8/23 Show Discussion Thread (Episode 6)

[CrossingGuard]

I was really shocked this episode, because these guys were actually competent hosts. I wasn't expecting that from any of these guys, except maybe Antonio. Well, as I expected, Antonio was a pretty good host. Not overly impressed, but it was still a good job. I thought Lonni did the best with the hosting job, followed by Dan. His giggles did get in the way though.

I thought Tori was okay. She was definitely better than I was expected, since I was thinking that she was going to be totally monotone and boring. But she did decent. Perez, errr..., I mean Jason didn't have a chance of staying. But he did a pretty good job with the hosting. But when he started his presentation with "hey girl hey," I just had to roll my eyes. Why, Jason, why? That whole catchphrase is totally overused, ever since the girl on A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila said it first. Plus, when he said it, it sounded rehearsed, and I hate it when things sound rehearsed.

The problem I have with designing kids' rooms is when the child grows up. When the 5 yo gets to be 13, will he really want dinosaurs in his room still? The parents will just have to pay a load of money again to get it fixed by the time he gets tired of it.

I've switched my supported from Tori to Lonni. She went from trainwreck to front runner.

[Broadway]

I thought Antonio's room looked awful yesterday. The semi-gloss paint just looked too shiny and combined with the cheap looking dinosaur appliques it just looked simplistic and blah. My 9 year old nephew could have designed that room.

I think Antonio is lucky that Jason was still in the running so he had someone to outsuck him this week.


Loved Genevieve's comment that she's tired of people finding out what colors clients want and slapping them on the walls. Tori should have learned THAT lesson with the last challenge.

[Scrapdaddy]

I was not blown away by any of the rooms last night nor with any of the hosting. All I heard was a lot of "I did this....I did this...I did this....". And I agree about making the rooms too age specific. That poor little girl in Lonni's room will have a chronic backache and a busted head from trying to slouch down under that bed. It's fine now but in 6 months to a year she won't be able to stand up under there. I really loved the cut out letters she did but she ruined it by putting the fabric scraps behind them. If I had to pick a favorite it would probably be Dan's room although the colors were a little YIKES! I think Tori really came through on this challenge, though. I'm just tired of seeing her looking so stressed all the time.

I didn't really see $5000 in any of these rooms...or was it just me??

Sounds like next week's challenge is a backyard group challenge?? Landscaping?? I think we still need to see more individual challenges and more facetime on camera.

[Bearcata]

They have only done one white room challenge. I miss those. I truly do believe it does show what a designer can do. It seems as after season one that the producers didn't want to see too much of the white rooms. I would perfer it and if nothing else it would save someone real life rooms. Would I really want any of these designers doing a room in my house?? Don't think so.

[captain]

Once Jason started the crying in the van, I was ready to change the channel. But I knew if I continued to watch I would get to see his show cancelled. They must spend a lot of money on paint and flooring. No one really put much furniture in.

[candor]

Awful rooms. Jason needed to go if for no other reason than he says "functionable."

[Arielflies]

At this point it is Lonnie's to lose. She was the best host and she survived all her challenges to make the room clean and simple yet theme specific to the 17 yr old boy's taste. I like that she added grown-up pieces that will carry him farther in age - the metal bedside table/drawer and the tufted leather bench. She went from frazzled to fabulous on camera. As Vern said...it's about time.

I know why they placed Antonio at number two...because he let his imagination run with his 5 yr old client. I think that theme will stay with the boy for another 5 years...by that time it will be trashed and the parents will have to pull it out anyway. Antonio surprised me in that he didn't get frustrated trying to pin down a hyper boy but found pieces of what he liked and worked with it. His presentation was rather Tony Soprano...he can't help if he has that NY thing going, but it was cute when he showed the boy the under-bed drawers and mentioned spaghetti. I think he might be good with the clients but hell on his crew if he gets a show.

My next favorite of this episode was Dan. He would have ranked higher with me (maybe not the judges) if he hadn't had the nervous giggle during his presentation. Though now that he knows about it, he can work on getting over the nerves and will get better. I remember David B did not have the best presentation on this challenge (NY studio apt redos) and look where he is...he is one of the best presenters out there now. However...while he did listen to the needs of his client, his color choices were too primary to be earth-toned. The bright red stripe around the room did not tie everything together but really distracted from the bed and the window area. He said he had never designed a child's room and it showed with the ironwork over the bed - way too grown up for her. He gave her a platform bed, but was there storage underneath? When Genevieve made the comment about slapping the favorite colors on the walls, he cringed...as well he should. No wonder his nervous giggle surfaced during his inquisition. I worried that his re-purposing of her gumball machine into a light might be a bad idea. What if she liked it as a dispenser of gumballs? Thank goodness she liked it...and that was the one element that ruffled Candice's knickers. I hope he makes it through this next challenge, as I do think he has potential to host and design for TV.

