Chip Off the Old Block baby's Chill Like DYLS!

The reno king adores his sweet little angel

- Sebastian Van Der Zwan

When Woman’s Day visits The Block NZ favourite Dylan “Big Dyls” Cossey and his wife Libby at their Napier home, the house is still very much a building site, with tools and tins of paint strewn across bare floors.

The only room that’s complete is the gorgeously decorated nursery, where their baby daughter Bloem Isla sleeps surrounded by pink striped walls and showroom style furnishings. There’s also a walk-in wardrobe and a ceiling covered in a galaxy of twinkling LED lights.

“She loves her stars,” tells builder Dyls, 29. “She was being a real witch last night, so we turned the lights on and she just lay there sucking her thumb.”

He and police detective Libby, 33, moved from his hometown of Mount Maunganui to their new “fixer-upper” when she was seven months pregnant, in order to be closer to Libby’s family. The very next day, Dyls started work on the baby’s room.

“I would’ve been scalped if I didn’t,” he grins. “I finished it two weeks before Libs calved, which was pretty intense. I wouldn’t recommend combining work, house renovations and fatherhood. After The Block, this is the last reno!”