Trading Spaces 5/3, Or, They're in Ivylass's Town!!

Cafe Society
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Hilde and Kia and Amy Wynn in College Park in Orlando!

Not my favorite designers, but we press on.

I think Hilde had the bigger challenge, because she basically had to redo an entire “house.” The single father lived in a studio apartment, and Hilde did an okay job separating the space into different areas for eating, sleeping, and entertaining.

I thought the beds separated by a blind was a little weird. The idea of using a photograph blown up on the blind was an unusual idea, but the daughter’s side was bare. Couldn’t they have at least decorated it for her?

I seem to remember that he had a huge TV in his space…I did not see where it was put back. Did I miss it?

Last minute crisis with the attic ladder, but Amy Wynn saved the day.

Kia’s room…well, the woman loves themed rooms, so I guess I wasn’t too surprised. It wasn’t as bad as some of her others, and at first I thought the green on the walls was a bit overpowering, but the bed display certainly toned that down. The furniture got repainted, but I’m not a big fan of distressing paint jobs. To me, it just makes it look like a crappy paint job.

Hilde Hilde Hilde…painting the carpet? Well, Single Dad doesn’t have much living space, so the carpet was pretty much covered up by furniture. Maybe they won’t notice.

Did anyone else notice the bruises on Amy Wynn’s arms?

Looks like next week they’re on to California, so I guess they’re done with their tour of Florida. Too bad…I wouldn’t have minded seeing some shows up in the Jacksonville or Pensacola area.

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Hildi’s room. I can’t imagine painting carpet; wouldn’t it feel crusty? And flake off? Of course, this is the woman who paints upholstered furniture. I hated the computer in the closet. You could see the phone line snaking out of the closet for the computer, but what about an electrical outlet? I don’t suppose there are any electrical outlets in in closet are there? And are those wire shelves strong enough for a computer and a printer?
She stuck the big TV back behind the seating area. But that’s okay, because in Hildi’s world, no one watches TV.
And why did no one check the location of the attic steps before they installed that wall?!? Bad planning!
I liked the big picture of the Paris street, but that whole bed thing seemed stupid. How awkward will it be for the dad and his daughter to be sleeping in the same bed with that shade thing pulled down in between them? It’s going to get pulled down in the middle of the night.
Kia’s room. It actually wasn’t half-bad. For Kia, at least. That green was way too green, though. She called it “mint green.” Uh, I don’t think so. That wasn’t mint green, it was freaking Kelly Green. And that distressed furniture? Way too distressed. It looked awful. Distressed is just a little sanded off the edges here and there. She went way to far in distressing that furniture, IMHO.
And I hate the filmy drapey fabric over the beds. They’ve all done at some point. Doesn’t it get dusty? How the heck do you take it down and clean it? I’d never get it back up the same way.
Frank did one not too long ago that he stapled to the ceiling, and had puddled on the floor. That was stupid. It would get sucked up in the vacuum cleaner.

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Kia’s room wasn’t that bad – except for the green. Green, green, green. Boy, that room was green. You know the homeowners were going to paint that over once the camera crew left. I think if they left it green, just a slightly darker, richer emerald green, it would look nice. (I don’t blame them for wanting to keep the quilt, I thought it was gorgeous.)

And that king bed/two twin beds thing is definitely a little weird – what, you’re going to be bonking your gf’s in your daughter’s half of your bed? ewwwww.

I thought the room looked nice though – I did like the shade. And I thought she did a good job of getting a lot of different functions set up. It was a huge improvement over “before.” (Kia’s less so – the before didn’t look that bad to me on the bedroom.)

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I liked Paige’s remark that they could put a bunch of mallard ducks in the room and they would fit perfectly.

Kind of a lame episode. I have mixed feelings about the bed in Hildi’s room. She had to pack a lot of living into a small space and I don’t know if using a bunch of uni-tasker elements was the best idea. Can you really turn one small room into a functionally demarcated apartment? I’m thinking that she would have been better off using some mulit-tasking elements – maybe. I’ve never lived in a studio apartment before, so maybe what she did really is the best solution…

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I loved Hilde’s room. . . thought she made really clever use of the space she had and the requirements of the Single Dad with Visiting Daughter scenario. It was neat, tidy and functional. What the heck!
On the other hand, Kia’s room was once more a MESS! No, it was worse than a mess. It was hideous!!! It wasn’t Moroccan. It wasn’t Indian. It was Green and Purple. It looked like a giant bruise with badly painted furniture! Thank God for the quilt. It was the only good thing in the room . . . and the only thing Kia had not touched! Hmmmmmm. Is there a lesson here? Saving grace: No Border!
The only good thing I can say for Kia is that she looks like she’s a really nice person. . . talentless, but nice.

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the tv is a bit colour challenged, so what y’all saw as green, i saw as a rather deep blue. the room works with deep blue walls. were they wearing green smocks as well?

hildi was determined to paint someones rug. i’m thinking latex paint doesn’t really work well as a rug dye. one night when he is really bored, i’m sure he can just peel paint off the rug.

the bed thing is a bit odd. i’m wondering what age is daughter is, and has hildi EVER been in the vicinity of a child? children are not restfull sleepers. i give the screen a half nights chance.

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I completely agree with annieclaus on all points. I thought what Hildi did with that studio apartment was brilliant. She made excellent use of the space, including setting up the computer in the closet (I once put a portable clothes dryer inside my kitchen pantry (the portable washer was stowed beside the fridge and rolled over to the sink when needed) and it was easy to get an electrical outlet put in there for it. If the HO doesn’t want to wrap a chord around to the outside, this is something he can easily add later).

And although the TV was behind the chairs, it was in front of the bed, which doubled as a sofa, so the guy could watch tv sitting there or laying in bed at night. All he’d have to do if people came over and wanted to sit in the chairs to watch with him is turn them around and scootch them over to either side of the table (or move the table out of the way).

Kia’s room just plain sucked. She seems to be the tacky replacement for that weird lamp lady from season one (what was her name again?). Hildi may make some weird choices from time to time (hay or silk flowers on the walls, circus tents, etc.), but she’s done many rooms that I’ve loved, that are classy and stylish. Kia OTOH has never done anything I’d want within a thousand miles of my home. Utter crap, all of it. Blech! I can’t stand Frank’s country kitsch, but I’d take a Frank room over a Kia room any day of the week!

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I read in today’s paper that there will be more Orlando episodes airing beginning May 31 for three weeks. I wonder if we’ll see a Vern room?