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Anyone else watching? I thought I would comment as I watched.

Almost missed it but when they went in the first prop house it said they had a rental budget of $2000 and 2 hours.

I think Kris and Mikel were right about Brittany, that prop house was huge.

A spandex rug? Didn't think that would work.

So far they are making it look like Rachel is on her way out.

The judges haven't done their walkthrough yet but Rachel's room doesn't look very Victorian to me.

Can't wait to see them all.

I think it's going to be between Danielle and Brittany. Loved both their rooms. I think Danielle had the better camera challenge.

Tough to say who will leave, there was a lot not to like.

I don't want to spoil it for the West Coasters but I think I'd have sent the other person home.

I've got spoilers in the title so I think it's okay to say who won and lost. But if you don't know stop reading this post.

I used to like Brittany but she sure showed her claws tonight. Her camera challenge wasn't that good. I guess you have to have a big ego to go on Design Star but maybe she shouldn't have said her room was better in front of Danielle.

I liked both rooms but I do think that Danielle's was the best. Could have gone either way.

I felt bad for Mikel but I don't know what he was going to do to make that fireplace really stand out. Stanley choose good furniture but his camera challenge was bad, he was having a good time enjoying the party

Hilari is not a comedian but her room was good.

Rachel's room was just sad, I didn't think it had anything Victorian in it. Her camera challenge was just terrible.

Kris lost me with the paneling, yes they used it in the 70's but only as home improvement. The couch in the corner would have been okay if he hadn't put a desk in front of it. I think Rachel was saved because she had two previous wins and Kris had no wins. I don't think that will work for her anymore so she better get back on her game.

CL, I think you're probably right with why they chose Kris to go home rather than Rachel. I thought she was gone for sure, but you're right if that's the way the judges were thinking.

I absolutely loved Stanley's furniture - it's not my style at all, but thought it was super cool.

Agree with you that Brittany was a bit snotty tonight.

I am SOOOOOOO disappointed about tonight! In FACT, that is the reason I logged on to see if I could find a place on which to vent my frustrations!!! For those of you who have been here a while, tell me, do the Design Star judges read these posts and consider the comments and/or advice given here? How about the HGTV admins? However they do it, I am SO MAD about tonight!!! There was only ONE PERSON who should have gone home tonight, based on tonight's AND last week's blunders, yet they sent someone else home. Comparatively speaking, the person they sent home has been CONSISTENTLY ON POINT since the advent of this competition, so there was NO WAY that person should have been sent home!!! Needless to say, I am absolutely LIVID!!!

Who do I contact about this??? Whom do I write?? To whom do I complain??? HOW CAN THEY FIX THIS????

I'm upset now -- I'm going to bed! :-(

Bye, All! Sorry my first correspondence with you all was on a down note, but I'll be back next week (now that I know this is here and am all signed up & logged in) on hopefully an up note!

Until then,
Smooches!

quote:

Originally posted by CorvetteLady:
I've got spoilers in the title so I think it's okay to say who won and lost. But if you don't know stop reading this post.

I used to like Brittany but she sure showed her claws tonight. Her camera challenge wasn't that good. I guess you have to have a big ego to go on Design Star but maybe she shouldn't have said her room was better in front of Danielle.

I liked both rooms but I do think that Danielle's was the best. Could have gone either way.

I felt bad for Mikel but I don't know what he was going to do to make that fireplace really stand out. Stanley choose good furniture but his camera challenge was bad, he was having a good time enjoying the party

Hilari is not a comedian but her room was good.

Rachel's room was just sad, I didn't think it had anything Victorian in it. Her camera challenge was just terrible.

Kris lost me with the paneling, yes they used it in the 70's but only as home improvement. The couch in the corner would have been okay if he hadn't put a desk in front of it. I think Rachel was saved because she had two previous wins and Kris had no wins. I don't think that will work for her anymore so she better get back on her game.

Ok. In my (first-ever) post I was trying to follow you all's lead by being a bit closed-mouthed about the winners too; however, now that you have spilled the beans....

