HGTV Design Star

Cafe Society
#1

Anyone else watching? It’s my guilty pleasure of the summer. There is already a bad boy - the swarthy set designer. Jen, one of 150 people in the world with a degree in “color design” came in looking like the smug know-it-all who would be taken down a peg, but then seemed to be a good team player and nice designer. The two guys who did the dining room seem talented, but not noticible enough to host a show.

The new judges can only be better than previous year’s models.

Also, the format change with the judges picking the star. Seems like that’s in response to last year. The winner never had a show as near as I can tell. Anyone know the scoop behind that?

#2

David Bromstad (winner, s1) has “Color Splash.”

Kim Myles (winner, s2) has, or at least had “Myles of Style.”

#3

This is the fourth season. There was a winner after Myles. A blond woman won Season 3.

#4

Jennifer Bertrand won season 3 and she got pregnant and had her child in February. I believe her show comes out in the Fall. I guess being preggers is a no no on TV.

#5

huh, didn’t stop candace olsen.

#6

Yeah, but Candace was already a star before she got pregs, right?

#7

I love this show! I’m glad they got rid of - who they got rid of - first. (too lazy to learn how to spoiler right now)

And yes, Candace was well established. I’m not sure, but I think she’s had more than one kid during her run on tv. Love her stuff. And her crew.

#8

Sorry if this was answered already, but I’m avoiding spoilers.

When is this going to be rerun? I, I mean my mom, missed the opening show and she’d like to be able to catch it.

So yeah, if you guys could help her out, I’ll relay the info. Thanks. :slight_smile:

#9

Down to three designers. Tori was doomed by being consumed with bitterness about the money fiasco. Not that I blame her, but she was in a personality contest and should have tried to shrug it off. Antonio needs to cut out the passive aggressiveness for the same reason.

They all look absolutely exhausted. This last challenge, especially, was over the top. That yard was huge! And they only had 4 people and 36 hours.

I liked the stream of stones. Once again, Antonio felt the need to overrule everyone.

I was really surprised that Dan didn’t take the R for the money fiasco. He was clearly in the wrong. And spending $10k on that vinyl pergola was a really, really bad decision. I cannot believe that the pergola salesman wouldn’t quote a price until they got to the site. How stupid is that? They should have hired people to plant all those plants and used their time actually doing something that would have made more impact. And used the cash on putting down a more attractive concrete border around the pool.

I think Lonni will win, but Dan is a close second. He has a great personality aside from the bad decision he made this past week to take the pussy way out.

#10

Antonio is my pick to win. He’s stood out from the beginning, everyone else had to take some time to get in their groove.

And I found out when they show reruns, no thanks to anyone here. :stuck_out_tongue:

#11

i thought for sure antonio would be gone by now. he is not a team player at all. i would not watch any show he stars in.

#12

Hate, hate, hate Antonio. He knew he would take over; he just passive-aggressively let Tori be leader so she would end up under the bus. Like rocking chair, I will not watch anything he hosts. He’s a tool.

I hope Lonni wins.

#13

I hope Lonni at least makes the final two. She’s easily the best looking person left. :wink:

#14

I think what kill Torri was that Dan went 5k over and that caused the team to be 5k over without any furniture. :confused:
Think about it a sec. Even if Dan stayed in his budget, there’d be no $ for furniture. The budget was screwed anyways. Plus IMHO, those kids play areas are always outragously expensive - at least 5 to 6X what they should be. No way should she have spent over 4K on that.

#15

I didn’t know anyone started a thread, but yes, I watch.

I’ve been predicting for weeks that it’ll come down to Antonio and Lonni. We’ll see. Antonio has been my favorite since the second episode, so I’m happy he’s still in it.

My mind is blown by the play structure they bought: if you go to Home Depot or Lowes you can get a nicer one than they did for less than $2,000. What on earth were they thinking? Yesterday’s episode was really underwhelming, they didn’t design much of anything. Candice was right, they just bought a bunch of stuff.

#16

Having spent far too much time, and money, in my own backyard, I knew exactly what they were doing wrong as they worked on that big yard.

  1. Stamped concrete is just as easy to make around the pool - does not take any more time and gives it texture.
  2. How could they have missed the idea of potted palms around the pool? Have none of them seen a pool area in warm climates?
  3. That stupid gazebo was WAY overpriced (they could have built one for 1/20th the price, and the design was boring - plus, did no one notice it seemed to be Antonio’s idea to pick that one?
  4. Garden furniture was butt-ugly.
  5. They could have created - from scratch - a far more interesting, and fun, play area for a two year old. That was a brainless cop-out.
  6. Never, ever plant bamboo unless you build a deep wall around the roots! That crap grows like crazy and will take over an entire yard in no time! Same with yucca plants - those two things grow so fast, they make dandelions seem like an endangered plant in comparison!

Things they could have done, but didn’t:

  • Fire pit - very nice in the evenings, even in warm climates - it gets a bit chilly and it’s nice to sit around a fire.
  • Koi pond - easy to build, and nice to put in water lilies, etc. Would have helped giving that Zen feeling they didn’t get.
  • Subtle, outdoor lighting (ie Malibu lights) around the perimeter.
  • Large umbrellas - for sun, and to make certain areas “cozy” and adds color.
  • Putting green (for the sheer fun of it.)
  • A day bed in the shaded area - wonderful to take a nice nap on lazy Sunday afternoons - for both adults and the kid.
  • Depending on the region, at least one citrus fruit tree - simply to have something to pick and make lemonade, or orange juice. Smell great in the backyard as well.

I think of all the challenges this season, this was by FAR the least successful, and over budget to boot. They should have all had their shows canceled.

#17

totally agree, dump all 4 and get in an entire new showfull of people!

#18

I agree. However, I think this challenge was setting them up for failure because they only had 4 people! It was a great challenge, and a nice diversion from their normal challenges, but should have been put in the beginning when they had 6 or more people. Each could have tackled a portion of the yard and created something far more spectacular with the same budget.

For instance, yes, you can build a nice playset for 1/10 of the cost. However, that’s labor intensive and the builders would have to know what they’re doing and be able to lift heavy timber. With only four designers left, that meant both Dan and Antonio would have been committed to that project for the better part of two days, leaving the two women to do all the shopping, hauling, planting, and digging out the koi pond and fire pit. It was too much!

I was surprised that we didn’t see more negotation. Last year’s winner, whose name escapes me, was awesome at haggling about prices. She got a huge real wood dining room table (which she later painted, to my chagrin) for some ridiculously low price simply by asking. Dan should have started the conversation with: “I have $5,000, cash, to spend, which includes installation. And it has to be installed tomorrow. What’s the best thing you can give me for that amound of money.”

#19

I’ve been obsessed with the fact that they didn’t rebuild the fence around the pool - they have a 2 yr old fer cripes sake :stuck_out_tongue: Now what’s gonna happen to their insurance?

#20

Are you my mom? She couldn’t let that go either. :stuck_out_tongue: