Design Star 2009

[missypie]

Another week - two more disappointing rooms. Totally conventional. These are the least creative designers ever. OR...I'm starting to think that they are being severely limited in where they can shop. They're in LA for goodness sake, and can't find modern furniture? I can name three places in Dallas off the top of my head where they could find great modern furnture. There are probably at least ten times as many places in LA. Can they only shop at Sears and the other named sponsors? Is that why they're building furniture? And couldn't find curtain rods?!

 

[minniecarousel]

Honestly, Nathan deserved to go! Taking all that time to build the furniture he built? It was even that "wow!"

Next week looks good. I believe they each design a room for a kid.

 

[moon]

I would *never* hire that designer with the tatoos. If I say I like one color or set of colors, I *want* those colors to be used. I don't need any designer to "teach me" what colors I should like.

The homeowner was thrilled with the result and that will only encourage him. But I can't imagine a paying costumer happy that his/her likes were ignored.

Me? if I came to a blue living room, I'd probably just cry in disappointment. I like blue on some things, but not on my walls. I'm ALL for warm colors in decorating. that's *my* taste, and I'd be the one living there, not the designer. That should be respected.

He was lucky that the judges liked the results. But I think that working with styles and colors you don't care for and making it work is an important aspect of a talented designer.

 

[missypie]

Right. Tan is a color. Caramel is a color. Somehow, the judges translated that into "beige" and they all agreed that beige is bad. What may be bad is the off-white that is standard. Anything else is a color and the resident's desires should be respected.

I also wish the judges would have slammed them for making so many of the special features built-in or painted on. The families were in base housing. Before you know it, they'll be transferred and the chevron design, the gorgeous flooring and the built ins will stay there. Both teams should have made a big deal about incorporating features that were movable.

 

[Camicar]

I just could not abide that one designer's condescending and patronizing attitude over the woman liking neutrals. I really wanted to slap his face with a paint brush or find an alternative use for a curtain rod.

 

[missypie]

I just could not abide that one designer's condescending and patronizing attitude over the woman liking neutrals. I really wanted to slap his face with a paint brush or find an alternative use for a curtain rod.

Yeah, all the show has done this time is make me make a mental list of all the designers I'd never hire:

Him, who doesn't respect the customers choices

anyone who thinks curtains on patio doors can stay open all the time

designers who have no time management skills

color experts who are bad at color

designers who don't replace the garage door I asked them to replace

etc

etc

I have a feeling that the HGTV people are re-reading the contract to see if they HAVE to give any of those folks their own show.

 

[RunningGirl]

Hi! May I join you?

DD and I just started watching this show. We watched the military housing today. Although I liked the room that won, I totally disagree with ignoring the homeowner's requests. It brings up an interesting question though - are they designing for the homeowners or for television? When I think back to Hildy on Trading Spaces I felt like she always designed to shock and entertain and NOT to please the homeowner. If these people are going to have their own show, which is more important to the HGTV producers?

And, by the way, if Vern or Candace would like to come to a room or two in my house, welcome!! However, I wouldn't let Genevive anywhere NEAR it.

 

[missypie]

I've never seen Geniveve's show but everyone here has complained about her. What's wrong with her style/show?

 

[Camicar]

I've never seen Geniveve's show but everyone here has complained about her. What's wrong with her style/show?

I will never get past her wall of moss (yes, real moss gathered from the woods, bugs and all) on Trading Spaces. It's symptomatic of everything about her.

 

[Angelhalo]

I am definitely in the minority in this thread LOL, I LOVE Geniveve and can't stand Candace. I don't care for her personality or any of the rooms I have ever seen her do. I love Gen though. I even loved her moss wall!

I can't stand Tattoo guy and was very happy to see Tashica go! FINALLY!

 

[cheerful chickadee]

I love this show!

I think the time limit is really hindering them from doing anything too spectacular. I understand they need a time limit to make it a "challenge" but 22 hours or 20 hours is just not enough, especially when they're leaving the house for the night when it's still light out.

I'd LOVE for Vern to come do our house, I've loved him since trading spaces days! I didn't mind Gen but don't remember her ever wowing me and I haven't seen any of Candace's "stuff" to know if I like her designing or not

 

[missypie]

I agree about the time limits - esp with LA traffic. What do you do if the store is out of curtain rods but it's not the type of store that even sells dowel rods? In real life you'd just take a few minutes to go to the next store, or call a bunch of store until you found one with the rods in stock.

Do you think they're allowed to use a computer to aid their shopping? You could look at what was out there, then call the store to make sure they had it in stock before you went there...

 

[missypie]

I keep watching, hoping for a room that will knock my socks off...so far, nada.

I liked Dan's room best...I wish he would have defended or explained his choices more...an eye popping color palate makes sense for a girl with vision issues. And Vern said the headboard looked like something found at the side of the road..the girl wanted all recycled stuff.

I liked Jason's hosting personality but he needed to go...if a gay man can't pull off a pink and black princess room, there's just no hope. (Bring back Sparkle Josh!)

I couldn't believe they liked Lonnie's room. If she wins, her show needs to be called "Lonnie's Accent Wall" because that's all she can do. I would have pounced on her that the "seating" for the guy's friends was one bench and two little cubes. ???

Torie's room was a mess...half industrial, half cheap glam...most of us could come up with that on our own, believe me.