Kris' room was way better than Rachel's tonight, hands down! Plus, last week Rachel had the kids' area in the garbage, and her camera challenge was weak. She did, however, do a fantastic job on the wood awning in that challenge, and, as you mentioned, had a win or two in previous challenges. Still, I felt that Kris has been consistently good throughout, and should have been the one chosen to stay. Rachel should have gone home tonight; her room and camera challenge were both the worst by far of the rooms tonight, second only to Hilari's DeLorean joke.

The colours in Kris' room were great! The only thing he did wrong was placing the couch in the corner as he did. My Husband & I were both yelling at the TV, telling him to place it diagonally across that corner so that it faced out toward the center of the room. That would've been cool.

I didn't have any problem with the paneling, but did think that had he added some kind of colour on the rear wall (the fuchsia, orange, or purple maybe?) it would have brought it out a bit more. Other than that, I loved it!

Rachel's room was hideously ugly!

And, as for Brittany... YES!!! YOU ARE SO RIGHT!!! I was so shocked that after having won challenges before she had the AUDACITY to be PO'd that someone else won today!!! Yeah, I, too, felt that was extremely self-centered and egotistical!!! Bully for her!

Lastly, I was glad to see how both Danielle and Hilari stepped up their game tonight, though, Danielle did start out on a high note on the first two challenges.

Oh yeah, and I LOVED Stanley's furniture too -- INCLUDING the table!! To me, he seems like the 'Antonio' of this season's group. And, I absolutely LOVED the painting Mikel chose for his room -- I think maybe I'll try my hand at throwing some paint on a canvas or two & see what I come up with! LOL!!

Ok, I'm outta here for real now! Will chat with you all later!

Smooches! :-)

quote:

Originally posted by Tuere:
I am SOOOOOOO disappointed about tonight! In FACT, that is the reason I logged on to see if I could find a place on which to vent my frustrations!!! For those of you who have been here a while, tell me, do the Design Star judges read these posts and consider the comments and/or advice given here? How about the HGTV admins? However they do it, I am SO MAD about tonight!!! There was only ONE PERSON who should have gone home tonight, based on tonight's AND last week's blunders, yet they sent someone else home. Comparatively speaking, the person they sent home has been CONSISTENTLY ON POINT since the advent of this competition, so there was NO WAY that person should have been sent home!!! Needless to say, I am absolutely LIVID!!!

Who do I contact about this??? Whom do I write?? To whom do I complain??? HOW CAN THEY FIX THIS????

I'm upset now -- I'm going to bed! :-(

Bye, All! Sorry my first correspondence with you all was on a down note, but I'll be back next week (now that I know this is here and am all signed up & logged in) on hopefully an up note!

Until then,
Smooches!

Welcome to the boards. I think the producers read these boards, I know last season some of the homeowers from one of the challenges did. For several seasons the judges were really nasty,(Gen & Vern) and it was commented on by a lot of posters. Last season we all noticed how much nicer they were, still critiquing but not snarky about it. So they may read stuff or get told about it.

Since the show is taped there is nothing we can say that would affect this season. There is also a blog linked at the top of the Design Star page. The producer does a column each week and you can comment on it. He does sometimes answer questions.

Thanks, CL!!!

Who were those people? They looked totally uninterested. Did they only show up for the food and drink? I agree with the judges decision. So much of the Hollywood Room were the accessories.

Tuere, welcome to the boards. This is the place where we all come to vent, laugh, dish and snicker - and, upon occasion, scream.

Several of us have been watching DS since the first season and altho it will never be as good as it was then, for me it's a guilty pleasure and I'm totally addicted.

As has been said, DS has been taped, the winner chosen and that person is busy getting their show ready to run very soon. Many times we have not been happy with the outcome but by this time it's a moot point. The good news is that they will occasionally take what we have complained about into consideration for the next season.

I'm afraid Vern and GG are permanent fixtures, mostly (IMO) because judging contestants who want desperately to be an HGTV Designer is far easier than carrying a whole design show by yourself - which neither of these can convincingly do. Season before last, IIRC, was the one where they were both so nasty they lost a lot of credibility with viewers. Since then they've made efforts to talk nicer altho GG still has her trademark smirk.

