No TS thread again this week? Jeez, does everyone have weekend jobs or something?
So, the British Invasion continues with a visit from Changing Rooms designer (and now host I think) Lawrence to redesign a master bedroom and Christi re-doing a living room. Carter on carpentry.
Um, so…I liked the new living room, except I question painting the wall behind the shelving unit red if what’s going to be displayed there is Santas (largely red). Maybe something more contrasting?
Didn’t care for the mural in the bedroom but I liked everything else.
Carter makes me think bad bad things.
Uh, ok, I guess given the stellar nature of this OP I can kind of get why no one else was rushing to start a thread.
I watched last night with my pal tequila, so I’m a little fuzzy on some of the details. I really did like it though. Laurence has a great sense of humor, and it was nice to see someone be playful without being mean or an outright jerk for a change. I usually hate trompe l’oeil but I loved the paneling effect – very subtle. (What a lot of work though!!!) I also LOVED that he showed everyone his thought process and HOW IT WAS SUPPOSED TO LOOK IN THE END!!! What is it with the designers like Hildi constantly trying to trick and surprise the people they’re trying to work with? I usually like toille, but I think there was too much of it in there and it was a bit fussy – also, they can never move their furniture again, right? Was that stuff bolted to the wall or was it lying on top? I did like the way the curtains were mostly red with toille on the bottom. I think toille works best as an accent. The mural I actually liked, though I couldn’t tell you why.
The living room was nice. I can’t believe that thing only cost $80 to build! Re: the red paint with the Santas…I suspect they only brought down the Santas so they’d have something to fill the thing up with. I also thought it odd that she was able to find a fabric for $1 a yard, then only use a tiny bit of it. (She has more restraint than MOST of the designers on the show, eh?) I actually don’t remember much about the room. I remember it was pleasant and an improvement, but there really wasn’t much about it that was remarkable, was there?
I really like Laurence. Can we trade Rick for him?
first time this season i enjoyed the show. i’m not a red fan but i really liked the bedroom. the living room looked really sleek. not christie’s shabby chic usual. i liked the wall unit.
I really enjoyed this episode. Can’t we keep Laurence for a bit? I’m not crazy about him as a designer, but I love his fresh humor. Even though its not my taste, I liked his mural. “Larry” cracked me up when he presented an invoice to Paige for his artwork. I loved that shelving unit Christi designed. The colors she used were superb.
[hijack] I saw Frank today! He was at a local mall, speaking and signing autographs. He was exactly the way he is on the show–very funny and friendly. I asked him what room was his favorite. Turns out it is the Mexican kitchen with the serape on the ceiling. He said he really had to fight for it, even to the extent of a crew member kidding that he wanted a urine sample to test for Frank’s use of substances. Frank also said that he, his wife and Hildi are good friends, although he also said that talking with Hildi is mostly listening–no surprise there. He said Edward is one of his favorite people, too. The biggest scoop is that he said that they edited the ep in which the HO got so mad she wrestled the other HO to the floor. He said that she got much worse, but they felt they couldn’t show that. Yikes. [/hijack]
**Yes, he gets major points in my opinion for that. I think it’s Doug who usually pulls the “Trust me, it’'ll work” bit as he only reveals bits and pieces of his design.
Ugh, I’m with the HOs from Boston a few weeks ago. No toile ever! I think the toile curtains were nailed to the tops of the dressers. He added a new top to the existing pieces, right? (He “aged” it) And it was nailed to that. (I think)
What a PITA, to have to move the curtain aside and then open the drawers.
I wasn’t wild about the mural, but it was better than some of Frank’s stuff and at least it wasn’t Hildi’s head. :eek:
I did like the fake paneling thing he did.
I loved Christi’s wall unit, but I agree, painting it red behind it isn’t going to accent the Santas very much. I was surprised that the HO had them just thrown in a big plastic packing box. If they’re collectible, why weren’t they still in their original boxes?
I have that same cat print that she hung in the middle of it, right over the sofa. Mine’s smaller though.
**That’s my favorite Frank room, too. I usually hate the stuff he paints on walls and furniture (the glurgy quotes and cutesy birds), but that room is actually pretty cool.
I don’t think so. You may recall when Larry & Paige were putting the finish on the tops fo the furniture and she remarked that the would have to do the whole things–I think the curtains were attached to the tops so that the units could be moved with relatice ease.
IMO Lawrence was fantastic. I’ll admit that I don’t know design, but he really sounded like he did. He really came off as a knowledgable professional, well versed in theory and desiring to actually put together a design to fit the space, as opposed to some amateur with a “good” eye and enough luck to get hired.
As a person he seemed delightful as well. His dry British sarcasm that leaves you feeling warm & fuzzy, along with his sincere compliments made for great T.V. When he said that the home owners “rocked his world,” it really came off as a huge compliment. His crush on Paige was well played as well.
My jaw dropped when I saw the paint effect on the walls. To me, it really looked 3-D! I would really like to see that in real life. I was quite pleased with his room.
