Ready for the weekly dish about Top Design? Here?s Becky from Hatch with the latest... Take it away, Becky... - Holly Well, just so you know how I sacrifice for y'all, I'm tuning into Top Design before I check out the premiere of the new version of Knight Rider! Just kidding (kind of - I LOVED Michael and K.I.T.T. when I was a kid; can't you just see a modern-day David Hasselhoff rolling around on the floor of the the car all drunk eating a cheeseburger?). Anyway, I digress.

This week we saw the TD contestants design for three bachelors who had some pitifully sparse apartments. They were James, the 23 year old law student, Obi, the stylish producer, and Eddie, the conservative suit. I held back the gagging feeling in my throat when Obi said the words "zen" and "pop," but he gave his team some good guidance about what he liked. There was a big budget and there were endless shopping excursions, as well as the complimentary services of wallpaper hangers, painters, a carpenter and a seamstress. It was another team challenge (bummer), but there was some excellent drama. Said drama centered around Shazia, to whom Nathan referred as "Bad Luck Mary" and "Needy von McNeedison" within the first few minutes of the challenge. He wasn't far off. However, her behavior paled in comparison to the cattiest lady in town, Eddie.

A Pop Design Quiz happened this week! How hard is it to throw some flowers together in 20 minutes? That's an eternity! However, Theresa and Preston managed to make it look really difficult!

Note to Ondine: Using The Cabinet of Natural Curiosities has been DONE TO DEATH. Someone papered a bathroom in it in Elle Decor (or was it H&G?) YEARS AGO! It's in magazine spreads more often than the Tom Ford Gucci book. And yes, a 23 year old dude is not going to be impressed with it either. Perhaps you should have decoupaged pages from Maxim, or better yet, the Tom Ford Gucci book, instead.

Note to All: Look through some magazines and pay attention to window treatments. Yours were hideous. Blinds with those partially crinkled up fabric shades; two-tone drapes that made no sense. Nathan, Shazia, and Preston, the cornice boxes were the least of your problems. BTW, you should have had the wallpaper hanger put the coordinating grasscloth over them if you were so pressed for time. Oh, and while I've got you, painted horizontal stripes was a clever trick on Trading Spaces circa 2001.

Alright, enough from me - what did you think of this week's episode? Do you think the right person was sent home? If not, who would you have sent and why? Did you like any of the final apartments, or did it look like a Rooms2Go showroom to you? Were there any design moves you found particularly clever? Do you think any of the teams found a good balance between the client's needs and showing who they are as designers? Who had the worst bachelor pad you've ever seen? How would you have reacted to Eddie if he'd treated you the way he treated the designer who owned the showroom? Can you tell a fresh flower petal from a real one from across the room? Can you tell when you are smearing them across a table like it's a newlywed suite bed? Do you think Shazia should have been an engineer or a doctor instead of a designer?

Psst: View the rooms here.

Let's dish! - Becky

(image from top design, all text written for decor8 by Becky Harris)