I love to decorate my house and get inspiration everywhere. I love watching decorating shows on HGTV and reading decorating blogs here on the web. Some of my favorite blogs are Thrifty Decor Chick and Nesting Place. Some of my favorite HGTV shows are Devine Design, Color Splash, and Design Star. This blog post is going to be mostly about this season of Design Star (I'll post more about my decorating and inspirations and such later).
I wasn't even going to watch Design Star this season after the debacle that was Antonio last season. He did not deserve to win. Especially given his final challenge. It was just so horrible that I couldn't believe he won. It really made me question the design taste of the judges. I was so upset that I was ready to give up on Devine Design also because I had lost all faith in Candace Olson. But, then I thought that the only way that Antonio could win was because the powers that be wanted him to win and so pressured the judges to pick him (at least that is how I am rationalizing the judges totally wrong choice to myself).
But anyway, I never told the DVR to not record Design Star so it started recording it this season and I took a chance and started watching it again. I have to say, that I don't think that this crop of contestants is as talented as the ones on the previous seasons. I have not been impressed with any of their designs yet.
But what I really have a problem with is the format of the show and the way the judges are very mean this season. I know that they need to make sure that they choose someone who can handle a show of their own, but I think none of them realize the almost impossible tasks they are giving the contestants. How good of a design could they come up with and implement in just two to three days. The logistics are almost impossible -- come up with a design, order and receive the furniture you need within a day, paint and do carpentry (all by yourselves not with a crew and carpenter to help), and then put the whole thing together in a total of 2-3 days. I mean really, when have any of the three judges (Genevieve, Vern, or Candace) ever done this themselves, and then they are commenting on when things aren't perfect. Candace has never to my knowledge done something like this with these constraints. Even Vern and Genevieve when they were on Trading Spaces had a plan before they went in, had chosen most of the furniture beforehand, had design drawings of builds and carpenters to build everything, and then had 2 days to simply implement things. So, what they are asking these contestants to do is really, very very different and much harder.
How would I change things? I want to know that the judges can do what they are asking the contestants to do. Let's see them tackle at least some of the challenges like the contestants do. Another thing I would like to see is the judges fix a design when they don't like it. For instance, this past week the challenge was to design a space for a New York fire station. The judges ripped one of the teams to shreds. I have to say, that I agreed with much of what they said about the design and would certainly concede that the part that I disagreed with may have looked much different in person than it did on tv. However, what would have made the show really interesting would have been to see the three judges go in to this space and fix it. They could have been given the same time frame and redesigned the space (especially since this was for real clients who are so very deserving). Now THAT I would have loved to see. Hey, HGTV -- just think about this idea!
