Before and After: HGTV’s “Battle on the Beach” Renovates a Small Guest Room into a Spacious Bed and Bath
The “Battle on the Beach” teams faced one of their toughest challenges yet on the July 3 episode of the HGTV competition series. The teams of aspiring renovators — helmed by network stars Taniya Nayak (“Build It Forward”), Ty Pennington (“Ty Breaker”), and Alison Victoria (“Windy City Rehab”) — were tasked with renovating the guest bedroom and bathroom of their identical Surfside Beach homes.
The guest room was a notably small, run-down space. The room had blank white walls and unfinished flooring (with partially torn-up carpet). The sea-themed bathroom was similarly outdated. The room had white walls, white floors, a cream-colored sink countertop, and old off-white tiling in the shower and bath area. The bathroom came with a few accessories, including a seashell wreath and a cheap fish-patterned shower curtain, but the room was noticeably lacking.
“This is one of the worst sections of the house, because it’s so tiny,” Ty said. “But the great news is that we have a lot of wall space to cover.”
Wally and Jacqueline, Ty’s mentees, crafted the winning renovation. The key to their success was in the bathroom, which they transformed into a sleek blue space with gold-colored finishes. The duo already had a leg-up at the start of the bathroom makeover, since they had gained some extra square footage during an earlier renovation when they moved part of the kitchen forward.
They kicked off the transformation by gutting everything and taking sledgehammers to the old vanity and bathtub. They pushed the shower-bath space back and installed a new white tub with blue tiling (and a sliding glass door). They brought in a blue vanity with two sinks and a light countertop. Wally and Jacqueline finished off the look by installing gold-colored fixtures and hanging gold overhead lights.
Judges Bryan and Sarah Baeumler (“Renovation Island”) both applauded the bathroom design for how easily it could accommodate a busy family. The additional square footage made the space feel incredibly large and able to host a variety of guests, including active kids. The renovation left enough room for children to be able to take a bath while someone else brushed their teeth, making the room a truly multifaceted space.
In the bedroom, Wally and Jacqueline installed natural wood flooring to match the rest of the house. They went for a warm shade of flooring to give the space a “homey feeling” and help “tie everything together,” according to Jacqueline. They added a light rug, a warm brown bed frame, two small bedside tables, and white linens. The focal point of the room was the custom light turquoise headboard wall, which Jacqueline crafted using cabinets from the kitchen demolition. The headboard added an original, artistic touch to an otherwise basic, uniform room (even if the judges weren’t the biggest fans of it).
“All in all it’s just a creative, crafty idea using salvaged materials,” Ty said. “So we’re adding almost the custom built-in, and whenever you build something that’s a built-in and it’s permanent, that does add value.”
“Battle on the Beach” airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV and Discovery+.