Top Design: The Weekly Dish

Becky is back again to blog about her take on this week's episode of Top Design. I am out for the day but have left you with a few new posts below this one to read and I'll be back later on today to share with you some new things I've found... So for now, I'm signing off and letting Becky take the wheel... Becky, the stage is yours kiddo! - Holly ------- DISCLOSURE: I had to stay up until 2 a.m. watching this show because my DVR freaked out during the 10 p.m. airing, so I am very very sleepy. Perhaps that is why I yawned through this entire episode of Top Design. Perhaps it's because of all the sloppy attempts people are making to slap the word "green" on everything these days (don't get me wrong, I'm all for anything that gets attention for environmental responsibility; it's simply that in a lot of cases it has become trite.). Perhaps it's that looking at those offices made me think of how much I needed a 3 p.m. nap when I worked in depressing claustrophobic places like that. Perhaps it was India's monotone narration. Actually, I just realized what it was! K-DUB wasn't there! Everyone else's hair is simply too boring to talk about.

So this week was all about creating eco-friendly office spaces. Danny Seo was there in place of Kelly Wearstler. The contestants were told they had to use all of the existing furnishings, which resulted in a lot of "art pieces" and shelves made of old desks. There was a major twist: After the contestants met with their clients and shopped for them, they had to switch spaces with someone else and use the items that person had chosen. I thought of a new drinking game to go along with this show. Drink every time Eddie says "disgusting," "Martha," or "panties" (this week it was a "granny panties" reference - what's up with Eddie and panties?). This will be enough to get you three sheets to the wind within the hour. If he ever gets kicked off, we'll change it to drink every time someone slaps together a piece of rubbish and calls it an "art piece."

A few notes on what went down:

• I am so thrilled that no one used the word "zen" the entire episode.
• I can't believe Eddie took credit for Nathan's idea of putting the rug padding on the wall. Sitting here on my couch alone at 1:45 a.m., I gasped aloud. I also thought the blinds he put all over the fluorescent light looked stupid. But I am biased; he annoys me to no end. BTW, isn't used rug padding usually full of all kinds of nasty mold, silverfish and crud? It's a good idea on paper, but I wouldn't want to sit in an airless room underneath a wall of it.
• Ondine did a really good job with what she had to work with, especially on her water bottle light fixture.
• Nathan had the best ideas and was thinking about being green the most out of anyone.
• The judges were a little too hard on Natalie and her panels. It was a creative idea. Confusing green point: if you have leftover MDF but MDF gives off VOCs, is it better to turn said MDF into recycling bins or toss it in the landfill?
• I kind of liked Wisit's attitude when he said, "I'm not going to chop up furniture just for the sake of trying to look creative."
• I yawned through the rest of it. None of the designs resulted in an office where I would want to spend 8+ hours a day.

So, enough of my whining, I'm dying to know if you all liked it better than I did. Whose design did you like the best? Are you sad to see the losing contestant go? Did you agree with the judges on the top three designs? If not, who would you swap in and out? Who do you think had the best green ideas? Who had the least green ideas? Who is the biggest brat there? Who do you think will win the whole shabang? What are some other drinking game ideas? Were you bored off your gourd or was it just me?

(text by becky harris and image from top design)