In This Section
|
« Top Design
February 21, 2007: Diamonds in the Rough
Yay! This show is getting more interesting, as we learn more about the players and as the challenges heat up. Going into tonight's episode, I knew Ryan and Carisa would have to step up their game in order to avoid Jonathan Adler's "See you later, decorator!" line (which I think is so lame, by the way, but that's just my teensy opinion).
I thought tonight's challenge tested the designers on many levels. It looked as though they were each assigned their client, as opposed to them randomly choosing for whom they'd create a live/work space. Once the contestants started brainstorming with their respective clients (themselves interior-design students), the reason for such purposeful assignments seemed clear: Since many of the clients had similar taste and style to their designated designer (or "mini-me's" as Felicia explained), I had to wonder whether this setup was an opportunity to get a better idea of each designer's unique style, and not limit them with client (or destination, as in last week) parameters.
The next obstacle was that they buy all furniture and accent pieces at garage sales. As Andrea expected, I was totally surprised she'd never been to a garage sale. I always thought designer types were just the sort of creatives that thrive on finding some obscure castoff and turning it into something fabulous. And it seems that was exactly what the judges were anticipating them to do — refurbish castoffs, or risk being cast off. I think (and I could be way off) that it's easier to be trendy, stylish and modern when money is no object. But surviving the "one man's trash is another man's treasure" situation takes imagination and a strong design sensibility. (I mean, there's a reason college dorm rooms often look the way they do. Well, several reasons I suppose, but hopefully you get my point.)
Though Todd Oldham's arrival at the PDC usually signifies another brutal twist in the challenge at hand, his presence the next day was a good thing. He announced that after this challenge and through the end of the contest, designers could pick their carpenter (à la Project Runway's fashionistas picking their model), and the live/work challenge winner would get first dibs.
Following that news, there were several scenes of designers working with their respective carpenters, and that gave a clearer sense of how important the carpenters are to the end result and how a designer-carpenter tiff can hugely affect a project. Case in point: Carisa freaked out again this week after her carpenter apparently brought back wood that was too heavy to implement her "rolling desk" design, which was her space's main feature. In a dramatic gesture, she tore the desk apart. At that point, I was envisioning Adler's nasal offing phrase being projected in her direction.
But, meanwhile, there were other questionable finished products. Felicia's bold tie-fabric-as-wallpaper might have worked — without that completely dissonant rainbow-colored crochet blanket on the bed. Gross. Indeed, the judges questioned her about the crochet afghan, and her client likened the room (aside from the wallpaper) to grandma's house. So I thought maybe she'd be the goner.
Then we caught a glimpse of Ryan's creation. His refurbishing handiwork was really impressive, and using his own artwork as seating — very creative. He certainly showcased his artistic side tonight. But I did agree with the judges that it was too busy. Taking down that screen would have helped, but his color palette and all the furniture made his 12X12 room look smaller than everyone else's.
I didn't realize how evenly decorated and high-end Matt's room looked until I saw the succeeding ones, with their mismatched furniture and scattered themes. Several were too obviously created using junkyard finds. There were some flashes of brilliance, though: loved Goil's shelves halfway under the table chairs. Great space-saving idea.
Carisa's room turned out looking surprisingly put together and seamless, despite the rolling-desk debacle. So why did she (as far as we saw) begin her discussion with the judges by talking about the failed table? Her design was consistent, the client loved it, the deco furniture finds were a perfect fit; I was thinking, keep your mouth shut! The judges liked her room, too — so much so that she won the challenge!
But Felicia was out, doomed by the tacky bed covering. I can't believe the judges didn't kick off Ryan — or just kick him in general. He said to Top Design judges that he didn't think it was hard to "make a room pretty," was consistenetly derogatory toward them (Margaret Russell said) and had a "badass maverick attitude" (according to Adler). So why is he still on the show — to be a further source of drama and contention? Something tells me he will follow through on that.
|
TVGuide Links:
|
|
|
|
Feb 22, 2007 1:29 AM
|
This show is definitely coming into its own. I love the challenge and seeing their creativity. I have no creative bone in my body so its cool to see what the come up with. Goil is by far my fav. I am always interested to see what he comes up with.
On another note, I think its time someone address judge Kelly W.'s fashion. I find it kooky and distracting. A crimped blow-out - no the best look in the world. Every week, I am left wondering who dressed her.
|
|
Feb 22, 2007 8:38 AM
|
|
I think that Ryan should have gotten the boot last night; I thought he should have gone home last week, but this week's comments were out of line. He was basically saying that he was better than EVERY other person there and implying design is all about making a room "pretty". If that's the case then a) why did he apply to be on the show and b) if he's so much better than the other contestants, then why has he been in the bottom twice in a row? I was surprised that Kelly wasn't offended by his comments and defended him against Margaret. As for Kelly's hair/clothes each week, I totally agree with darkangel-- her hair last night was ridiculous!! As for Felicia's granny debacle last night, I feel really bad that she didn't realize until it was too late that she should have taken a moment to edit her room. She at leat seemed to learn from her mistakes, whereas some of the others (Michael, Ryan) refuse to see their rooms from another perspective. Michael's purple and yellow combo was just not right. My two faves thus far are Goil, because he creates and manipulates spaces within a square box so well; and Carissa, because she seems to produce the cleanest overall designs-- other than the overuse of pillows in her past designs, she keeps it simple and modern. I like Matt's rooms, but his personality has yet to shine through. Overall, I love the show!!
|
|
Feb 22, 2007 10:36 AM
|
This is a good show, but I really have a problem with the judge Kelly W. Like an earlier poster, her fashion style is kind of crappy if you ask me. She also never smiles and looks like a statue. That actually is all I could concentrate on last night. She seems to have a very "I'm better then you" attitude that comes across on every episode.
I think Goil is the best designer...definitly thinks out of the box and seems to have his ego in check...unlike others on this show.
|
|
Feb 22, 2007 11:15 AM
|
I thought Ryan's room looked like a high-end prison cell.
Agree with all of your comments concerning Kelly W. hairdo. She looked bizaare.
|
|
Feb 22, 2007 1:22 PM
|
How can a designer (Carissa) who completely ignores a client's request (for more storage space) win the challenge? This is beyond me. If a designer did that to me, I'd fire them.
To me, Matt's design was, by far, the best. He met all of his client's desires, it looked beautiful and not at all like from a garage sale. He's humble and nice. He should have won.
Ryan should have gone home. He doesn't belong there. I think Kelly W. defended him, because she so desperately wants to appear 'hip'. Ditto with her hair, etc. Unfortunately, she just comes off as desperate.
|
|
Feb 22, 2007 1:38 PM
|
I'm enjoying this show more with each episode, but not quite up to Top Chef enjoyable---yet.
I have to agree that Ryan should have gone home---the last two episodes! The woman from last week and Felecia deserved to stay longer. I think the wrong color choice was less offensive than the furniture and the structure (Goil's cabana) not having a dialogue.
Goil is a great designer, but having said that, I'm not sure about the bed from last night. It looked great but I think I might have sunk below the surface level, even with the mattress.
One question: do the clients actually get their rooms? Or are they just there to promote the challenge? Did the kids get their bedrooms, too?
Erik's eyebrow-raising still cracks me up!
I think I'm liking Todd Oldham better than Tim Gunn. Kelly is a little kooky but I like her. But if you want to talk about judges' fashions, I hate Adler's big fat tie. Unfortunately, there are fotos of me wearing them in the '70s (when I was a little boy) and I'm never going back again!
|
|
Feb 22, 2007 2:32 PM
|
|
I absolutely, positively cannot stomach Adler's "See you later, decorator." It just comes off (to me) as being childish and disrespectful. He is actually the one who annoys me most on this show.
|
|
Feb 22, 2007 5:25 PM
|
I agree with Earth Girl. If the designer did not match my request, i would fire her. I like Matt room better!
Carisa should not have won!!
|
|
Feb 22, 2007 8:37 PM
|
Do the producers not want any straight men to keep watching this show?
I was seriously hoping Felicia's breasts would make it to the end.
My wife will miss them too. But not as much as I will.
|
|
Feb 23, 2007 9:28 AM
|
I totally agree with the comments disagreeing with Carisa's win. It was a decent design, but certainly not the best of the group. Matt's was far superior and much more creative AND fulfilled his client's needs. Carisa had an opportunity to fulfill her client's need for more storage underneath that gi-normous bed and didn't do it.
I also get distracted by Kelly's fashion choices... the legwarmers with the high heels in the previous episode killed me and her hair this week was ridiculous!
|
|
Feb 26, 2007 12:46 PM
|
Why do these shows always throw off the women no matter how bad the men's designs appear? I don't even know how Ryan made it to the show. He has no design sense at all. At least Felicia did OK in earlier challenges.
Almost all the women are gone even though the men seem to get a pass when they make a mistake. All of Michael's other designs were rated as "Grandmotherly" but he is still on the show.
|
|
Feb 27, 2007 4:13 PM
|
huh. I don't know what was "deco" about Carisa's room... the pieces looked pretty mid-century to me. But I didn't find her room all that amazing (I'm with the many others who thought Matt was the real winner), so maybe I wasn't looking hard enough.
ANYWAYS. I guess I'm the only one who LOVES Jonathon Adler, lol. He cracks me up so much with his comments and facial expressions. And I actually find his critiques to be pretty much dead-on.
I think the weirdest part about the show is the judging section. It always seems so disjointed. Let's line up in the white room. Let's look at the designs. Let's line up again in the white room and answer questions. Let's let the judges talk about the answers to the questions. Let's line up AGAIN in the white room. lol, I don't know, it just seems like they could find SOME way to streamline this a bit.
(Oh yeah, I'm totally cracking up about all the comments about Ms. Crimped-hair's wacky clothes. Considering that she posed nude in some men's magazine (that's right, isn't it? I'm pretty sure I saw that somewhere), it's a little ironic.  )
|
|
Mar 1, 2007 3:38 AM
|
|
|
