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« Top Design
April 11, 2007: Lofty Visions
"Was there any question, really, people? Seriously." — Matt.
No, Matt, no indeed.
Both his and Carisa's final projects were gorgeous and inspired personal visions. But Matt dependably exuded his polished, sophisticated and serene self — an aesthetic that's a bit older and more refined than Carisa's, and a better match with the tastes of Elle Decor's Margaret Russell.
Though Todd told them they'd have two months for this challenge, let's be honest: They really only had five days. Two months of conceptualizing and formulating a plan and phoning the PDC, yes, but five days to install flooring, walls, paint, furniture, kitchen cabinets and appliances, curtains, etc, throughout a 1,700-square-foot loft in downtown Los Angeles.
Two months later and three days away from the deadline, both found themselves over budget at the PDC and behind schedule back at their respective lofts, despite the added carpenters (did you see Sarah?) and crew.
Both finalists chose black floors that looked beautiful… but after lots of white paint and dry-wall dust and tape… not so much. I don't understand why Carisa's floor needed to be hand-carved mahogany if she was just going to paint it black. It was so heartening, though, to see her really stepping up, pulling an all-nighter, refusing to be the "Mayor of Excuses Village" and painting into the wee hours without complaining and/or blaming her carpenter Carl. (In fact, two months apart seemingly transformed that relationship, and they got along swimmingly those last five days.) Ed, Matt's initial carpenter, was back, too, but all his handiwork couldn't save Matt from also having to repaint his black concrete floor until 4:45 am, when he literally painted himself out of the loft and was ready to "lay in a corner and cry."
I don't know how they did it, but somehow both designers pulled it all together. I loved Carisa's ping-pong/dining-room table, bed pit (and Adler's "I can imagine getting into some freaky scenes in that pit") and layout, as well as Matt's daughter's princess bed, purple bathroom (Michael, take note), furniture selection and color scheme.
I've never seen Carisa and Matt so nervous in the white room. Understandably, it was tense: There was a lot on the line, and past Bravo reality shows have been known to pass over the polite and composed talent for the more… conniving artiste. Plus, Adler kind of matched and Kelly's hair could pass for tousled-chic and guest judge "La Styler" (aka Trudie) was more harsh and persnickety than Margaret Russell. So I was puzzled by such a (relatively) staid, almost grim judging panel, and was unsure what kind of decision would come from this new dynamic.
Well, then again… was there any question, really? Carisa took the loss so graciously; she was alarmingly poised. But surely she's smart enough to know that assignments and job opportunities will now come streaming in and she has a great career ahead of her.
In the meantime, I'm curious to see what happens with the Top Designer, and wondering what the other Designers will be up to in the coming months. If anyone stuck around for those "exclusive" contestant interviews that aired during the Shear Genius premiere, and if anything interesting was said — do tell.
Thanks for watching with me, and thanks for reading!
Addendum: Sorry for the belated add-on, folks, but I've been under the weather. Here's TVGuide.com's interview with winner Matt Lorenz, in case you haven't read it yet.
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Apr 12, 2007 2:09 AM
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Wasn't crazy about Matt's conceit, but guess you have to be super confident to be a winner.
I liked both lofts, and truthfully, I liked Carisa's just a tiny bit more.
I'll be looking forward to another edition of Top Design. Just don't much care for Jonathon Adler!
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Apr 12, 2007 2:52 AM
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I like Carisa a lot but I also like Matt's. I thought Carisa more orginal but since I did not like her glad Matt won. If someone from TVguide reads these comments, could you tell your web designer to stop making it so fancy that we get hung up in your website. I have had to kill the process already 10 times because it freezes up and you can read the bottom of blogs or you can not go to any screen and even the X in the top will not end the process.
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Apr 12, 2007 9:05 AM
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Every time Matt tells us he has a wife and kid, I can't help but think of Dana Carvey's old SNL skit "Lyle the Effeminate Heterosexual".
