So did your favorite win?

No, I’m not talking about the election, silly, I’m talking about Top Design! I just finished watching the finale and it was a doozie! I hope I’m not spoiling it for you if you Tivoed and plan to watch later.

I’m so excited because my early fave, Nathan, won the title and in my opinion was totally deserving. The final challenge was incredibly daunting. It was to design and fully furnish a townhouse, about four rooms, in just a matter of days. As Ondine says, it normally takes her up to a year to do an entire house—this was absolutely insane. But of course this is made for TV, so there needed to be stress and trauma-drama, and I’m sure we only saw a fraction of it.

So where do I even begin to give you a recap? Let’s start with Preston, or as the judges called him, Perfect Preston. He’s won a number of challenges with his perfectly polished, pristine design style and execution. His rooms all looked finished and were styled impeccably: clean, masculine, subtle, elegant, but ultimately a little too safe for the judges.

Ondine completely surprised me. Throughout the season, her designs have been quite erratic. She’s done a few great things but a lot of times she found herself in the bottom two. I was surprised when she made the final three and was completely wowed. Her rooms were playful, original, and I loved her pink, black and white room—it was fresh and fun and really looked like a room you would want to hang out in. It was a space that put you in a good mood—isn’t that what design is all about?

And finally, Nathan. Truly a talent. Many of his rooms, you could totally see them being photographed for Architectural Digest or Elle Décor, which is one of the prizes he won. His style is controlled, wild creativity. He was fearless. When I saw him dripping paint on a canvas, I thought, oh my God, that is so brilliant, it’s going to be amazing. It was such a simple thing, but it made such a huge impact in the room, and the judges loved it.

The other room that I really enjoyed was his office, where he chose some quirky pictures to put up on the wall—Jonathan Adler called them ex-boyfriend pictures. It was so out of the box and something you would never think of, but seeing it made you smile, and it spoke to his talent and fearlessness.

One of the things I hated about this show is how they bring back contestants who were just kicked off, like Eddie. Gag me, he was so obnoxious that I was glad to see him leave last week, and then to expect him and everybody else who just got booted off to help the others who are still around goes back to more trauma-drama. But that’s television!

So it’s a new day. We have a new president, and bravo! We have a new top designer!

Wis-WHAT?

No, Wisit—as in the latest contestant kicked off Bravo’s reality TV show Top Design. As judge Jonathan Adler says, Wisit is absolutely j’adorable. He has such a sweet quality and talent in his own style—what did he call it? Timeless design. Wisit has a special elegance about him, a look of gracious self-consciousness, eyes downcast, very geisha-like. He is multitalented, trained in art history, fashion design and interior design, and to top it off, he is an opera singer—and a fairly good one, at that!

But unfortunately, he has no talent when it comes to eco-friendly design. Last week’s challenge was to redesign an office for an environmental consulting firm. Wisit, eco-friendly? Going green? I don’t think so. Mr. Frou-frou Flamboyant wanted no part of this challenge, choosing instead to stick to his own preferences and showing complete ignorance of green materials and sensibilities. And sure enough, he found himself in the bottom two with Natalie.

Bottom line was, Wisit wanted to do what Wisit wanted to do, and all in all, his room was quite boring.

But I have to say, when the final curtain came down and Wisit was told that the judges could not live with his design, it was a very sad moment for all of television-land. And as the credits rolled and he sang his final aria, I shed a tear for poor Wisit.

That’s the bad news. Wisit’s gone. The good news is, I heard that they’re auditioning for Madame Butterfly (joke!).

Window Dressing - Top Design Style

The good news is there’s been some great TV lately. My favorite show, Bravo’s Top Design, was on the other night, with some fan favorites from Project Runway as special guests, including Sweet Pea and Jeffrey with the tattoo on his neck.

The challenge was to create a window display. It’s a much smaller space compared to a room, but concepts remain the same. You start with your inspiration—in this case dresses designed by the Project Runway stars—and you have to layer your colors, accessories and textures, trying to determine scale and proportion, and whether to go understated or over the top.

