First off, I LOOOVED the premise of this episode. Have the designers go yard saling? BRILLIANT! I like the whole salvage-chic school of design, giving new life to old stuff (making doors into table tops & all that). Although if they wanted to make this truly challenging, they woulda flied them out to New England for some of our yard sales. But I suppose, with some of these guys being total yard sale rookies, it’s best to start them out in a remedial environment.
Yup, you read right- total yard sale rookies. This Andrea chick is nearly 40 years old and NEVER been to a yard sale! That just astounds me.
Well it seems that Top Design is going to borrowing Project Runways “red herring convention”—this is where the show will really zero in on the troubles of one particular designer, seemingly saying this is OBVIOUSLY the designer that’ll be cut. But it’s just their means of manufacturing a “shocking twist” ending when it’s always a different designer that’s ousted. Such a clever ploy, the only problem being that if you’re even moderately astute you’ll be expecting it.
Anyways, this episode’s red herring was Carisa. They might’ve touched on the other designer’s rough spots briefly, but they really put the spotlight on Carisa’s carpenter-drama/ desk-debacle. But I sensed she was the red herring and wouldn’t really get the axe, and then I saw her room, saw it was OK, definitely passable, and knew for sure she was safe. Yep that’s right, my highest praise for her room was that it was “definitely passable” and she WON. That win was absolute BULLSHIT!! I didn’t hate her room by any means, it was pleasant enough, but it didn’t display any exceptional talent or "vision" I don't think. Judge for yourself though...
It makes me think "Ehhh, I could do that my damn self!!" I mean her whole win is based on nice throw pillows and having the good yard sale luck to snag that chair...that's it. Not very innovative. I'll allow that I could be a smidge biased because I think Carisa is a horrid bitch and they cannot axe her soon enough but, no, no ,no, I'm making myself evaluate objectively and CLEARLY the winner shoulda been...
MATT!!! MATT!! MATT!!
He made this space--full of yard sale finds-- look chic and high-end. How neat-o is the half drafting table/half desk unit on the wall? And let's not forget his client was 100% satisfied (the same could not be said for Carisa's client who actually sounded a bit annoyed that her insistence on storage was ignored) I think they were just penalizing him for using the color green which is BULLSHIT! Ok, I hate to be redundant, with my all caps "BULLSHIT"s, but I'm a little indignant on Matt's behalf. He's shaping up to be one of my faves..(though I've not yet settled on a #1 fave) I thought his wall lights in the little girl's room were so neat, and I feel certain that when he teamed with Felicia in episode 1 that all the really cool architectural elements of that room were his doing. And ok--YES--I'm still charmed about what he said about pumpkin-picking with his family.
Goil-- I liked his room pretty well. If they had let them shop at the Design Center, he probably would've included one trademark peppers. I didn't think that his weird sawed up chairs were as totally BRILLIANT like Margaret Russell did...perhaps I'm just too "provincial" to get the underlying message there. I also disagreed with the judges about that recessed bed-- I don't think that would be that difficult to get onto. These judges don't give people credit for being at all coordinated whatsoever. Overall I like Goil, I think he's talented, but I think he's shaping up to be the "teacher's pet" designer, and it's hard for me to root for that. I'm much more drawn to rooting for the dark horse and/or underdog figure.
Andrea-- For a total yard sale rookie she did great. Her room was a little sparse but I think that suited her client.
Felicia-- I won't miss her. It was her kid's room (Ep#2) that prejudiced me against her. I just cannot shake how horribly drab that room was. Again she presented a drab, drab, dreary-ass room. I didn't really zero in on the afghan as singularly offensive, rather I was repelled by that makeshift wallpaper of ties that everybody else seemed to love.
Micheal-- I thought he did a decent job, although I would really like to see a big decline in his work so that he'll get the boot. Simply because he ANNOYS THE PISS OUTTA ME.
Erik-- Not wild about the ART and not sure I get the mini chair on a pedestal thing, but otherwise, I think his room is terrific. I like his industrialish metal accents and how he partitioned the bed off from the study area. I think he's shaping up to be another favorite of mine.
Ryan-- Here we have Top Design's answer to Jeffrey Sebelia/Santino. And I like him (As I did with Santino...but NOT Jeffrey) I like his total disregard for interior design convention, the way he approaches every room like a big art project. Unfortunately, unless he reigns in his overt kiss-my-ass attitude he is GOING to get the axe. Crikey, I thought Margaret Russell was going to launch herself 'cross The White Room & sink her claws into him!! (speaking of Mags...is being a raging uber-bitch a prerequisite for working for Elle ? I wonder--if she and Nina Garcia had a bitch showdown, who would win? I cannot decide, but I am certain the clash would be utterly terrifying) As for this challenge..that baffling partition detracted from his really cool walls.
I saw that they've got a Top Designer "marathon" coming up. I don't think you can call running all 4 episodes a marathon. To me, a marathon consists of a minimum of 5 episodes.
In other TV news...word is that a Grey's Anatomy spin-off is in the works...centered around Addison. Now Addison IS probably my favorite Grey's character but still this strikes me as a bad idea. Will Ads be pulled from Grey's Anatomy? Will the spin-off's supporting cast be culled from Grey's or be all new characters? And --most importantly--where will that stud Sloane wind up???
Aw, who knows, maybe it would be great...maybe it is only my innate aversion to change that makes me hate this idea....
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