I really don't care for Carissa but I liked her design last night more than Matt's. But Matt was more consistent throughout the season.
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Apr 12, 2007 9:28 AM
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I am a happy camper that Matt won, but I was also impressed with Carisa's loft. If you were to sell Matt and Carisa's lofts as is, I think Matt's would've pulled in more money than Carisa's, because it was elegant and Jonathan Adler said it looked more expensive. By the way, Jonathan did look sorta OK last night. Someone must've laid out his clothes for him, because they matched for a change.
When I was watching Shear Genius, Matt clearly didn't like Mrs. Sting, aka Trudie. He thought she was too picky and wouldn't be invited to his loft, although Sting was welcomed to stop by and sing him a song.
I found Matt to be a bit effeminate, too. But, I guess all men who are straight don't have to be super macho.
I will miss this show and I'm not sure I'll be sticking with Shear Genius. It was OK, but nothing to write home about. Although, Jacklyn Smith looks fabulous for a 61 year old woman.
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Apr 12, 2007 9:56 AM
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I think they intended Matt to win no matter what he did in the loft. And so he did.
But I agree with the other people who posted here. I liked Carisa's loft better than Matt's loft. I think Matt took a lovely big space and made it feel small and enclosed and Carisa took a lovely big space and made it seem big and open while still managing to create areas of separate use.
What I particularly liked about Carisa's design was how she used the beautiful old-fashioned paned windows and replicated that shape throughout the apartment ... from the open cube wall separating the bedroom to the mirrors and the dining room chairs. It was beautiful. And then when she put that beautiful green wall in the bathroom ... it was a 60s pop color and it was a lovely contrast to the black and white throughout the loft. I wish she had time to put out the books she said were in the boxes. That would have given the room a bit more life. But ... after weeks of everybody going after Carisa for her clutter and overuse of accent pieces, it is really funny that they went after her for not having them, too.
I felt sorry for her about the floor. She had bought what she thought was handcarved mahogany that was supposed to be refinished in black and instead all someone did was paint it black. If it had been refinished it would have been gorgeous. Painted wood floors are not so gorgeous.
I thought Matt's loft had promise when he said he was going to do a 40s inspired loft. I thought of the classic movie Laura, but I also thought of the movie elegance of the 1930s. Unfortunately I don't think that Matt managed to carry through his theme. Further, he took a beautiful space and sliced it up with walls and made it feel small. And I think the judges noted some of this, too, because they briefly talked about how he could do design but not architecture and this challenge was as much about design as about architecture.
I wasn't nearly as impressed with the princess room as the judges, either. While the desk was beautiful, it was singularly unsuitable for a small 4-year-old girl. It was too expensive and too big for her. What she needed was a child-sized table or desk for her coloring and messy kid projects. Not a $7K white adult-sized desk.
Another thing about the daughter's room ... it was right next to the living room, and even though they gave her a real door, she still would have been in the middle of all the noise if Matt were to have guests or if he and his wife were to sit up talking or listening to music or something. The adult bedroom was a little too hotel for me, too. As for his floor and painting in the middle of the night, haven't any of them ever heard of drop cloths? As in covering the floor before they did all that work? And if Matt's floor needs to be repainted when it gets dirty instead of just washed, that is bad design.
What I did love was the wall of photos of Matt's daughter. That was fabulous. And I also loved some of the pieces of his furniture.
They love Matt because he manages, no matter what, to put in those little decorator finishing touches, such as flowers, every single time.
In this task, Carisa had the top design, but they gave Matt the win because they based it on the overall work of the competition. Throught the competition, Matt produced work that was more elegant than Carisa and that was more tuned to the kind of design that is the bread and butter of Elle Decor. His style meshed with that of the judges, and Carisa's did not.
