apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Huh. I haven't been watching Design Star, but if the above pictures are anything to go by, I think it's pretty obvious they were going to pick Antonio no matter what. His work is... um... well, I wouldn't want to live there.

p.s. Green room's okay, I guess.

I knew Antonio would win. He has more raw creativity but he needs to work on some fundamentals like accessorizing and bringing the color palettes together.

Dan was more trained but wasn't going out of the box enough to stand out among the existing HGTV stars but, I'm sure we'll see more of him.

I'm still waiting for a design competition that has more realistic challenges (esp. less time constraints) and actually inspires us design enthusiasts. Every once in a while it'll come close for a second, but it's a Design Star competition....shouldn't it be bursting at the seams with original ideas? I constantly felt sorry for the people getting their places done.

I'm actually glad that they picked Antonio. Both were great designers, but in all honesty, Dan seemed to play things a little too safe. Some of his designs looks too much like model houses.

Antonio is a breath of fresh air in the design world. I like his look, the tattoos and his Italian-guy approach to things.

I agree we'll be seeing more of both guys, but I will definitely tune into Antonio's show. Overall, this season of Design Star felt a little lacking... anyone else agree?

I actually was rooting for antonio all along but with this last challenge, I started to change my mind. His presentation has gotten a little too contrived and I thought Dan's house was just a lot better- more clever, more functional, more pretty.
That being said, I knew Antonio would win- those judges were drooling all over themselves over his presentation.

did they have budgets to work with? i don't know much about this show.

I guess they can call Antonio's show "Where'da battroom go?"

I don't think their choice had anything to do with talent. Antonio won because his quirky personality is different from anyone else's at HGTV.

I wouldn't want to live in either house. Dan's idea of design is to fill a space with as much furniture as possible, and he was simply wrong when he said that taller furniture (in the dining room) makes a room look larger. It's exactly the opposite: A small room will look larger when furniture is lower to the floor. And Antonio has terrible color sense and seems to have major difficulties with spatial relations. The brown living room with those hideous green drapes, and that ugly "thing" above the fireplace; the color of the bedroom and the stark baby's room. All I can say is, ick!

The bedroom shelves Dan installed left me puzzled. The shelves over the bed look more like kitchen cabinets than bedroom storage and how do you reach them? Stand on the bed?
Overall, I did like Dan's final design best but I didn't feel enthusiastic about either Dan or Antonio's design skills.
I have been underwhelmed throughout the whole competition but I guess I will have to wait to see how Antonio's design talent evolves now that he is the chosen one.

I didn't watch the series, but these designs don't seem particularly inspired or creative. There are nice touches here and there, and Dan's bedroom with the built-ins is the nicest and most pulled together, but overall, these kind of look like they were put together during an episode of Trading Spaces. The rooms are just okay.

Although I really have wanted to like Design Star, I feel like Top Design (on Bravo) has had much better luck with finding good designers.

The challenges are better, and the overall level of design and craftsmanship seems higher on Top Design. Also, since it's Bravo, they definitely bring the drama, which is always entertaining.

Agree with modernguy. I think Antonio did well with the challenges but was ultimately chosen due to personality, style. I liked Dan's designs better overall and think what he did for the mother/daughter in the last challenge showed a real awareness of what they needed/wanted in their home. However, I think Antonio will bring an interesting and different element to HGTV so I will probably watch his show.

I agree - Top Design is the better show. I started to really worry this season on Design Star when someone duck-taped curtains to a ceiling. Scary stuff.

I love Antonio, but Dan had a better house. However, I agree that Antionio's show would be more interesting. He's an original and HGTV already has plenty of pretty white boys; who needs one more. Antonio will need an excellent design team, but with a little refinement, he might pull off a pretty interesting show.

Oh come on, obviously Dan is a better designer. They picked Antonio because he's unique and he will be a fun host. Antonio needs to work on his design skills.

I didn't watch this season and I'm glad I didn't. Both designs were lacking. I agree that they do look like model homes. Very generic and look like catelog layouts. There are no creative uses of material or anything architecturally interesting.

Honestly I can't say that either Dan or Antonio would draw me in to watch more HGTV. Both had a few good ideas but nothing that left me saying WoW. HGTV doesn't seem to hold onto my favorite shows (Find Your Style, Pure Design, Design Inc, and there was a landscape designer I enjoyed) and the shows either seem to die off or migrate to other networks that I don't have access to. One show was pulled over from England, two from Canada, but of all the shows I learned the most from Find Your Style (Karen Mcaloon).

