apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Holy crap what fugly rooms!

So bad...all of them. The moving wall was the only interesting thing.

Ugh, awful! I kept scrolling down to see the "after" photos, not realizing that these were the final results. And this is with a $10,000 budget?!

Is that a dining-height table in the middle of those rows of leather chairs? What a weird room. I can't imagine what it could possibly be used for. The other rooms are ugly, but that one seems like it would be completely functionless.

Pretty boring and generic overall but the second one is the worst. That tall table in the middle of those rugs! Ugh! The other two look like something out of a Pottery Barn catalog from a few years ago.

I think Matt should have been voted off so long ago

matt's mom said it was okay to remove the counters. and the tall table is the multisurface gaming table she requested - although he should have picked something sized for the tables or set it up with matching stools.

trish had to play to her dad's disability.

jen's was cute. she said the floor was in bad shape - probably not a tv show concern but she wanted to do it well for her sister. i wonder what happened to making the floor darker?

The second one is TERRIBLE! I think all three were not winning material but number 2 should have gone home. Ick..

i think those painted walls looks pretty badass, but i don't think the orange color accents or coordintaes properly and for 10k couldn't she get the floors refinished? I'm assuming there was a time issue.

I love Matt, but this time his room tanked. I really like how he keeps things simple and restrained. Its refreshing to see a little minimalism amidst the accessorama that is HGTV. And he's got pretty eyes.

But seriously, Trish's room was soooooo generic. Her family gave her carte blanche - which isnt how designers work. Its about knowing how to probe the clients and figure out what they want and translate that with some creative problem solving. Like the judges said, she only 'updated' the room, she didnt really do anything special. As bad as that table is in Matt's room, at least he excercised some creativity with the kiln wall.

Gosh, I long for the first season of Design Star. David looked like da Vinci in hindsight by comparison with these numbskulls.

I am soooo glad I am not the only one watching HGTV and wondering what happened to the REAL 'DESIGN STARS'! This season has been really disappointing!

and yesterday's rooms were just SAD SAD SAD!

ugg, Jennifer's room is OK, but I seriously think that with a $10,000 budget I could compete out of these 3!!

awful, awful, awful, and yet... i watched it. i really wish that one contestant, when told they were redecorating for their parents, cried because mom is too demanding, and has never been satisfied no matter what i've done my whole life. unfortunately they all cried because they all love each other so much, where is the disfunction i need to see?

I liked what Jennifer did with the walls. She has some talent with painting. As for the floors, if they had more time she might have done something other than carpet. The carpenter she was working with said the floors couldn't be refinished and they were in bad condition. It wouldn't have shown on TV, but she felt she couldn't just let that go. She didn't have much choice but go for wall-to-wall carpeting with the time constraints she was under.

I didn't care for Matt's room, but all of the designers were hamstrung by limitations on where they were allowed to shop. If Matt had been allowed to go to different stores, he might have been able to find much better chairs. The game table was a specific request from his mother. His movable wall that hides the kiln was cleverly designed. He has a knack for that.

Trish was also hampered by the limitations of where she was allowed to shop. I thought the choice of a leather chair for her father to sleep in at night (he needs a recliner because of a disability) was a poor choice. My father had the same need and he had fabric for comfort and temperature. However, Trish wasn't allowed to shop at a Lazy Boy store across the street and had to settle for what she could find in the approved store.

They should have handed each of the designers cash and let them shop wherever they wanted to.

This year hasn't shown anyone in the group who has really dynamite design ideas or skills. Matt's bed cube was the most creative thing we've seen throughout the competition.

Wow - I thought these photos were the "before" ones.

Matt's room was HORRIFIC. Proof that the judges knew who they were planning on sending home prior to seeing the completed rooms.

Sorry excuse for a 'Design' show.

All three were bad, but at least Matt's showed some ingenuity and creativity, despite the ugly furniture. the others recycled old ideas that are more at home is a Home Depot flyer than a design show

Besides, he's the only one with personality left and, given HGTV's current crop of shows, it seems that the network is much more about charisma than it is about design. (Just as the food network is more about cleavage than it is about food)

It all seems so ridiculous. The time constraints placed on the contestants for planning, shopping for and executing designs is just silly - no wonder the results are so bad.

So, Matt focused on hiding a kiln with a clever solution but don't you think entire remainder of the room is uninviting and impractical. Where's the personality? And wouldn't you have to get up from your leather chair for every move you make at the game table? No doubt more time would have allowed Matt to add some life to the room.

Trish's parents have a traditional home so she stayed within there comfort zone. She could have pushed the limits a bit with updated lamps, a more dramatic wall color, more colorful accessories or art, but where's the time to shop for any of that? And at least it was pratical.

Vern warned Jennifer of over-using her wall-painting talent, but nearly every room he does incorporates impractical wall or ceiling candle solutions. He doesn't display much talent in his own show yet is the most insulting of judges.

I'm with patrickmc - where were the dysfunctions? I made up little stories of family dysfunction as I watched - so I really enjoyed the show.

Jennifer - didn't your parents always love your sister better? Why should she get a free room redo AND hardwood floors? So what if she just had the old carpet removed? Cover it again with beige carpet!

Matt - your Mom's crafts - wasn't she always more interested in scrapbooking and painting greenware than in you? Build a womb-like interior space for that rotten kiln. Make the tv/door too heavy for her to move by herself.

Trish - don't you harbor deep resentment that your Dad's disability forced you to decorate around that ugly recliner? Shove it in the corner where so he can't hear what people on the sofa are saying. And that brick fireplace they were so proud of - cover it with MDF. Hah!

Much more interesting this way, even if it was all lies I made up.

There was plenty of dysfunction. Remember when Matt said he'd had a falling out with his folks?

He didn't spell it out, but my guess was that his mom and dad had a big problem with him being gay. (Colorado Springs is a hotbed of fundamentalism).

Since then, I've seen interviews with Matt on other web sites and indeed, that was the case.

It was kept beneath the surface on the show, but there were clues for those of us who are tuned into this sort of thing.

Watched this last night. I think Matt is the most likeable but yeesh, that room was horrible. And the kiln wall thing...good idea to hide it but really bad idea as far as functionality. Kilns give off a LOT of heat - I would not want my flat screen tv anywhere near it. (this is also considering that my 6 month old flat screen just died and I'm blaming it on the 95 degree temperature in my apt.)

THANK YOU, lmsparkie, for mentioning Vern's STOOPID candles!!! UGH! I shudder when I see rooms that he has designed...even my husband calls him that ridiculous candle-guy when he passes by the tv.

I like the walls in Jennifer's, but that chandelier is what people think when you say "Home Depot", as opposed to the other things they have (at least at the Manhattan ones) which look amazing.

In complete agreement with all those who says this years designers dropped the proverbial ball. I'm so disappointed with their imaginations, concepts, designs and executions. None of them should get a show. Harsh, I know, but really, I wouldn't watch a show by either of the two finalists.

Here's a funny take on Matt's room:

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=xkpyx2&s=4