Top Design: The Weekly Dish
Miss Becky is back to share her opinion on the finale of Bravo's Top Design. Yay! I've loved having her here to comment on the show each week, I'm sure you'll all agree that often Becky is MORE entertaining than the actual episode. Becky, the stage is yours, my dear! ? Holly
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The Finale! The first order of business before we discuss the show: Holly, are you missing the shower curtain from your apartment in Germany? I'm pretty sure that Kelly Wearstler was wearing it in this episode!
Kelly wearing a dress by Marni.
I really enjoyed this episode. The contestants had a couple of days, a couple of carpenters, a seamstress and an auffed (thanks Kristin - I'm using that for every reality show now) contestant assistant to complete an entire house. By the way, was I seeing it correctly? Were the kitchen, dining, and living rooms all on the top floor of the house? Were there views? If not, I don't get it.
Room by Ondine.
Room by Ondine.
Each contestant really showed their individual style this week. Ondine seemed to have grown the most throughout the competition, though I recognized the photo of her headboard from some magazine - does anyone remember where that was from? I think it might have been Elle Decor, but I'm not sure. I thought that was a little weird. I also wished that Big Daddy had built something like that headboard for the David Hockney window that resulted in his auffing. Ondine's style was really fun but seemed to simply emulate Jonathan Adler's. There was the C. Jere-esque sculpture, the bright BOOM! POW! colors and foo dogs galore. It was all straight out of My Prescription for Anti-Depressive Living. That being said, I thought she did a good job.
Design by Preston.
Design by Preston.
While Preston's design was very polished, I don't think he took the judges' advice from last week. They begged him to add that extra layer of his own personality, but he didn't. While he had very clean and modern rooms, it all had that Jeff Lewis staged-to-sell or impersonal hotel look (that's a shout-out to you, Eleise!). As they panned through his rooms, all I could think was "Man I wish 'Lost' was on!" He seemed to have an inability to have fun, whether at the pool or when designing.
Design by Nathan.
Design by Nathan.
My favorite, Nathan, was wackadooarama, and I loved it. He took huge risks, and his designs were the only ones that seemed to have any originality and excitement. While this crazy funkiness can impress judges, it is also a major gamble. Nathan was far and away the gutsiest competitor throughout the entire season. When he hits, he gets a bulls-eye. When he misses, he misses by a long-shot! He clearly knows the difference between designing and decorating.
A few other random notes: If I had only seen this episode and the first two episodes, I would have liked Eddie just fine, and I would have found him entertaining. I cringed when I saw him return, but he didn't offend or appall me at all this week! I finally saw Margaret smile - she's been speaking with quite a crisp tone to the other judges the past few weeks. India seemed to warm up a lot as the season went on and I found myself wanting to have a drink with her by the end. Jonathan Adler actually made a Samantha Fox reference, and now I can't get "I Wanna Have Some Fun..." out of my head! (SaSaSamantha Fox!)
So, I'm dying to read what you all thought of the finale. Do you think the right person won? If not, who were you pulling for? Which house was your favorite and which was your least favorite? Is there such a thing as a "traditional twist," which was part of Preston's weird explanation for his style, or is that an oxymoron? How funny is it that Nathan comes up with style names like "Bohemian Bourgeouisie," and calls a large chest a "giant coffin S and M holding pen"? Do you think that seeing her own style copied so much on this show drove Kelly to switch it up and go all Bravura Modern, as featured recently in Domino? Do you read so many design blogs every day that a lot of this looked really done to death to you? Did you think anyone's style was "love it or hate it"? Whom would you like to have a beer with the most? Who would you take to a Kathy Griffin concert? Do you remember Samantha Fox? (If not here's a YouTube video, don't say I never gave you anything.) Where is she now? What did you think about Preston switching his lounge, which was supposed to set the whole tone for the house design, into a dining room? Please just comment on anything you want!
One more note: It has been my pleasure to be able to dish with you all every week! After I post here, I find myself compulsively checking the comments every ten minutes to see what you have to say, and I find myself chuckling and nodding as I do. It's been an absolute honor to be posting on decor8 and to be able to have discussions with you every week! Thank you so much! - Becky Harris
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Thank you Becky, it's been our pleasure having you. LOVE your post each week. :) - Holly
(images from bravo's top design)