The winning window belonged to Ondine and Natalie. Their inspiration dress by Sweet Pea had bold stripes in bright colors. Natalie had the idea to lift one edge and pin it to the back wall so the dress looked like it was doing a little twirl. It was a very cheerful, whimsical window, with mirrors reflecting the light and lots of butterflies. Sweet Pea was thrilled.

In second place was Andrea and Preston. I actually liked their window better: they bought trees and spray-painted them very dark against a subdued charcoal-gray background. The dress was a beautiful color between yellow and lime, and they suspended the mannequin so it looked like it was floating. The window was sophisticated and serene and made the dress pop out.

Ultimately it was Big Daddy and Wisit who were at the bottom. Their designer, Jeffrey, created a tailored, contemporary, sexy pantsuit, and he wanted a window that was edgy. Big Daddy came up with the idea of looking at the display as if through a kaleidoscope. I felt sorry for Wisit.
All Big Daddy wanted to do was buy a whole bunch of mirrors, and Wisit said, how is buying all these mirrors going to showcase our design? So he proceeded to add his own flair and they ended up with mirrors and gilded wallpaper and part of the window painted black. It was a hodgepodge, there was no clear vision, and Jeffrey was not happy with it.

Big Daddy, a big ole charming Southerner, is a very sweet guy. I found it endearing that in the end, he refused to throw Wisit under the bus and instead stood up to his name. He took the blame himself and ended up being ousted.

So what did you think? Would any of the window displays have inspired you to buy that dress?

So, did you watch last night?

No, I’m not talking about Governor Sarah Palin’s speech, I’m talking about something even more exciting—the premiere of Bravo’s Top Design Season 2. Oh my God, it was fabulous!

I was riveted. The 13 design contestants had an incredibly difficult challenge. They were broken up into teams, and each team had to design and fully furnish an empty loft that had nothing but white walls, concrete floors and a huge staircase in the middle. The idea was to see if they could create a space that would satisfy a demanding client.

Surprise, surprise, their clients were the judges! Aaah! My heart was pounding—I actually felt really sorry for those designers. To add to that, they had to do this in two days, and the worst part of all, on a budget of $2,000. I mean seriously, that’s absolutely impossible.

So where did they shop? Obviously (great for television, watch the drama), they went to flea markets and a place called The Junkyard. However, one team did reign supreme. Kelly Wearstler’s team did a phenomenal job.

Honestly, in my opinion, the reason was that team knew how to shop with focus. That’s something I teach! What they did with their $2,000 budget was incredible. They knew how to stretch those dollars, they listened to their client and made a lot of smart decorating choices. They knew she liked eclectic things and she was a collector, so there was an interesting array of sculptural shapes and tchotchkes, all flea market finds.

The losing team was in my opinion a tossup between India Hicks’ loft and Margaret Russell’s loft. In the end the designer who was voted out was pretty forgettable Serge. He spent too much time on one task and wasn’t much of a team player.

So bravo to Bravo! It was a great first show. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season. What did you think?

I’m going to watch—are you?

Bravo network’s Top Design Season 2 is premiering tomorrow, that’s Wednesday night, September 3^rd. I’m so excited, I love this show! In fact, if I had to be honest, I thought Top Design Season 1 was better than HGTV’s Design Star. Why? The winner didn’t have to be a good performer. They only had to be good at design.

The challenges were better and overall, the designers were more—dare I say it?—talented. Top Design wasn’t looking for somebody who was captivating enough to have their own design show. It was truly all about the design, and last season’s winner, Matt, had the most consistent, sophisticated design sensibility.

This season the show promises a new host, which is great because I can’t even remember who the original host was. But the same judges are returning, including Jonathan Adler, who has the most quirky sense of style; Margaret Russell, the editor of Elle Décor magazine; my favorite, Kelly Wearstler, who is so beautiful and talented and such a style and design icon, and designer and mentor Todd Oldham.

You can bet I’m going to be following this season, Tivoing it and giving my opinions in this blog. I want to hear what you think, too!