Tori was on the right track in turning a small room into an artist's loft. Making the bed smaller with work space underneath (as they do in dorm rooms) freed up floor space and a wall for artist space. I agree that the desk under the bed was too cramped for height and the fabric wall looked like curtains with open seams. I thought that covering the whole wall with large letters spelling her client's name was overdone. She took a comment from an earlier show about using large graphics rather than small too much to heart. The backlighting was cleaver, but that whole wall was overdesigned imo. Remember the Nashville hotel room challenge last year where one contestant who was normally bright and vivacious also came off as robotic during presentation? Unfortunately, that is Tori as well.


Then there was Jason. Somewhere in the middle I wondered if it was The Jason Show he was featured so much. Maybe it is because he provided the editors with the drama for this episode with all his frustration and crying. I know where he wanted to go with the room, but he completely missed the mark. For a 17 yr old to want a Princess Room, you need to go to the really deep pinks to contrast the black and silver accents. The chandelier was (imo) the one grown-up princess object in the room. But painting around the window??? Come on, Jason - that is tacky. He lost on his room design and his presentation, and deserved to do so.

David B as an early critiquer (ala Tim Gunn) pointed Lonnie toward adding more concept to her room and pointed Dan toward making the bed the focal point, which was too bad because that is when the ironwork faux head board came into play. David played this role on the earlier special where four families competed for cash as they re-did rooms in their houses and did very well. Maybe being the Tim Gunn of HGTV will become one of his new roles.

Next week's challenge looks daunting. I really hope they have helping labor because there will be post holes to dig and pavers to lay and trees, shrubs and plants to put in....and probably grass. HUGE JOB! Maybe Ahmad from Yard Crashers could join them for this project.

ETA: Hooray for hurdling the 7000 post mark!

[Chorita KaBoom]

I was really disappointed by all the rooms in this challenge. Lonnie's was the best/most completed room, and she did a great job presenting, but the room was in my opinion only moderately successful design-wise. Dan, who up until this point seemed the one to beat, kind of faltered here. The general concept wasn't bad, but kind of lost it in the details. Instead of just hanging that piece of ironwork on the wall, it should have been incorporated into the headboard. With time and eco friendliness a concern, carpet tile made from recycled plastics might have been a better choice for the flooring. I really didn't love Antonio's room, while it was completed, it wasn't really anything that couldn't have been done by a crafty parent. Yeah he did pretty much get all of Conner's scattered ideas into the room (well except the spaghetti), but it didn't look like a professional designer pulled it all together. During the construction, I thought that Tori's room would have been a strong contender as I really liked the back lit name on the wall, but when I saw the badly hanging random fabrics behind it, I knew she was bottom 3. That brings us to Jason. He had what to me (and apparently to him) should have been the easiest client to design for. I'm not even going to accept the carpenter issue as an excuse, there just was no good design in the room. He did pick some great accessory pieces to go in the room, but that was it. I felt so bad for the girl, I mean those place-mats were held up with pushpins. He has personality and camera presence, but there should be design skills to back it up.

[sclilred1]

I was really shocked that the judges did not call Lonnie out on her unfinished pain job to the walls in that room. I'm not sure how someone can be in the top 2 if the show had to send in a fix-it crew to finish it up for her (which I HOPE that they did, otherwise the family would have had to fix the paint). Other than that the room turned out pretty good.

Jason really shocked me and disappointed me. Leaving the walls the same color pink after saying that he was going to paint them a darker pink made his idea not come together at all. Hated to see him go but I do understand why he did.

I think that Torie still has the best shot of winning this. She usually has really cool ideas. Unfortunately she apparently does not have the proper time management skills to complete her vision. The fabric on the wall would have been alot better if she had done what she originaly said she was going to........weave the fabric in a basket weave.

Dan's color choices were odd. To bright and hurt the eyes. I also did not like the unfinished wood holding up the window seat. He should have at least painted it. I also did not like the fact that he took apart the gumball machine and turned it into a lamp. The little girl used it as it was before and now no longer has that as an option. That was one of the things that she said she loved in her room.

Antonio has the mind of a 5 year old, lol. His room turned out well and he did give the little boy things that he really liked in his room. Now if Antonio can just do something about his abrasive personality then he has a good shot of winning as well.

[Tobi]

Yes, I agree, there is no crying in design shows. I think right there it showed the judges that he can't handle working under these conditions. Some people have to have time to think about it for a long time and then shop for a long time and then to locate the right stuff. He was getting frustrated as he probably takes his time when he does a project. Also, being a designer does not mean you have to be always junking for stuff. I was surprised that they didn't just take the $5K and get some decent furniture and window coverings and then put their creativity in putting it all together. They are spending way too much time looking for junk in junk shops that looks like junk in the end. I hate that that poor girl had metal placemats for a headboard. Think how that would feel to lean against! I didn't like any of these rooms at all. Tori really let me down this week. That was just a pile......it seems like doing a loft would have been easy and it's too bad she didn't get some neat credenza for the art supplies that was sleek and loft appropriate. Oh well, HGTV is doing a ton of advertising for this show and it's just missing the mark big time. I wonder if the ratings are down for it? They need better/fewer challenges and better contenders. At this point, I'm not really rooting for anyone. I'd like to see them bring back the first girl that got canned, I thought she was good and we didn't get to see any of her work except that first room which was good but just not finished. OH well, how long till DWTS? Sept. 21? LOL