Design Star... