Niki L. is doing a series of guest posts for us recapping Sunday night episodes of HGTV's Design Star. While I think she's enjoyed the posts, she's relieved the show is over! What do you think? Comment below.
After weeks of weeding out the competition, it came down to Antonio vs. Dan in the finale of HGTV’s Design Star.
The winner gets his own show, and
both men came into the last challenge with pros and cons.
Antonio’s matter-of-fact hosting delivery and gruff persona – highlighted by a bevy of tattoos – have fascinated the judges. And it’s clear he would be different than other designers in the network’s lineup. But his design skills have sometimes been lacking.
Dan’s strength is consistency, having won several challenges and provided one of the highlights of the season – his apple-inspired, white-wall room. But it’s hard to distinguish him from several of the network’s current stars and his hosting needs improvement.
In the final challenge, the men makeover an entire house. Actually it’s a living room, two bedrooms and a kitchen. And they have 44 hours and a $50,000 budget.
There frankly isn’t much going on in the episode other than a lot of shopping. And, ironically, both men come up with a plan to hide a flat-screen television above a fireplace mantle.
On to the final elimination, where we are reminded that the judges will decide the winner this year. In the past, the voting public chose the winner.
First up is Dan’s house – he used
spring as his inspiration for the entire space and placed mirrors around the
house to pen up the small rooms. Above the fireplace (see at left) he disguised a clever
built-in with mirrors - a fabulous move. The kitchen is highlighted by rich dark
cabinets and the teen daughter's room is full of wonderful lilacs - balanced
with black, white and grays. In the mother’s room, Dan covered up a window the
homeowner hated and re-oriented the bed with a built-in headboard wall full of
storage.
And he didn’t giggle once during his presentation.
“There are so many really beautiful moments in the room,” said judge Vern Yip.
Judge Genevieve Gorder calls the kitchen sophisticated and Candice Olson loves the personal touches, such as a black and white photo of the mother and daughter on display.
“You always think outside the box,” said Olson.
Antonio starts his hosting by
saying “yo, what’s up” and then shows off his eclectic, modern vibe. The living
room (see at right) is full of a lot of color – dark gray walls, green curtains, red chairs.
And a cabinet that he retrofitted around the fireplace hides the tv. The son’s
room was decorated with stars on the wall and he used a bold green for the
master bedroom, where he took the extra time to move the oddly placed bathroom
entrance.
“Thanks for not being traditional,” Gorder says.
Yip thinks Antonio’s space plan is off in the living room but Olson loves how all the colors worked together.
As for the bedroom, Gorder says the green was “just shy of being offensive and that’s what’s exciting about it.”
They complimented the bathroom change (though I think it was a mistake to go from two sinks to one in a master bath.)
And with no further adieu, bad-boy Antonio is tapped as the next Design Star.
Thank God that is over.
More photos from Antonio:
More photos from Dan:
