Curbly’s Top Design Fan Club, Week 9: Living Room Swank

By DIY Maven

Carisa's Room

Last night's episode of TD proved the cream rises to the top. Too bad it was curdled. And orange.

The Task

The three remaining designers drew on past Elle Decor magazine covers for inspiration to create a posh living room. Not Elle-like was their budget: 7500 bucks. This bit of news provoked wailing and gnashing of teeth among the contestants. Could they possibly produce a fabulous room on such a paltry sum??

The Drama

Carisa, a.k.a. Ms. Condescension, really needs to work on her interpersonal communication skills. Maybe pitch the eye-rolling first? Andrea’s paint crisis was interesting too as it proved even experienced (meaning high-priced?) designers/architects don’t necessarily get color right. Good thing she had the extra cash–and the sense–to fix her faux pas.

The Winners and Losers

Matt won for his minimal, monochromatic, unfinished room with a uniquely placed furniture arrangement. As an added prize of this task, his design will be featured in an upcoming issue of Elle Decor. Andrea (who should have won?) lost. So what does this mean for Ms. Condescension?? The judges, who suggested that she needs to ‘grow up’, loved her color hutzpa and gave her a pass into the finale.

The Summation

Low-lights of the night included Carisa’s knickknack overload, and Matt’s attempt at upholstering his chaise centerpiece. There’s a reason professional upholsterers charge so much: doing it well requires skill. His complaint over a (as in ONE) blister made me howl. Highlights were Andrea’s choice of installing French doors and her totally DIY-able embroidered baseboard. The same technique could make a great art piece.

Matt and his blister.

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April 05, 2007

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baconthecat

April 18, 2007

Oh, I forot to add that Andrea's room also looks the most homey, like someone actually would live there.

baconthecat

April 18, 2007

Hm, have never heard of this show (no cable). Ok, so I didn't know which room was whose, and at first I thought Matt's winning room was the third one; now that I know it was actually the second picture, I have to agree that Andrea should have won. I find the "uniquely placed furniture arrangement" stupid. I guess I'd rather take practicality over that--who the hell would sit in those two chairs by the wall? They look so friggin lonely! That said, of course they could just pull them up when people come over, but it just seems so random. And stupid. I have to say though, I am totally feeling that yellow chair and orange sectional, although I wouldn't actually put them in my own home.

Chrisjob

April 08, 2007

How does one annotate pictures? That's dope.

KatNap

April 05, 2007

It looks (to me) like the one who went home is the one who should've won! The orange is hideous... and Andrea did use some orange it looks like in her bookcase. I guess there really is no accounting for taste.

DIY Maven

April 05, 2007

Hey KatNap, the rooms go Carisa's (yup, the orange one), Matt's and Andrea's. I annotated the pics, so when linger your pointer over them, they're suppose to appear. If that feature isn't working for you, you may want to let Bruno know. I'm glad you're still going to watch the show!

KatNap

April 05, 2007

I haven't watched this one yet (and I still will even after reading the review and knowing who's going home). So who did which room, from top to bottom? Was the orange one Carisa's?