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Did anyone else think that it would have been cooler if they had been asked to design the lofts for each other? Like Carissa had to design one for Matt's tastes and vice versa?

I just think designing for themselves was weird. Like as an interior designer isn't your JOB to design for someone else?? Sure you should add your personal touch to it - after all, your style would be part of the reason the client had hired you as opposed to another designer - but at the end of the day you're satisfying a client.

I feel like designing for themselves was easy: "this is what I like so this is what I'll do" and when faced with the judges it was an easy defense "What's that judge, you don't like my ping pong table? Well I do and I was desiging for me, so there."

Silly. Also I agree about the overexposure of the PDC. I suppose that super high end, luxurious, EXPENSIVE furniture/textiles have their place but I just think it's so boring to see the same things over and over and to just know that no matter what you're looking at is going to cost in excess of $1,000. Silly. Why couldn't they have been allowed to just go shop at their favorite stores in their hometown and furnish the lofts with that?

There are so many things I would have changed about this show that I could type all day. I'll end by saying that I actually loved things about both of the lofts. In my fantasy world I would live in a place like Matt's loft because I love looking at the fancy and the very chic minimalist style. But in real life I'm more apt to put something together like Carissa's loft. Also, I LOVED that mirror in her bathroom as well as the bathroom's wall color.

The end :)

Did anyone else think that it would have been cooler if they had been asked to design the lofts for each other?

Emphatically, YES.

Let's see Matt try to incorporate the essence of Carisa's love of mod, pop, and orange into his conservatively glam, Kelly Wearstler-by-way-of-Duluth aesthetic.

Let's see Carisa try to bring elegance and gentle shades of beige into her pop art world.

Let's see whose head explodes first.

Now that's reality television.

I agree, and that's what I thought was going to happen.

that would've been a real challenge.

you mean people stuck this out to the end?

Kind of a crappy ending--Matt wins, drink champagne out of rocks glass, credits.

I think with a budget of $165k plus a $25k kitchen bonus they could have done a better job with the kitchen and bathrooms. It was interesting though, the difference in kitchen designs. Carisa's was shiny and sleek and Matt's was a little more industrial and functional.

I did like seeing the contractors having problems bringing materials up to the spaces. This could have been edited out but it's a real-life problem that people face in renovations, especially urban renovations. This type of situation can add more time, money and frustration to a project.

The only problem with the "design for the other person" scenario is that either one could have said "Well, I don't like it; it's not me." and they would have just been arguing the whole time.

I was thinking they should have designed a spec loft for a developer instead. They both get the same layout, the same budget, and the developer chooses which one best suits their needs and the look they're going for to sell to homebuyers. It's a more likely scenario for the type of services they'd offer as professional designers and would have been a better judge of their skills.

Either way, this show was a nice experiment, but I have a feeling we've seen the one and only season pass.

I agree. The season AND season finale were snores. At least they were consistent. One question though, who can tell me where I can find the great navy and orange chairs Matt used in his place?

SpaceMonkeyX, that's a good idea too, the designing a spec loft, I like it. Frankly I think almost anything would have been better than what they actually did.

Also, art, I TOTALLY agree about the ending! I was waiting to see his wife/daughter come out and greet him, maybe the past designers who were latered, but instead it was just a hug from Jonathan and none of the other judges got up to congratulate him until Todd came in with the champagne. It was so awkward!

I also meant to mention earlier that I thought that Carissa made a pretty classy exit, saying what she did about the fact that Matt would have left crushed while she's sort of okay with not winning because she's happy with what she accomplished while there. My husband disagrees and thinks she was trying to make it sound like Matt was weaker and wouldn't have been able to handle the loss but I genuinely think she seemed to learn a lot and grow as a designer and appreciates that alone for what it is.

I thought the finale was very anti-climatic. I was however worried that the annoying mayor of excusesville could pull an upset. By the way, I think the joke is on her for embracing her short comings. Luckily, I think, she suffers from "completion syndrome". Basicly not completing the design with little things. Accessories, photos, books. Again she had an excuse for not having them.

If you watched, do you think her tirade about the labor getting materials to the six floor did her in ultimately? Would she fly off the handle in front of a customer or even worse at a customer? Hell yes! Unless she gets some control.

I am excited to see who actually becomes more successful from this show.

I wonder if we'll ever know how they do from here. The thing I liked about Design Star was that the guy got his own TV show, and it was clear that that was the purpose.

This guy is already a working designer, so now he's a designer with a free station wagon and some TV exposure and a win under his belt, but he's not going to rise up from quite "nothing". If I sound like I'm echoing a slight permutation of one of P2's comments from a different thread, that's really quite OK by me.

Here's what I would change about the show if I were in charge:

-Have Todd Oldham give actual advice/criticism/feedback. He's supposed to be the Tim Gunn figure of the show, and a few times he busted out some good ideas, but mostly he just made inane comments (like when he praised Carisa for saying that when you entered her loft you'd see all three big windows--both the front door and the windows were ALREADY THERE!)

-Make the finale into an actual event, like an open house or a party, and invite the booted contestants, so you'd see people in the space and hear their comments.

-Throughout the show, let the judges talk when they look at the rooms. They were always wandering through there, silently touching things but not saying anything. Boooring.