Hope you'll come back, stick around and get to know us - we don't all agree all the time but we're usually a fun group and aside from the occasional relative or friend of a contestant who swoops in to blast anyone who dares say anything mean about their favorite, we're pretty sane.

I just looked at the still photos for this episode and I think Rachel is very lucky to still be there. I hope that doesn't mean they have chosen her to win and will continue to overlook her short comings. I think this happened last year with Meg because she really had a lot of so-so designs but they kept finding someone else to send home. Also felt that way about Emily, she just never really hit it out of the park but somehow managed to be there at the end.

Kris's room was not that bad, he has been improving each week and has been getting along with the other designers. I wonder if the first few episodes were edited to make him seem worse than he was so that we would all be happy to see him go and not question the judges decision. Only thing is we found out last week that Miera was really the one who couldn't get along with anyone.

I very much liked the concept of this episode, not the party so much (lame), but assigning each designer a period or design style and then basically doing a white room challenge with it. I hope they do this one again on subsequent seasons.

quote:

Originally posted by LAinLA:
I very much liked the concept of this episode, not the party so much (lame), but assigning each designer a period or design style and then basically doing a white room challenge with it. I hope they do this one again on subsequent seasons.

I agree with you - it was one of the better challenges, IMO, of all time.

Absolutely agree with you, LA and Doodles--This is a wonderful challenge (yeah, I know, unfortunately in the context of a vapid LA party where apparently only expressionless zombies were invited). Nonetheless, the concept of the challenge gets at depth and artistic curiosity.

And I think that's where Rachel came up way short this week (and in an odd, inverse way, even Brittany, as I think about it). But maybe I am singling them out regarding a way bigger HGTV production problem...

The resident designers-with-a-program seem totally stuck in a mid-century/contemporary- with-an-occasional-touch-of-traditional- mode--for EVERYTHING they touch and reveal. And I do think their evaluations reflect that, particularly with regard to accent colors--one week it's brave, the next, it's odd or weird--depending on the trendy color du jour.

Where IS a NEW, imaginative take on Victorian, Tuscan (not to be confused with Texan-nouveau), Craftsman, ethnic styles?

A couple of Design Star years ago, I mentioned on the boards that one of the most amazing stage productions I was involved in had a different style for every scene--VERY challenging for the designers (and actors, in fact, because different eras represent different performance styles, too, and it was a production where design truly influenced performance.).

I haven't been posting much this year out of disappointment in DS--and I think you touched on why for me: it's really about failure of imagination.

"This is MY style!" "I don't relate to this style!" Not much creativity or fun going on this year, sadly...

Chiming in a little late, here, but...


Here's my take on things:

the Challenge: When I first saw the previews that they'd be decorating a party, I thought I'd hate this challenge. But- it seems that it really turned out to be a variation on the WRC. So- I was pleasantly surprised and I thought it worked.

Rachel: barely squeaked by. I agree that it was her strong start (two wins) that kept her in the running. I don't think updating the color for a Victorian challenge was necessarily a bad idea- I just think the way she did it was a fail. Personally- I'd have taken the Victorian idea and gone Steampunk with it. (Thinking about the old TV series "Wild Wild West") What we saw of her presentation was pretty bad- but I wonder if we'd feel that same way if we had seen the entire presentation.

Kris- I can't say I'm sorry to see him go. He has been pretty annoying (even if he is a talented designer). His presentation with the toast to Hollywood was painful to watch- especially since he was so sincere. The room.... I didn't think it was that bad. In fact, based on appearance alone, I thought it was better than Rachel's room. BUT- when you consider the function of the space (conversation lounge) I think that his space planning was the least successful. All things considered, he was the right one to go home.

Stanley- The chairs were spot on- the rest of it? Not so much. I was a bit surprised that Genevieve's fallic comment(yes I know I spelled that wrong, but I'm not sure it would get past the @utocensor) made it on the air. (Isn't this supposed to be a family friendly show?) But I'll admit that even before she said it, I was thinking it. His presentation was also pretty bad. I'm thinking his Kardashian win is why he wasn't placed at the bottom.