Anyone have word on when Top Design is supposed to restart on Bravo?

Dan was like a reaaaalllly lame version of Carter. HGTV is run amuck with Dans. Antonio's show should be good, producers and assistants will help make his designs more cohesive and polished. I think it will help viewers see that they don't need formal schooling to do good design themselves.
Although, I'd still like to see last year's runner up, Matt, get a show. Jennifer Bertrand's show lasted, what, 2 weeks? "This week, we're really going to liven up the space by painting giant flowers on the walls!"

The diff between Top Design and Design Star is that it really is about design. The winners don't get a TV show, they get money and a career boost. For Design Star the bar is set to whether the audience likes the person and whether there will be viewership. And viewership=advertising dollars= the bottom line. They needed something different from the rest of the boring design and designers on that network and he is definitely that. But is Antonio a good designer? That's a big old 'no'. Apart from some pink geese he stuck on a wall many episodes ago, his design, furniture and color choices were really generic, and he repeatedly made basic design mistakes with scale. For example the bed he did for the kid room above looked like a tricked up baby coffin. It's a claustrophobic little white box in the corner. Ewww. It looks like a cheapo DIY project from those goofy Home Depot magazines. This would have made the judges boot any other designer off the show, but they were all clones of the current hosting lineup on HGTV and Antonio was the audience fave.

Didin't see much of the show but if these pictures are any indication, Neither designer did much for me.

Antonio's place is much more vibrant due to his color choices, but are they good color choices? Not really although I found his furniture placement OK in the master (from the pic here), and the living room, having the couch where he did is actually a decent choice, epsecially if the room is long and narrow w/ the fireplace on the long wall, rather than on the end but it might've been pushed in too far, who knows? Overall, I agree, his house lacks cohesion in many areas although I found the Kitchen nice, but not fantastic stylistically speaking.

Dan, on the other hand really did felt to be playing it safe and this last challenge seems to showcase that for it's all in various shades of neutrals and not much else and yet his design here seems much more cohesive and his kitchen was OK, except I'd have rethought the counter space below the larger window, perhaps made that an eating area, I don't know but the way he has it now, it emphasized the 2 window sizes, almost looking like one was added as an afterthought at some point and was left in during the redesign.

Don't get me wrong, it looks nice, but, it's safe. If he has gone outside the box, it does not show here where as Antonio seems to have done so in some areas but perhaps not enough.

Kim Miles I felt struck the right balance of thinking outside the box for unusual ideas/solutions to unique problems, but also kept the rooms cohesive and very stylish and colorful, much like Candice Olson has done so many times on her show.

If anything, Antonio needs to get a good on the BASICS of design and read it as it might help him down the road.

I will agree, he has a handsome face.

er, I meant Antonion needs to get a good BOOK on the basics of design and read it.

Also, I should also say that as a comparison, Kim Miles...

I'm glad Antonio won. I'm getting tired of looking at "pretty guys." Antonio is edgy and maybe worth watching for ideas for my house. I don't do traditional and I hate country and shabby chic. Dan will probably get the "on-line" video slot from the general population vote.
I agree with the poster who liked Matt from last season. He and Mikey both would do a good job. Besides, I've got a soft spot in my heart for cops (like Mike).

@rhodajr ... they can call Antonio's show "Where'da battroom go?"
**howls** Thank you!

These reality competition shows are not as much about talent as they are about personality and a look. The whole season was a let down. I liked Antonio because he was a more interesting personality, Dan is pretty generic. Ultimately when Antonio has his show, there will be a team of designers behind the scenes doing the work anyways.

splomo... that is funny.. I actually laughed out loud...

I thought both their houses were fugly in the end... the only thing I did like was the green color.

I am ashamed of candice olson being on that crappy design show... i would rather watch reruns of her show...

None of the so called "Design Stars" come close to the talent I've seen exhibited on Apartment Therapy or many other design websites. I think HGTV is underestimating who their audience is and how they really decorate. My opinion is that I don't think America really cares that much about how hunky or quirky the host is---it's more about the feeling that a home or room evokes as a whole. I think it should be less about sex appeal, team challenges and shopping skills and more about what works in a room or home and why. So far the only place that I've found what I would like to see is on AT and some other great websites, not on television.

I agree with BCThree.....HGTV is underestimating their audience...AT features much better designers, it is a joy to read this blog everyday.