-Fewer, less obtrusive, or better product placements. Never in a zillion years would I want to shop at the Pacific Design Center or buy one of those huge ugly SUVs they advertised.

Not sure why I devoted so much energy to thinking about this show. Perhaps I'm just trying to tide myself over until Project Runway starts.

I agree with everything posted above.

I was way more into Carisa's loft. She is more of an architect and her space plan was far more sophisticated. I wish they had shown floorplans and such, and not glossed over the spaces but really let us see them, as opposed to so much time being devoted to the "drama": "One of you will be the winner...blah...blah...blah."

I think the young guy won because he got the personal stuff in there and it fit in more with Elle Decor. Too bad Carisa didn't do the same.

As to the hauling of the materials: well, that was at least helpful to see. I wish I would have seen more of the sketches, process, etc.

All in all, Top Design was a let-down. HGTV's Design Star showed much more of the process, much more of the spaces, and let us know much more about the contestants and how they work.

Like Jenny, I am waiting for Project Runway: I actually care about the contestants, but I also wish we could see more of the designs than just the mile-a-minute runway show.

TRUDIE STYLER judging interiors!? Hello-has anyone ever seen her so called "Interior Design" in her own homes? SCARY!
A desperate bid by the producers to up the star/excitement quotient-and failing miserably.

Shear Genius is already genius from the first episode-all the elements are there, but ok that is for another blog.

I am pretty much in agreement with the above.

The show was pretty much a let down overall, but I somehow managed to tune in to most of the episodes. Product placement (while an intregal part of all of Bravo's reality shows) was just a bit too heavy at times. Such as... They were taking a break, and eating Panera sandwiches. How do we know? The camera zoomed in on the Panera bag.... Or... "I can't wait to order my GE Monogram Kitchen!", and "My Lumber Liquidators floor is going to be so nice!" Enough already with the blatent product placement, this is just tacky. They need to learn the art of subtlety.

I knew Matt was going to win, but after seeing Carissa's space, felt that she did the better job of creating an inovative space. I am a big fan of her color pallate.

devyn, i'm also a fan of carisa's color pallete -- but it wasn't present in this design! a splash of chartreuse in the bathroom and one half red/half cork wall, with the rest black and white does not a colorful abode make.

i was disappointed and expected many more vibrant flourishes from her, since that seemed to be her strong suit. her loft could have been "fun" to live in if it weren't filled with so much white furniture (and too much of it to create any kind of harmony), and nothing else. at the very least she could've accessorized with some colorful accents in her black square wall grids (which i thought were really neat). as it was, it felt like marshmallow land (and not in a yummy way)! too much stuff, and none of it particularly exciting (especially her kitchen -- what a snooze).

matt's was very lux, but didn't take full advantage of the open space. the point of a loft, versus an apartment with designated walls and rooms, is to utilize the space. i felt like he cut it up as a custom apartment, rather than what carisa did to maximize the openness. then again, he had to take some privacy matters into consideration, with a master bedroom and a separate room for his daughter, so the challenge was a little different.

the show overall, yes: a huge disappointment. the only designer i liked was goil, and by the end he was just a sad case. at least in this last episode they got outside of the set to create (i'm not even going into the cabanas debacle, because that challenge was so crappy).

what i liked about design star was that they had realistic budgets, shopped in real stores, and got to work in real homes (as opposed to here, where off-site entailed being family garage cleaners). the focus was on the process, not the drama and empty cattiness. i enjoyed watching design star -- top design left me feeling depressed (maybe it was the lack of sunlight?). and correct me if i'm wrong, but didn't they have to construct everything themselves, without carpenters, seamstresses, etc.? it also seemed like interesting ideas were valued much more highly on design star. here, it was primarily about "looking expensive."

Oh yeah! I almost forgot. "Construct your dream kitchen with GE Monogram appliances." Awesome! How did you know that I dream about GE Monogram appliances?

I too preferred Carissa's loft, although (aside from lack of accessories) I felt hers may be a little TOO trendy - but I felt she was really creative - the ping pong table, the nest the cork wall, nice kitchen. Aside from Carissa and Goil - I felt the show should have been called "Top Decorator" - The only things Matt really ever "built" were floors. I knew this show was a joke on the Kid's Room Episode when the pastiche "Pirate Theme Room" won. That was on of the Episodes i actually felt Carissa really should have won.

Matt: decorated
Carissa: designed

Throughout the program, on all of the challenges, Matt was able to pull expensive furnishing and accessories together, nothing more.

Carissa, though I tired of her antics and complaining, and though her designs often weren't all that stellar, some of her designs were pretty good and shet at least DESIGNED, creating elements for her spaces. That's what makes a "designer".

This show was definitely misnamed and should have been called "Top DECORATOR". Though since Margaret Russell and Elle Decor were involved the end result was no surprise. I've no doubt Margaret Russell alone made the final choice.

Sad, sad, sad show. Bravo should be able to do better.

Bluestar said, "Why couldn't they have been allowed to just go shop at their favorite stores in their hometown and furnish the lofts with that?"

Because it wasn't a REAL budget. They had to return all the furnishings after the show. That's how Bravo rolls.

I agree with everyone that it looked like Margaret had the final say.