Mikel: (I need to figure out how to spell his name)- I thought the room was much stronger than the panel gave him credit. His presentation was one of the best. I felt badly that he's still just in the middle, because I do think he's better than that.

Hilari: Her room turned out so much better than the 80s that I remember! It was smart to dump the spandex rug and go with the Mondrian painted floor. She's showing an ability to think on her feet when plan A doesn't work- and I think she's really becoming a stronger contender. I think, as the panel suggested, if she had saved the DeLorian joke for later (when they knew it was 80s) it would have gone over better.

Brittany: Her room was beautiful- and I do think it was the best of the bunch. But her presentation did fall apart. (another one that I wonder what it was like in it's entirety)- And her being upset that Danielle won.... I didn't think it was snotty at all. It sounded to me that she was genuinely disappointed that her best work was not acknowledged- and it seemed that she was disappointed in herself for her presentation.

Danielle: This was a genuinely well done room. It matched the style perfectly. That said.... I didn't like it as much as Brittany's room- but I think it's more because the colors she used (which admittedly, work perfectly with Art Deco) are colors I just don't care for. Danielle did have a strong presentation, though. So Yes, she deserved to win.

It will be interesting to see how they all work together now that the stakes are higher.

Stanley's futuristic table was perfect in his room in my humble opinion . . . I was nothing remotely "hideous" about it; it was creative and interesting.

Hilari's space was gorgeous! She's my winner! I like her personality AND she delivers!!

Brittany and Danielle's rooms were beautiful. I did like Brittany's above Danielle's though . . .

Mikel's room was visually appealing, but the chairs in the corners were not comfortable or functional for a lounge . . .

Kris had appealing features in his room, it did seem claustrophobic, though. Too bad, I wanted to like it very much--he should not have gone home. He took it like a gentleman and turned out to be a better competitor than some of those in past seasons.

Rachel did a horrible job. I think her earliest success in this competition were lucky breaks, because I sure can't recall "what" she did to win the challenges . . . ??

Loved this challenge, too. So glad it wasn't the party routine we've seen before.

Gave Brittany a break on her mini-meltdown in the heat of the moment. Guess it must have been her turn to receive the bad edit.

I preferred Danielle's room but was impressed she (B) was able to do a good job and get past some difficulties.

JMHO.

quote:

Originally posted by bballdays:
Loved this challenge, too. So glad it wasn't the party routine we've seen before.

Gave Brittany a break on her mini-meltdown in the heat of the moment. Guess it must have been her turn to receive the bad edit.

I preferred Danielle's room but was impressed she (B) was able to do a good job and get past some difficulties.

JMHO.

BB, I'm wondering, too, how much of it is editing when they show the contestants having to rethink their plan to come up with something different. As design professionals we know that you always have to have a plan B and maybe C to use when Plan A falls apart - but it seems that each week only ONE contestant has a problem. Is this because everyone else is able to conceptualize and execute their design flawlessly the first time, or because it isn't their week to show a major screw-up?? LOL - I hate those "Oh CR*P!!!" moments in real life, don't you?

Agree with LAinLA and Doodles, the concept for this challenge was excellent. It is all well and good for a designer to be well versed in the fashions of the day, but I feel that good design principles and an understanding of all types of aesthetics is what makes a designer exceptional.

I feel like each designer being promoted by HGTV carves a niche for themselves and sticks to one look. I love the random chance of having to prove you are capable even with a period outside your comfort zone.

On a seperate note I have heard the phrase "wheelhouse" twice this week on T.V. Is this something new?

Agree, doodles - had that exact same editing thought about her final, rushed shopping trip. Quickly perused her blog and thought she said something about Danielle going out with her that day but, IIRC, they only showed her in the van. So, IDK??

I hate that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach, too - when you're staring a deadline in the face. Designers (and many other professionals, too) definitely have to think on their feet. I do always get the sense that they sort of take turns getting the bad edit - except when a likely target's still available, e.g. Luca, Miera, last year's Cathy, etc...

WRT the periods and styles outside of a comfort zone, ITA, Charles. HGTV definitely has plenty of one or few-trick ponies, already on board. In fact, did anyone else believe a few of the periods they "selected" were a little suspect, too? Just sayin'.