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Apr 12, 2007 11:53 AM
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Even though I figured Matt would win I was still upset when I saw that TVguide.com posted his picture and the headline that he'd won on the main page of their website. Unfortunately I didn't get to watch last night and I had recorded it to watch after work today. I was trying to avoid the news but didn't think I had to avoid the home page of tvguide.com to do it! Usually these things aren't on until a couple days later. Bummer.
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Apr 12, 2007 1:13 PM
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This finale was a real downer. They had already decided who the winner was before they even issued the challenge. It was obvious they favored Matt even though Carisa clearly won this challenge hands down. And I think Matt was more intimidated by Carisa than he would have anyone belive. Did you catch how many times we hear him saying he "couldn't be beaten by a student" and "I cannot lose to her" . What a sad little man he is.
I feel Carisa is more original, more energetic and definitely more gracious. Matt and others have made disparaging remarks about her over and over, but she never volunteered anything negative about anyone, at least that we were shown.
She was much more gracious in her loss that I was on her behalf. I was upset and felt she had been wronged. Although, based on the three full-time judge's appearance, I don't think I want to win any contest they are judging.
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Apr 12, 2007 1:47 PM
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I loved Top Design...but, I think I will love Shear Genius even more...(I wish Jean Paul could have stayed longer...what a catty!
WHERE IS THE SHEAR GENIUS BLOG!!!
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Apr 12, 2007 2:18 PM
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Matt was destined to win from the beginning. He was just overall on the mark the whole time, however, I really was not happy with his snide little comments all through the season. His loft was very luxurious. The colors were perfect, however, it's too bad they weren't allowed to shop at IKEA for his daughter's room!
Carisa was surprisingly gracious last night. I was in shock, she usually has a smart comment or an eye roll about everything. I agree with other posters that her room was better, however, I really couldn't live with a bed like that, it would kill me, but wait, the room was for her. . . Did anyone else notice her dining room chairs were the same ones Andrea used in the restaurant challenge?
Aimee thanks for great the blogs, I'll see you next time!
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Apr 12, 2007 7:50 PM
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I hate to admit this, but I think I'm going to buy a subscription to Elle Decor! I have been hoping Matt would win since day one (he's my hometown boy!). And, folks, he's not conceited--he's just knows he's good. And God forbid, I do think he would have slit his wrists if he had lost to a student. I don't think Bravo wants that kind of blood on its hands. 
It's been great! See you next year!
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Apr 13, 2007 12:33 PM
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Kikki - I know how you feel... I usually watch Lost and then watch Top Design's 11pm repeat. Since Shear Genius was premiering at 11, I watched that... planning to catch Top Design's finale at 12am.
I was really hoping Bravo wouldn't do what they did last time with Top Chef, but they did.... During the premiere of the new show, they mention (numerous times) the winner of the previous show. It's infuriating... I mean, the show just finished 15 mins ago! At least wait until tomorrow!!!
Aimee... any chance you'll blog Shear Genius?
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Apr 13, 2007 12:45 PM
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I watched Top Design for the first time last night. Just from this one episode, I really liked Carisa. I thought her loft was young, and fun, and sophisticated. I thought she did a much better job at the design than Matt did.
I thought Matt did a better job of his planning - as far as knowing what he princwanted and such. But, his ego, or his knowing that he is good, got on my nerves.
I agree with the poster about shopping at IKEA for the daughters room. They have adorable stuff that would have made an apropriate room for a 4 year old.
Was also wondering if there is going to be a blog for Shear Genius? Loved the show last night!
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Apr 15, 2007 3:10 PM
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Hi all,
Sorry to say that as of now, there's no official TVG Shear Genius blogger…. But feel free to start your own in our Community Blogs area. And to cinm, we're making various changes to the site, and it's causing some hiccups. We feel your pain.
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Apr 16, 2007 4:42 PM
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Shear Genius is advertised all over this site. You'd think someone would pick it up. lol.
Oh well. Thanks!
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Apr 17, 2007 2:29 AM
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