I also thought Todd’s room was more of an art piece and I liked Verne saying that he’d actually like to see him design a real room to live in (didn’t he make the skateboard thingamabob in the middle of the living room? I did not like that at all). I was sorry to see Adriana go, especially since the asshole Robb got to stay. He will not survive the audience voting.
Christina makes me want to inject insulin. Will doesn’t have the personality to host his own show even though I really like his design sense. Sparkle Josh does have the personality (and the hair) but his designs are too— over the top for me. Kym is very middle of the pack and she put me off with her “I’m glad wallpaper is coming back.” I HATE wallpaper.
Oh, and, YAY for it being on at 9 and not 11. I can watch it at 9.
I’ve kinda gotten hooked by this show. I saw the last one (kitchens) and thought, eh. Nothing outstanding, nothing remarkable. But last night’s episode I thought was great: It really showed the caliber of the designs these people can do, and as a person with zero design experience or talent, I was uniformly impressed by the work they all did. I thought both the designers who got booted did good work, but the challenge set the bar so high that their work simply wasn’t good enough. Scott’s was too crowded, and Adriana’s simply wasn’t memorable. I think Scott acknowledged this by saying something like, “You make one mistake here, and you’re gone.” And I thought Todd’s room was amazing and really knocked the challenge out of the park, since Cliveexplicitly told them the project was about creativity and not functionality. He took that as a license to push the envelope and showcase his design; that was a gamble, and he was the only one who took it. I thought he deserved the win. I also thought Vern’s comment of “Let’s see what you can do with a functional room” was perfect: A little warning that Todd’s not going to be able to coast on style alone. I like Vern as a judge a lot.
I like Sparkle Josh for personality, but he’d better work on being less of a one-note song. And I like Will for design talent, but he’d better amp up his personality. Robb is so obviously the Token A-hole that I can’t take him seriously; chances of winning: zip. I don’t see a real stand-out for the winner yet. Fun show; I’m glad I’m watching it.
I hadn’t noticed there was a thread on this show before, so forgive me going back in time to the very first episode. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Lynn Chang, the woman who left the set bawling because she was asked if any of her presentation consisted of her own work, then came back to present her “Yoga for Cats” books. I used to work with her between 7½ and 9 years ago at Mattel, and let me just say that, given what a nasty bitch she was, and how she went out of her way to make my life a miserable hell, it gave me no small pleasure to watch her national television humiliation. This is the karma I always hoped would come back to haunt her, and believe me, it was well-deserved.
Oh, and she’s no more 26 years old than I’m an astronaut. If she were 26 now, that would’ve made her 17 - 18 years old when we worked together, and when she was the Senior Brand Manager for Real Talkin’ Bubba, (and she’d been with the department long before I moved to that group, which would’ve made her in her mid-teens when she started), which is utterly absurd. She was in her late 20s or early 30s then, which puts her closer to 40 now, than 20. But lying is a typical characteristic of hers, so it doesn’t come as any surprise to me.
HA!
And yeah, surfer dude is much more of an installation artist than an interior decorator. In this episode, I liked Robb’s room (GREAT use of the top of that table on the wall, complete with backlighting, though the upholstered stool needed to be on the other side of the room for better balance opposite the hanging shelf, or just removed altogether), Christina’s room (loved the brooms as plants!) and Will’s room the best.
I have been underwhelmed by the designs so far. Only the wave room I have really liked, and it is not a real room. I like the double eliminations, though. It might make the show short enough that I will stick to the end.
I’m an HGTV whore. It is the default channel on the TV upstairs. I always thought Danielle would get her own show after Design Remix. Instead she’s still second fiddle (although it does look like she has a lot more say). Karen McAloon has got a new show on HGTV. What happened to poor Ian? I noticed the carpenters do all the work and get little of the glory on HGTV.
Todd’s room was possibly the most beautiful design I’ve ever seen. But’s that’s not what I liked most about it. What I liked most about it was the introduction of an entirely new — new to me, anyway — design element. The idea of basically trashing a whole section of room had never occured to me before. But there are so many ways that the idea can be extended, far beyond just crashing waves. I can envision so many kinds of rooms, from parlors to bedrooms. A destroyed baby grand and chandelier in a parlor. A greatroom fireplace trailing off into a pile of stone rubble. A half-bath with an exploding toilet suspended in midair. A bedroom with torn pillows and blown feathers. Fantastic!
I agree that his room was great to look at, and he was definitely the most creative in this challenge. I saw it as an art piece more than a room too. But since I have yet to see him design anything of real function in a room, I wonder how long he is destined to last. Maybe he will suprise me, but I have a feeling he is going to end up being the crazy creative guy who can’t design for real life. Plus his personality is grating after a while, I wouldn’t want to be his roommate, that’s for sure. (Does he ever wear a shirt? Dude we get it…you’re the cute blond carpenter. Tone it down a little.) Based on his work so far, I would go see an art show of his but I wouldn’t hire him to design a room for me. We’ll see though.
