DS7EP9: It's Over!

Thank God.
In lieu of a traditional recap, I'm going to post pictures and tell you what I think.
BTW Danielle won.
Her "show" will be called Shop This Room. Yes, folks, her show will be about shopping, which is especially fitting since this entire season has been one long commercial for Southern California furniture stores, wallpaper outlets and lighting shops.
Let's rip.....

Two of these people have shows on HGTV and two of these people do not. So, how come the have-nots judge? I suggest letting Bromstad--the only DS winner most anyone can name--judge the show, alongside other HGTV designers, like Candice Olson and John Gidding and, well, pick anyone other than Vern Yip and Genevieve Gorder who do not 

have design shows on the network. Isn't that simple enough? Oy!

This is the dining room that Britany will make-over and if ever a space needed a make-over this is it. Seriously, if your dining room looks like a basement alcove on the Island of Misfit Toys, you need more help than a design "star" can give.

This is the finished room, and I like it. I like the orange, but wish there had been more. I don't like the family photos at all, A) because they don't look professional, and Britany has shoved the I'm a professional photographer crap down our throats all season, and, 2) family photos don't belong in a dining room. She gets props for the modern table--the homeowners asked for modern--but she gets dinged for the traditionally dull wallpaper.

Britany's living room, before. Talk about no sense of design at all, these people needed help badly. I mean, haven't they heard of these things called rugs? Lamps? Artwork?

Britany's living room after. She kept telling us she was all about bold deign, but I think she meant dull. It doesn't look like anyone lives in this house. The cameo on the one wall is just plain stupid, especially since it's one of the few pieces of art in the room. The rug is too small. The room is too sparse. What's the deal with the pillows? The homeowners wanted adult and modern; what part of that is in the traditional wainscoting? Where's the console table behind the couch? How does anyone enjoy the window seat when it faces the back of the couch? It's bad. Really bad. Her show was to be called Picture Perfect Spaces and this was a colossal miss.

This is 'the' chair in Britany's room. Doesn't it just scream modern like the homeowner's wanted? And look, another cameo. Another cameo that is so large it hangs down over the badly designed wainscoting. And the teeny tiny table was a definite snooze.

Funny how her clients were less than thrilled with the room, and could only mutter things like 'Awesome' and 'Gosh' in hushed tones. I'm thinking HGTV paid another designer to come in and fix this mess.

For her judging, Vern Yip said, "You really know how to design for TV." Except, Vern, she's not designing for TV, she's designing for people. Asshat. The Goiter praised Britany's increased confidence and then canceled her show. All Bromstad could come up with was, "I liked your homeowner interaction."

Next season, Homeowner Interaction Star!

Danielle's living room, before. A couch in front of the fireplace is never good. I mean, why buy a house with one, if you're gonna shove a red corduroy couch in front of  it; unless the hope was that the couch would catch fire. Sadly, the fireplace does not work. Still, Danielle had a lot to work with, from the architecture of the fireplace, to the beautiful beams, from the windows and the arch into the dining room. However, the place was crammed full of stuff for watching TV and for Mom The Artist to work. It's too much going on for one room.

Danielle's living room, after. Even though the fireplace doesn't work, she was smart to play off the architecture of it, making it a focal point in the room. Sadly, the other focal point--the TV--is set off to the side, so you can't really see it sitting on the sofa, though you might if you sat in that one chair. I loved the bold colors of the walls, used to show off the bold color of Mom The Artist's work, but I didn't get the gray couch with the matchy matchy rug. It brings the sadz into the room.

Plus, her show will be about shopping. Shopping isn't design; it's part of design, but not all of deign. Plus, well, some of her shopping tips.....she told us how could slip-covers are for families with kids and pets. Honey, I learned about slip-covers back int he 1970s when I sat on my Nana's couch with dirty shoes. Slip-covers.Aren't.New. And they aren't design.

Danielle's dining room, before. Not a bad space. Too much stuff laying about. Is it me, or should a lot of these HGTV clients first get on Hoarders? Yard sale, people, yard sale! It's not a bad room, good arches and windows, sad color. And the fluorescent tubes don't help at all unless they'll be preforming a tracheotomy after supper.

Danielle's dining room, after. First off, I love the color; I am obsessed with gray these days. And I do love the trim painted out in white--I know some folks hate to paint over the woodwork, but, well, bite me. 

I like that she was able to create a more sleek workspace for Mom The Artist, but wish it had been able to be 'hidden away' when the dining room was used for dining. Nice job refinishing the homeowner's table, though I don't like the four cheesy chairs with it. The scale seems off. And, seriously, you kept the fluorescent lights? And you got rid of their , albeit sad, fixture, and hung what I would call a 70s porn light in it's place? Yeah, not so much. And a rug would have grounded the whole room and brought in a little more color.

For her judging, Vern Yip said, "You deliver the best possible version of what the client is asking for." In other words, she did her job. High praise indeed, Vern. The Goiter said, "You are an effortless communicator." And, you had to know this was coming: howsabout Effortless Communicator Star? Bromstad, giving what was possibly the only real critique of the show, told Danielle that it's very hard to work with clients who have very taste-specific pieces they want to keep--like Mom The Artist's Orange Period works--but that she managed to truly pull it off.

Which is probably why she won. The best of the not-so-good. Again, high praise.

MY TAKE

End the misery now.

If the show comes back, lose Vern Yip. And let him take the Goiter with him. How is it that the judges for a competition where someone gets a show on HGTV do not have their own shows on HGTV? Seriously.

And make the challenges about design and not shopping. Make the challenges fit into what the winner must do if they should, perchance, win. And congrats to Danielle, I may watch your show just to see where the best place to buy a sofa in Los Angeles is, even though I live 3,000 miles away.

Well, actually, the best advice would be to just stop this mess right here and right now.

What did YOU think?