Is he always that good, or did he save it up to impress us yanks? He really came off as a true professional.
I loved Frank’s serape room, too, and I really wish I had a place in my house to do something like that.
But as to this episode – Lawrence’s room was gorgeous. He’s used toile in rooms before (on Changing Rooms, I’m a CR junkie too) to great effect and I loved how he used it here. But then, I love toile. And the brief was for a romantic room, and that was certainly romantic. The color scheme was rich and vibrant and hey, the homeowners were happy. Plus he’s a professional, for the high art (occasionally verging on camp) of his rooms, he knows what he’s doing. He can explain the classic design basis for everything he does, and can reference the source of all kinds of things, like his sunburst mirror. And for his joking about converting his measurements, we all knew that there were explicit directions – with American measurements – in his little book of magic that were all ready for Carter. He seems a genuine pleasure to work with for all involved. Plus he’s fun to look at.
Christy’s room was a pleasant surprise from her. I was really impressed with the cost of the wall unit. I wonder about the quality of the wood used, but it looked like a great piece. I really liked the window treatments, they brought good balance to the drama of that massive piece. Looking at the red wall, I really don’t think that the Santas were part of the plan, I think they were a convenient item of the homeowners’ to populate those lovely but empty shelves. I missed the very beginning of Christy’s portion of the episode, though, so I could be very wrong on that.
Lawrence has done the fake-panelling effect at least twice on Changing Rooms. And yup, he’s very professional. Sometimes professionally insane, but his rooms are always polished and he’s a stickler for details.
Now if only someone would tell him that clothes come in colors other than black…
Double posting, as it were, to answer js_africanus: yes, Lawrence is always good. He’s had a couple of missteps, theme rooms taken a step further than the homeowner would like – one was garish red with zebra print fabric, the homeowner said it looked like a whore’s boudoir. The other was an Australia theme room that the homeowner just hated, though it was really quite cute and cozy, IMO. He actually holds an interior design degree (unlike most of the TS designers) and has his own design business beyond his television work.
If your cable company offers BBC America, it’s definitely worth getting overall, but to see the fun of Changing Rooms especially so. The half-hour format really makes for a more enjoyable program, much more fast-paced and much more humorous, without the emphasis on trying to get “dramatic” outcomes. Plus, lots of Lawrence!
If you like Changing Rooms on BBC-America, then you would love it on the real BBC – the show is 30 minutes, and BBC-America has to cut much of it out to squeeze in adverts…
I was home in London two weeks ago, and casually cutting through Carnaby St to get back to Soho when I realised I was walking next to Mr L-B…and like an idiot, froze up and couldn’t think of a thing to do about it! Argh!
Another note – he does know his stuff even though he’s a wee bit, er, eccentric; did you know one of his first out-of-school design jobs was the pavement in the Tube Stations in London? And even though some in Britain criticise him for his flamboyance &c, I admire him cos when he did Home Front (and a show prior to that and I apologise I can’t remember the name) he would always stress to people that rather than always to go to established desingers and expensive shops, they could find innovative and cutting edge, smashing stuff at the design school trade shows – plus in that way they could give someone his or her big break, which is how he got his big break…
Thanks. Unfortunately BBC-America isn’t an option. I always thought that 1/2 hour, i.e. 22 minutes, was a little short for this type of show. I can well imagine that the extra eight minutes for a real half-hour really makes a difference.
I suppose it’s also possible that I have seen it, and just repressed the memory to protect my sanity…
Anyway, yesterday’s Changing Rooms episode on BBC Prime was a rerun, I think, with another LLB special: a Baptist church in Manchester. Now, the designers had a big budget to play around with this time, but still I think both designers managed to do something really special, though I liked Lawrence’s better. The other was an all-purpose room in another church nearby.
BBC America
Sometimes they don’t cut the 30 min episodes. They just run forty min. Leads to an interesting schedual sometimes.
I too thought the mural was great but to then put the headboard in front of it was strange. Lawrence in the UK is usually pretty out there design wise. I usually like his stuff though. This time I thought he was kind of tame. (for him)
I just don’t like Carter. He designs are OK I guess but nothing spetacular. I like to see the designers shoot for the moon rather than play it safe.
Maybe the red was chosen to down play the year-round display of Santa. If that was Christi’s plan, she’s a genius.
Still got sweaty and bare chested Barry and Carter installing a bed canopy and accidentally falling on the bed together laughing about it, then tickling, then wrestling, then…
on your mind?
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Lawrence reminds me of Tim Curry, at least his voice inflections do.
Frank also said that he, his wife and Hildi are good friends, although he also said that talking with Hildi is mostly listening–no surprise there. He said Edward is one of his favorite people, too. The biggest scoop is that he said that they edited the ep in which the HO got so mad she wrestled the other HO to the floor. He said that she got much worse, but they felt they couldn’t show that. Yikes. [/hijack]