{Design Star}

I've been religiously watching this season of HGTV's Design Star, as I have every season so far. I have to admit that overall I haven't been wowed by the contestants' design skills.

There have been a few designs that have really stood out in my mind. One was Dan's white room challenge design. Very inventive, unique and out of the box. I loved what he did with the wood and the apples.



Another design moment that I loved was on the first episode, when Antonio painted the bird sculptures that they hung over the fireplace hot pink. I absolutely love the mix of the hot pink, white and gray.



He definitely has a vision and won't let anyone deter him from it...we learned that on the military family episode when he refused to paint the walls tan. Although it was a good outcome, the way he went about it was a tad shady.

But I digress...

I wanted to talk about last night's challenge and what a downer it was. Seriously...it makes me think that I could be a legitimate contestant on this show. Granted, I don't know what the time constraints and pressure can do to one's thought process, but I would like to think that I could come up with some fantastic designs.

Jason's and Torie's room were quite disappointing. It is hard to say which was worse, although I think that Torie should have been sent home. Her room had no cohesiveness and the wall feature with the little girl's name was horrendous. Seriously?



Her client wanted and "artist's loft"...why not do a brick feature wall? Floor to ceiling curtains, some oversized artwork. That would have evoked the loft feeling much more in my opinion.

Is it just me or do these designers not know how to use curtains??? Especially Jason. in the military family episode, he claimed he couldn't find curtain rods that would work for the design. That is just crazy talk Jason...you can buy curtain rods at ANY home store, AND you were putting them underneath cornice boards so the color/style really weren't crucial. But I digress again...

And Jason...Jason, Jason, Jason. He had the pink princess room. The only thing I loved in his room was the chandelier. And it didn't make up for the rest of the space. The painted border around the window?



This is where curtains come into the design. Some beautiful silk or organza panels with a big chunky rod would have made the room so dramatic. And the place mat headboard? Again...seriously? That room was begging for a velvet tufted headboard. Every princess should have one...like this from Urban Outfitters for instance would have been gorgeous...



The designers had a budget of $5,000. How in the heck did he spend that much money on place mats and cheap looking shelving? I have no words.

Dan and Antonio's rooms had some great points, but overall were, again, disappointing for me. I loved what Dan did with the TV. Hated the hot pink and the wall treatment over the bed.



Very surprising coming from him and his past designs. In fact, nothing really goes together now that I look at the picture of his finished design. And what is on the mirrored closet doors?

Antonio got such a fun room and I loved his concept, but it was way too haphazard for me.



The dinosaur stickers all over the place...it was just way too busy. But, his client loved it and how cute was he?! "Spaghetti!" LOL :)

My overall favorite was definitely Lonni. And her hosting was pleasantly surprising as well. Who knew she had such personality? She always seems so dry and boring to me during the challenges, but she really stepped up her game. I loved her room, from the sophisticated feel to the palette she chose and the wall of baseball bases. All it needed, again, was some curtains.





Next week's challenge is a yard makeover, which doesn't do much for me, but it will be interesting to see what they come up with. What were your thoughts on this episode? Who do you think will win it all? I'm rooting for Lonni...