apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Another viewpoint: Television Without Pity.

I agree with almost all of your comments with the exception:

I loved everything in Andrea's room but I felt like with a little rearranging it coule have been better. That graphic, colorful painting that's hanging on the right hand wall would be so much nicer between the two 'windows' and I would have put the four paintings of what look like tennis balls (hee) in its place on the right. I also thought that the windows were too narrow for the space. They felt weird, and I would have preferred that the glass go up higher than it did, they seemed to stop at a weird place.

Re Carissa's look always being the same and being sort of unoriginal....the task here was two-fold 1)to create a room inspired by the cover she chose, which I think she did, for better or worse. You can see a direct correlation between the cover and what she produced, regardless of what you think of the final outcome and 2)to make the room look as luxurious as a room on the cover of Elle Decor would, but with a very limited budget which again, I think she did. Say what you will about the style or the color or whether there are too many pillows etc, but the room looks failry posh, no? You wouldn't walk into a room like that and think "Ugh, cheap". So - and don't get me wrong, she GRATES on my nerves and I think she's very immature, but she did what was asked of her.

Matt, did NOT do those things. I don't think his room was inspired by that cover, I couldn't see the correlation at all. Not that I wanted a copy cat, but really! Also, I didn't think his room looked luxurious at all, the floor looked dingy and I'm not sure if he ran out of time and was planning on doing something more, or if the camera made it look that way (who knows), but I thought it was distractingly icky. The arrangement of the furniture was weird and clustered so much in the middle that the rest of the room felt empty and I HATE the fact that you could see the cord of that lamp on the floor. I hate that. And finally, it just wasn't finished. He didn't complete the task, the room was REALLY undone. And I loooooove Matt, I do and I'm glad we get to see him again in the final, but still, I don't think the judging was fair.

Just my very long two cents :)

Thanks for that "television without pity" link, aaron. I agree wholeheartedly with the author of that blog.

I was incredibly dismayed after this week's show. And I didn't think it was possible to be more dismayed that I already was! Matt's rooms: all booooooring. They may look okay, but he never comes up with anything even the least bit imaginative or creative. Plus he's boorish, overly elitist and pompous. All qualities I find highly unappealing in any person, not just a designer. Hmmmmm... very much the way Margaret Russell comes across to me. There's no guessing who's going to win this one. Since Margaret's the editor of Elle Decor and obviously dislikes Karisa's general style, it's already pretty obvious who they're going to pick as "top designer". Admittedly, I agree Andrea's room came across as "flat" this week. Though I do think she has more overall talent and is thus is ultimately more deserving of the top design award, at least more so than Matt or Carisa.

I just don't have enough bad things to say about "Top Design" after this week's episode. But I can sum it up in one word: Pathetic.

I thought Matt and Andrea's rooms rivaled each other in blandness. Neither is very interesting. Carissa's at least has plenty of oomph. Monochromatic covers actually turn me away.

My main problem with Matt is he seems most the like a decorator of all of them. He rarely does anything architectural to enhance the rooms. Like Goil, Carissa and Andrea usually BUILD additional architectural features for their designs.
Sure Matt is sophiticated to some degree, but manufacturing flooring seems his only building expertise...

"It's not the Carl Show. It's not Top Carl." Carl cracks me up. He's so difficult! hahaha!

I've got to say I really like Matt and his rooms, although not my style, look amazing and very luxurious. Most of all, they look very editorial and exactly the kind of thing I'd expect to see in Elle Decor. I think he mentioned on the last episode that he always has Margaret Russell in his head, so it looks like he just knows his audience. Kelly Wearstler seems to have the best comments. I have newfound respect for her although I'm still getting over that Victorian getup she wore a few episodes back!

In this challenge I looked at all three rooms as "Which would I most like to spend time in" and Carissa's won hands down. It was much more fun and comfy than the other rooms which both looked like you wouldn't want to move a thing out of place. Carissa is irritating but I am always amused at how much emotion you can read on her face. But with Carissa you know where you stand...there was Andrea all sweet to your face and slamming everyone in the interviews.

First off, I love the show, the designers, the judges (I think Margaret is awesomely sophisticated and Kelly is gorgeous! Kind of looks like 80s supermodel Paulina Porizkova). Anyway, I think that Carisa's room was cool, hip, funky, but not an Elle Decor cover at all...not that it wasn't "upscale-chic", but Elle Decor is more "upscale-stodgy" (though I subscribe to and love the magazine!). Andrea's room was very Elle Decor (I am surprised she got voted off, but in MY opinion I think the judges are guided to pick who America will like the most, and I think Matt and Carisa are probably better liked by the public and would keep ratings up whereas Andrea was kind of dark and gothic). It was classy, stylish, and elegant, but I think the two accent chairs would've been better suited if they were higher backed and less chuncky. Now, Matt's room....it was simply brilliant in style, elegance, old-Hollywood glamour, you name it, it has it. BUT....anyone get the feeling his "client" was a Beverly Hills psychiatrist? The "lay down on the couch and tell me all about it" design was quite apparent and the matching chairs on either side was perfect for the shrink to choose where to sit and take notes. I can see why judge Kelly thought the placement was nice though. At glance, it does appear ever-so-chic and expensive. Margaret would probably agree it is a typical Elle Decor covershot, as often times their featured rooms resemble this with the odd placement of furniture. Works though.