The eighth episode of this season’s HGTV Design Star was last night and – like me – our reviewer Niki Lohrmann was not wowed by the work of the final four contestants.
Here are her thoughts:
Design Star is down to the final four (see at right), which should mean some amazing design.
And maybe there was some on this episode but I apparently don’t know good design when I see it. Everything I found lame and cheesy, the judges loved. Let’s see if you agree with me or them.
This week the competitors are given a look-for-less budget challenge. Essentially they get $2,500 to decorate the main room of a simply-furnished apartment.
I like the idea of this challenge after weeks of letting them spend whatever they want.
Karl (below) opines that he is used to working with million dollar budgets, which for some reason strikes me as whiny and elitist.
Each designer gets a handyman and painter and this week’s camera challenge is to turn an inexpensive item into a focal point.
The items in the room are very basic. Not ugly really, just plain.
Mark immediately starts working on space planning, which is actually a tip I wish they would focus on more on this show.
Meg makes up a story about a woman who blew through her trust fund that lives in her room. Mark seems a bit lost. And Kellie knows she’s on the chopping block after a disappointing room last week.
Mentor David Bromstad (above with Kellie) stops by to chat with the competitors. They really discuss the design of the rooms, which I think has been missing from his “mentoring.”
Kellie says that she is using a colorful rug to recover ordinary bar stools; Karl is aiming for scrappy but stylish; Mark (shopping below) is having trouble finding a camera challenge project and Meg is repurposing a lackluster round coffee table for her challenge.
When the designers show up for day two, their spaces are painted. There was no talk about picking wall colors, another element I would like them to focus on more.
Kellie adds wooden spoons to wood circles for a focal art piece and I think it looks great.
Meanwhile Mark (see below) decides to silver leaf an ordinary table lamp.
I’ve seen silver leafing a million times and don’t think this is going to work out well. He also mocks a black cat at a flea market, which could be a problem.
As the competition winds down Kellie somehow realizes she has no window treatments. Seriously, this seems like a pretty obvious thing in a room to forget. And yet she also randomly has massive tablecloths (see below) to hang as window treatments instead even though there are no large tables in the room.
I call editing shenanigans.
Meg has hung molding vertically around her room, which I find very distracting.
And for her camera challenge she essentially painted an old table (see at right) and then hand-painted a flower on the top of it. I can’t believe this is the work of someone in the final four.
After host Tanika Ray pops her head into the rooms a dozen times, the look-for-less challenge is over.
Now the judges arrive – with the addition of Nate Berkus.
I also want to note that every time judge Vern Yip walks in a room he says “wow.” I mean literally every time.
Karl’s room – he has tan, brown and green walls and a nice rug.
He took a horizontal box shelf, turned it upright and added L-brackets to make a bookcase.
The shelves are actually books, which I found very creative. Nate likes the mellow colors but not the makeshift clock Karl made.
Kellie’s room – has brown walls and the judges love the scale of her circle art piece. They also praise the stools, which I think I have seen done on numerous other shows.
Nate thinks Kellie should have left the original turquoise art off the walls and I agree. Overall he says the execution lacks sophistication and he doesn’t see $2,500 in the room.
Meg’s room – Nate opens by saying, “I’m pretty taken with this.” They love the color scheme, which looks to be a light purple. And judge Genevieve Gorder likes the yellowish molding stripes. Vern compliments the table, which he says is painted in a modern, chic way.
Seriously what is wrong with me? I thought my 12-year-old could do that.
Mark’s room – lots of tan and gray, with Genevieve loving the vintage furniture he brought in.
But Nate hates some asymmetrical shelves Mark made and said overall the walls were empty.
The final four now go live on the Nate Berkus show to complete their camera challenge.
Karl effortlessly shows off his bookshelf, saying it is great for small apartments and “everybody’s got an extra square foot” in their rooms.
Meg paints her table, using yet another very weird stance that distracts me.
Kellie is almost robotlike in showing her rug-bar stool recovering.
And Mark flubs big-time by calling silver leaf tin foil.
In the judging room, the threesome compliment Karl’s eye for beautiful detail.
They said Meg added architectural interest to her room and felt every nickel in the room.
They say Kellie didn’t shine on camera and complimented a few parts of her room.
Genevieve asked, “did you think it was beautiful?” and Kellie responded by saying “your opinion of beautiful may differ than mine.” It was an odd exchange.
They say Mark was scattered on the camera challenge and called the blank wall in his room a rookie mistake, noting his room was incomplete.
This week’s winner – in both design and on camera – was Meg.
Huh?
Did I mention the weird round wooden things on the wall that look like a female body part (see at right)?
Karl is called safe and then Kellie is quickly ousted for her lack of sophistication.
While I have enjoyed the season immensely over last year, I will admit to not being overly impressed with the final group.
Let’s hope they bring it next week when they makeover an entire apartment.
Thanks Niki! I hope the contestants really step things up next week too.
In the mean time, here are some more photos from this week’s episode:
Karl:
Meg:
Kellie:
Mark:
Tune in next week for more Design Star coverage.