Ok, ok, ptb at HGTV - yes, I'm sure statistically a few designers would just happen to receive their perfect period. Trying to set my jaded self aside for the weekend, if not longer!

JMHO.

Have a good one, all.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bballdays,

While I don't go out of my way to solicit clients whose preferred style is say, mid-century modern or Victorian (the two this I dislike the most and am not altogether comfortable with) I know I could handle it. However, not sure I could handle it easily on the spur of the moment the way the DS contestants are expected to.
I don't want to get too relaxed and comfortable in any particular one style so it's always exciting to me to have a new client who presents me with a whole new challenge. Yesterday I did a consultation with a gal who is, herself, a designer but was totally stumped on a couple of things in her own home. I was glad to see her style is sophisticated, elegant and glamorous - something I don't get to work with often enough in my little corner of Austin.
How do you other professionals feel about doing things outside your "normal" pattern? Is it important to you that your stamp/style is on each room or do you welcome the challenge? Is there one style that you'd turn away a client for wanting?

I think that you apply the same design principles to every/any look. It's always about balance: light/dark, horizontal/vertical, masculine/feminine, etc. And just like fashionistas know that chunky accessories go with chunky shoes (or whatever), I think a good designer knows when the proportions are right and the textures are compatable.(exclude Mikel here)

I don't understand why everyone thinks Candace and David are good designers. They have talent and are charming but each of their episodes is a variation of the same style.This challenge would have been very telling for this kind of celebrity.

I loved this challenge because there was no option to fake it. I will however, absolutely agree with B.B.D. that throwing Hollywood Regency and Mid Century into the mix was really predictable, considering every shop in L.A. sells both, but they are styles that do relate strongly to the history and aesthetics of California.

True, Charles - but for instance, you (IIRC) prefer a traditional, more antiquey look - but may be called on to do (again, IIRC) a very contemporary home? Do you prefer to spread your wings and do other things or, if you had your druthers would you stick to your favorite style? You've been in the design field much longer than I have even tho you're younger - so I'm just curious.

Good to see another individual challenge.
Danielle's and Brittany's lounges were beautiful but I would like to spend time in Hilari's which looked colorful and fun.

I'm surprised that the contestants don't spend time before production starts thinking of possible tips for the camera challenges. Most of the tips this season have been so lame.

Add me to the list of people who think Rachel is being spared despite poor design. I didn't think Kris' room was worse than hers and although his presentation wasn't that good, hers was worse.

I also think Brittany was given a bad edit. Something about the way they cut to Danielle when she was crying made me think that the two weren't even in the same room when it happened. Think about it. They were never in the same shot together. This is a typical reality show ploy and I am not buying it. If someone does or says something and then they cut to someone else reacting but they're not in the same shot together, plus it looks a little "out of sync", I don't buy it.

quote:

Originally posted by doodles64:
True, Charles - but for instance, you (IIRC) prefer a traditional, more antiquey look - but may be called on to do (again, IIRC) a very contemporary home? Do you prefer to spread your wings and do other things or, if you had your druthers would you stick to your favorite style? You've been in the design field much longer than I have even tho you're younger - so I'm just curious.

Hi Doodles, when I'm overseeing a complete reno, I do always seem to specify hardwood flooring, contemporary or traditional. So I do bring a certain consistancy to all my projects. Unlike some of the designers I see on HGTV, not all of my projects get sconces with crystals, or upholstered headboards. Each project gets what is called for. My own condo, is Empire and 1950's Empire ish funky with modern flooring, kitchen, etc.

I love doing the opposite of what I do for myself because I think it helps me use all of the design knowledge and history I have accrued. And it's fun.

quote:

Originally posted by CorvetteLady:
... I think Rachel is very lucky to still be there. I hope that doesn't mean they have chosen her to win and will continue to overlook her short comings. I think this happened last year with Meg because she really had a lot of so-so designs but they kept finding someone else to send home.

Haven't been on the board much lately, but had to smile when I read this quote. I said virtually the same thing after this episode aired. I am sooooooo glad that we were wrong about Rachel being the chosen one.