The Block: Inside judge Darren Palmer’s latest project

It’s only been days since the grand finale of The Block, and star judge Darren Palmer has already stepped back into the spotlight with a brand new project.

When he’s not checking in on wild renovations on TV, Palmer has been working with Queensland charity yourtown on a prize home anyone can win, valued at $5.6 million.

Palmer said after being asked to work with yourtown for the first time 10 years ago, he couldn’t bring himself to stop.

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“We made quite a lot of money to help the charity, and that makes me feel pretty good,” he said. “And every year we’ve done one, we’ve done something new and different and interesting. And every single year, I think the one that I’ve done that year is the best one.”

The Block’s Darren Palmer has worked with charity yourtown every year for a decade, making premium interior designs for their prize homes.

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This $5.6 million home at 17 Maybree Cl, Tallebudgera Valley, is the top offering for the yourtown Christmas Prize Home 24.

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This year’s home is no exception. 17 Maybree Cl, Tallebudgera Valley, is yourtown’s first prize in their Christmas Prize Home 2024 raffle.

The home sits on nearly four acres of land, featuring four bedrooms and four bathrooms.

The house was designed by Jayson Pate as a modern farmhouse in a California style, in an area close to both the rainforest and the beach.

It’s decked out with hundreds of thousands of dollars in amenities: including multiple entertainment areas, a golf tee, pool, sauna and hot tub.

It also comes with additional perks, from a gold bullion worth $100,000 to a year’s worth of council rates, water and house and contents insurance.

Palmer’s interior design started at a unique place: figuring out the visual identity of the home by finding the sunbeds he wanted by the pool.

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The home has been meticulously crafted to be completely ready for its new owner to move in, right around Christmas.

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Palmer’s job was to step into the newly built home and turn the interior into something you can move into right away.

“Every single piece of furniture, art, cushion, decor and everything else that anybody’s going to need, I put into the house,” he said. “You could literally rock up with your jarmies, and your clothes, and that’s all you need.”

Palmer said inspiration for interior design can come from anywhere – and strangely enough, this time it came from the sunbeds by the pool.

“Because that was one of the first things that I settled on, then I extrapolated all the outdoor furniture from that point, and then the indoor furniture to reflect those lines as well,” he said.

“It’s building a puzzle, piece by piece.”

Interior design isn’t always an easy job, but Palmer said he gets energised when he’s working on homes like this: a passion project that goes to a good cause

“I really love this home,” he said. “I just hope everybody who sees it loves it too, and buys lots of tickets and helps lots of young people.”

Palmer said it was his job as an interior designer to try designs people don’t know they will like until they see it, such as the patterned wallpaper in the expansive bedroom.

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Inspections are available for the home, and tickets to win it can be bought until December 20.

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The home will be ready to move into come Christmas, when a winner will be selected from a random ticket draw.

800,000 tickets are available until Friday, December 20, with the prize draw taking place on Monday, December 23.

CEO of yourtown, Tracy Adams, said donations will go towards funding Kids Helpline, which provides support services to struggling Australian youths.

“Christmas can be time when isolation and a lack of hope can be intensified,” she said. “It is vitally important that when a child or young person makes that courageous step to seek help, there is someone here for them. Kids Helpline is always there but we know that demand continues to exceed our ability to respond. So, buying tickets can make a real difference.”

The home is open for inspection on Thursdays to Sundays, for those interested in seeing it for themselves.