Antonio's was the most inventive, but didn't totally work for me.

What's with the no window treatments? Is that again a function of where they shop and no time to sew? I always think Candace is all about fabrics and no one has really used fabrics well yet.

 

[Robinrs]

I keep watching, hoping for a room that will knock my socks off...so far, nada.

I liked Dan's room best...I wish he would have defended or explained his choices more...an eye popping color palate makes sense for a girl with vision issues. And Vern said the headboard looked like something found at the side of the road..the girl wanted all recycled stuff.

I liked Jason's hosting personality but he needed to go...if a gay man can't pull off a pink and black princess room, there's just no hope. (Bring back Sparkle Josh!)

I couldn't believe they liked Lonnie's room. If she wins, her show needs to be called "Lonnie's Accent Wall" because that's all she can do. I would have pounced on her that the "seating" for the guy's friends was one bench and two little cubes. ???

Torie's room was a mess...half industrial, half cheap glam...most of us could come up with that on our own, believe me.

Antonio's was the most inventive, but didn't totally work for me.

What's with the no window treatments? Is that again a function of where they shop and no time to sew? I always think Candace is all about fabrics and no one has really used fabrics well yet.

I agree with your point about Dan's room... uhh... GREEN means reusing, Vern!

I didn't like ANY of the rooms, they were all bad. Some were badder than the others, though.

Jason deserved to go. He wasted so much time looking for a rug and then tried to pawn it off on his carpenter. He kind of made me sick last night.

Lonnie's ACCENT WALL!! Ain't THAT the truth. And that wall was

Torrie is about as plastic as a doll... and they were shocked she was STIFF?

Love Dan and Antonio. I think they'll be the last two standing. I hope the program people don't pick another boring blond two years in a row.

 

[missypie]

I really need to give up on Design Star. It is making me so angry this season. First, I don't think that challenge was all that appropriate...poor homeowners having to live with plants chosen and planted by people without landscaping expertise.

Second...there was barely enough time to get all the manual labor done, much less DESIGN anything! They were working their tails off digging, hauling, etc. "Who can do the most manual labor in the shortest amount of time" is not really the point of the show.

They should have done it like Landscaper's Challenge...each designer given a few hours to come up with a plan to sell to the homeowner, then the winner would have been the team captain. As it was, I think that about 10 minutes thought went into the actual design.

As for the pergula (sp)...HOW MANY times were they going to show us Antonio telling Dan that he had $10,000 instead of $5,000, then Antonio had ZERO consequences for it? I agree with who left, because she was the team captain and sat there and listened to the whole conversation without saying a word. And did she ever have an expresson on her face except "slightly irritated"?

I think they went for the (possibly tacky) pre-fab pergula because there was truly no time to build a nice wooden one.

And they just aren't giving them enough time to shop or stores to shop in. It may be the editing, but it looks like they only have time to hit one store for each task, so they have to buy what is there. I have a couple of very cool pool chairs that would have gone perfectly in the space...I ordered them online and it took about 2 weeks for them to arrive. Having to find everything at one store is not a good indication of the taste or style of the designers.

Did you see the previews from next week? Looks like Lonnie does yet another accent wall that the judges love. Jeez!

Rant over!!!

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

Second...there was barely enough time to get all the manual labor done, much less DESIGN anything! They were working their tails off digging, hauling, etc. "Who can do the most manual labor in the shortest amount of time" is not really the point of the show.

Exactly! While I like the judges, I'd love to see them work under the same conditions!

As for the pergula (sp)...HOW MANY times were they going to show us Antonio telling Dan that he had $10,000 instead of $5,000, then Antonio had ZERO consequences for it?

THANK YOU!!! I was yelling the same thing at the TV. Antonio is really going to have to goof big not to win this thing, but he really blew that one. I felt a little sorry for Dan. I don't know why Torie volunteered to be the team leader. That is like painting a big target on your back.

This is the only show we watch as a family, and it's been fun to share it with our 11 year old. He really likes it! We somehow missed the last two seasons - I think. We saw the one where Kim Myles won. Who won the other seasons?

 

[Feralpeg]

I've never seen Geniveve's show but everyone here has complained about her. What's wrong with her style/show?

I haven't watched her current show more than a couple of times. I developed my dislike for her during her time on Trading Spaces. It always seemed to be about her...not the client. A person would say that they hated a certain color. She didn't care. She made the room look the way she wanted, not what the owner wanted. That really turned me off on her.

On the other hand, I LOVE Candice. I love the work she does. If possible, I'd have her do my home.

 

[missypie]

I love Candice, too. She truly thinks of things that I'd have never thought of in a million years...that is why people pay designers!

 

[Feralpeg]

I'd love to see Dan win. I'd have no problem watching his show. If Antonio wins, I doubt I will watch his show. His whole demeanor is a turn-off for me. I think he comes off as condescending. He has no stage presence. Not a good choice as a show host IMHO.

 

[Camicar]

If Antonio wins, I doubt I will watch his show. His whole demeanor is a turn-off for me. I think he comes off as condescending. He has no stage presence. Not a good choice as a show host IMHO.

He is a smug jerkface.
Every week I turn the show on and then promptly turn it off as soon as Antonio starts up. I really cannot stand him. So I hope he doesn't win bec his is one show I would never watch. Just loathe his attitude.