How my elimination went down...

So, by now basically the world knows that I got the boot on this, the 5th episode of Design Star.  This was the dreaded kitchen challenge, which traditionally has been one of the toughest to navigate through.  The positive aspect to this episode was the fact that a certain Miss Paula Deen came to join the crew, and offer her insight on things...

 

Let's break this down... Kitchen Challenge.  This was a 2 day challenge, which is ridiculously absurd to begin with, but it is what it is... We used Lumber Liquidators, Cabinets to Go and a local stone supplier to get the heavy construction done.  I was teamed, again with the lovely Leslie.  We were required to immediately pick our materials, choice of flooring, cabinets and counters within minutes of us choosing our "inspirational" teapot, which was "Global".

Everyone works differently in the "real world" but choosing paint colors is not something that I normally do as the first step in a project, but in TV land, we need to do this right out of the gate so the paint can be mixed, purchased and delivered as soon as possible to allow us time to actually paint the walls...  We were allowed 3 gallons of paint...  Basically given the size of the room, this roughly translates to a gallon a wall, more or less. Leslie and I chose to keep a more subtle color palatte, which was a light heathery grey and a soft celedon.  So, keep this in mind, I had 2 colors to work with...  Upon starting to paint the walls, I realized 3 out of the 4 kitchens are painting green up on the walls.  I quickly think that I need to alter the green in some way to stand out.  I decide to go with the batik look... Okay, first of all, I'm not a painter, I'm not a faux finisher...  I go with whatever I can figure out... I start with feathering vertical lines onto the wall in the grey color and it's still not reading dark enough, so the only other pigment I have access to is part of our HGTV supply bag.  I crushed up a brown and black pastel and rubbed it into my "stripes"... This is what I had to work with.  I had to also just get something up and done...

This basically took up the first day of work... Keep in mind also, when we say "first day" and "second day" of work, don't assume these are 12 hour work days, or even 8 hour work days.  For each challenge that time varied, so it's not always a never ending time clock.

Next day, we arrive, in theory all the floors should be laid, the cabinets installed, the counter tops in and the appliances in place.  It happened that Leslie and my plot was the last in the order of work, so we arrived to floors down... That's it... They were still installing cabinets, meaning that the stone guys needed to follow and the appliances... We had a full crew of workers in and out working over us for hours...  Because we happened to get this unfortunate work schedule it stalled certain things.  Like the backsplash.  You can't install a backsplash till you've got a counter for it to rest on... Not to mention that we were not delivered the thin set to apply the tiles to the walls, despite us ordering it... I had to wait to put the backsplash on till my area was clear, at which time I was using Silicone and a caulk gun to get whatever I could up...

As for the "tragic" bench... I still don't think it was so bad, but at this point in the game, comments and criticism is par for the course.  You're going to get critiqued no matter what.  Then there's the camera challenge.  I love how it was edited so much to make my sentences into gibberish statements... I have no comment.  This challenge was very difficult, both physically and mentally.

At the end of the day, I'm not placing blame on anyone, or giving any excuses... I'm a big boy and can take the heat, but I just wanted it to be known that as finalist, we just don't give up, or throw in the towel.  We are stressed beyond belief and are pushed hard.  The time I spent on Design Star albeit short, was an amazing one.  People's first question is, "Would I do it again?"... Absolutely.

This was the quite a ride that I tried my best at... I don't think I was shown in a negative light, and constantly put out great work, which is all I wanted to do...  This was such a priceless experience that will only catapult me into really really spectacular things...

Love you all for the support!
(All photos from HGTV.com)

What's hotter than a bit of OMBRE...

Definition of OMBRÉ

: having colors or tones that shade into each other —used especially of fabrics in which the color is graduated from light to dark.

 

I just love a good ombre, it's evident in fashion, interiors, even hair, but the subtle color change is so elegant that it's a great look that fits into basically any space.

 

3.1 Phillip Lim Spring 2012

 

 

Bisazza Tiles

J. Robert Scott Adelphi Tea Tables

 

 

 

Totally lovely, and such an easy effortless way to get several colors integrated into a space, and outfit, or basically anything you can think of... One of my favorite things!

Down at the Shore!...

So it was all about fist pumping, hair bumps and a lot of spilled alcohol in the hot tub!  Well not really, but it was still fun!  The gang was brought down to the Jersey Shore to the historic Spring Lake Inn to makeover 4 of their rooms!

I was paired up with Leslie this time around as they wanted a male and female perspective in each room...  If you actually caught it on the episode, Leslie and I, both gay, found the pairing humorous, but we did work remarkably well together...

The main priorities for the Inn's owners were to update the rooms but still keep within the context of the house, it's history and the surroundings...  Leslie and I nearly vomited upon entering the room, but holding our nausea back we agreed that a Cape Cod sort of feel was the way to go...  The furniture layout was actually basically all it could be.  The spatial configuration of the room was such that you didn't have much flexibility with circulation in the room, so our major furniture pieces remained in their general locations...

This was a challenge about re-purposing, and this especially held true for the two of us, and we had to change out the carpet, there was no choice in the matter, and that ate up over half of our budget, leaving us with a meager amount to shop for new linens, sleeper sofa and a few accessories.  If you noticed, only one other room had to also change their carpet, the other two had gorgeous wood floors, leaving quite a hefty amount left for them to really buy some amazing pieces.  Ah well, what're you gonna do?!... This meant we really needed to figure out how to give all these items in the room a new lease on life.  There was a hell of a lot of spray paint usage for this challenge, but I think at the end of the day, the space was definitely transformed and updated.

 

We didn't win the challenge, but received the highest compliment from the owners as they said that they would actually stay in this room... That's as good as it gets, and what it's all about.  Television aside, the client is happy.  Leslie and I set out and conquered our challenge!

(All photos from HGTV.com)