed to be done. Ultimately the pressure got the better of Patrycja and she didn't make it through to week 6.
Episode 6
The remaining contestants were taken out of their comfort zone and asked to team up to redesign a space at Thornbridge Outdoors Centre in the Peak District. The centre, just 20 miles from Sheffield, aims to teach children and adults about nature and give them new experiences.
The assigned space was a living room in the centre's accommodation. The designers were asked to submit their own designs, with only one being chosen by the centre's managers. Tara bagged the winning design, so she was lead designer for the week assisted by John and Jamie.
She chose a sustainable theme complete with leafy murals and upcycled furniture. Part of the challenge for Tara was keeping John and Jamie on track to create her version. Both men were enthusiastic, but John admitted that it was difficult to work to create someone else's vision.
Tara made the most of John's eye for detail by getting him to paint an intricate table pattern and original illustrations, while Jamie got to work on Tara's mural and whipped up some amazing soft furnishings. He also introduced a cosy reading zone with bean bags for book-loving kids.
If it ain't perfect, Dara's going to kill us
Jamie
Dara was blown away by the finished design, so much so that she couldn't send anyone home! All three contestants went through to the semi-final. "I cannot tell who did what – this is one design," Dara said.
Highlights: Seeing the children exploring the finished living room and making the most of the space!
Lowlights: Jamie and John were concerned that Tara's hanging ivy installation would be tricky to water, but she came up with a solution.
Episode 7
As the competition drew to a close, the final three gave their spare rooms a fresh new look. Dara challenged them to do something different with the spare room and said she was looking for "something not Tara, something not John and something not Jamie".
At this stage in the contest, the pressure really ramped up as the designers had put so much work into their potential future homes.
John said he felt that this was the most difficult room to design and found it difficult to break out of his very traditional style. He decided to create a library in rich red tones with a fold-down bed, but doubted himself and changed his colour choice immediately.
Jamie went for his signature lime wash, but opted for a warm shade of burgundy instead of his usual neutral tones. He designed a study which could be easily converted into a bedroom for guests.
Dara had often criticised Jamie for his lack of storage, so he incorporated a hidden wardrobe in an awkward corner.
Tara knew she needed to be more minimalist this week and created a stylish bedroom for her two daughters, Millie and Isabelle, complete with bunk beds.
As an added twist, Dara asked the designers to make a feature for their rooms out of reclaimed building materials. John, meanwhile, made a handy vanity table using a curved piece of wood.
Jamie made a wooden light feature in a corner using some old planks, which didn't impress Dara.
Ultimately it was John who left the show, as Dara didn't think his design was out of his comfort zone.
Highlights: Tara cleverly used an old rope to make wall art for her daughters' room, which looked very impressive!
Lowlights: Seeing how upset John was when he left the show, as he'd put everything into his design.
Episode 8
It's the final and Tara and Jamie returned to compete for the life-changing prize. This week, Dara asked them to transform the entrance hall to their flat – and complete the apartment based on her feedback from previous weeks.
This meant that Jamie was scrambling around trying to add new storage facilities to his apartment, as Dara had criticised him several times for not including enough in his designs. He also wanted to bring more of his personality into the apartment, so he introduced some framed family photos.
He created a hallway in neutral tones, with a mirror, personal pictures and a bespoke utility area.
Meanwhile Tara set herself some tight deadlines to finish her design with printed to-do lists for every single room in her apartment.
She also made some big changes to her interiors, such as changing the colour scheme in her bedroom, decluttering the living room and ripping out an oversized wardrobe.
"The list is getting longer, the day is getting shorter," she said.
Her hallway featured a wall painted black and a luminous LED affirmation on the wall to inspire her.
There was a surprise in store for Tara and Jamie on the final day, as they were both joined by a couple of familiar faces. Jamie was joined by his husband, Tom, while Tara was joined by a friend.
Finally, it was time for the two designers to face Dara's judgement. Dara was blown away by their transformations. She described Jamie as an "exceptionally talented designer" and said that she'd never met a designer quite like Tara.
"You both have a huge future in front of you," she said.
Then it was time for Tara and Jamie to swipe their keycards one last time – and Tara's light turned green!
Highlights: Seeing Tara celebrating with her well-deserved win with friends and family!
Lowlights: It was a bittersweet ending, seeing Jamie miss out on the chance to own his apartment, but we know he's such a talented designer that he has a bright future ahead of him.
Why The Big Interiors Battle is worth watching
The Big Interiors Battle has it all: skilled creative people, wild designs and an incredible prize.
We know it’ll be tense watching to see who gets the red light each week, but we’re excited to see who makes it to the final.
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