I was suprised overall at how good the rooms were. They all seemed to step it up for this challenge. Although some of them really don’t have very good painting skills.
Early on I thought I would like Scott’s room the best (I really liked the painting he did on the walls, and the lanterns.) If only he had taken all the jars and plates and crap out of there and let his walls and rug make the statement. The overall effect ended up looking like a Pier One store.
Sparkle Josh is going to get tiresome after a while too. He strikes me as being a one-note designer. Right now I would say the black guy (is it Will?) is a strong contender to last to the end.
I agree - he has a nice, clean style (sort of like Vern in his early days on Trading Spaces) that works well. Plus, he has a decent personality and is actually kind of funny as well.
I didn’t see last season, but isn’t that how the last guy won? I kind of remember him being bluntly advertised as the hot dude with the toolbelt, and who cared if he knew design.
That could work both for or against him. For one, there is a precedent about that selling, on the other hand, that is last year’s trick and they might not want to repeat it.
But David showed time and again that he was the “total package” - looks, skills, personality, and design/artistic talent. Have you watched any episodes of his show, Color Splash? I may not always like the finished product - just not my style - but the finished rooms always look great, and the homeowners are thrilled.
His designs are pretty good and I love how he always makes a signed piece of art for his TV clients. My tastes tend more towards the Giantess of HGTV, Candice Olson. She’s elegant while David is, well, splashy.
Candice Olson is The Bomb! Utterly amazing designer. I’d kill to have her do my house.
I watched a couple of episodes of David’s show, but I have this irrational reason I could never bring myself to like it. His final room in the competition was intentionally lacking in color. While he was still working on the room, the judges told him flat out that they thought he needed even just a little splash of color somewhere in the room, even if it was just a pillow, and he stood his ground and left the color palette entirely neutral.
Then, when it was finished and the judges critiqued it, Vern Yip said, “I wish that there had been just one spot of color on the bed, a little bit of color, to me, would’ve added a lot more to this room,” and the blonde judge whose name I can’t remember said, “He obviously didn’t want to take our advice.” No, he stayed true to himself (even his “Pet Store” room was a muted pallete), and I think the room was the better for it. I think a spot of color would’ve been distracting in all that serenity he created.
So what did they do? They forced him to take their advice and gave him a show that was the antithesis to the designs that won him the show in the first place! And I can’t explain it, but it made me feel like “Color Splash” really wasn’t “David Bromstad,” but was “HGTV” boxing him in where they wanted to fit him.
Plus, I got sick of that same stupid tree painting he did in every single room!
Candice Olson is by far the best designer ever to hit the airwaves…that woman could turn a shanty into a palace! Then again, she has an entire crew of professional construction workers who do not skimp on a single minuscule facet of the room. The electrician alone spends days installing new cables and outlets. They never mention price, but you can bet it costs a fortune to do what she does - and it shows.
David seems to have a crew of one - a woman who is handy with a toolbelt - and that too shows.
The designers on Design Star are nowhere near Candice’s level of expertise.
Then again, that is not the point of this show - though it would be nice if some of them would actually go on to get a degree in interior design to ensure no further idiotic errors (like forgetting to measure a counter top before buying tiles!) happen. Haven’t most of them freely admitted to no training other than some personal experience doing a few rooms on their own?
100% agree. I cannot recall a single room that disappointed me. Of course, not having a do-it-on-a-dime budget that most of these shows have definitely helps her cause. I’m amazed at her attention to detail and function.
My second favorite designer is Lisa LaPorta (from “Designed to Sell” with Clive Davis). I’m constantly amazed what she does on a shoestring budget. I’d love to see what she could do with a real budget.
Yes! Love her. The other DTS designers can spruce up a place nicely, but Lisa has a real eye for where to spend the dollars to get the maximum effect.
And even though I love all the ‘design for pennies’ type shows (Design on a Dime and Designing Cents* comes to mind) they all cheat because they all have either carpenters or contractors on staff. Hell, I could redo my whole house for a few thousand bucks if I knew how to re-wire and build furniture.
*I think that’s the name. The red-headed lady and an interior decorator have $500 to redo a room. Unlike D on a D, her rooms look like they were done on the cheap, if you ask me.
My 2nd favorite HGTV designer after Candice is Kenneth Brown, of reDesign, followed closely by Michael Payne, who used to host that show Designing for the Sexes.
I, too, could do a TON with my house if I didn’t have to pay labor charges. I’ve found that that’s the bulk of design expense – the paint and chotchkes are very inexpensive.
The show I really miss is Sensible Chic. They revamped it and called it something else (I can’t remember right now) [eta: aha! Double Take], but it was never quite as good.
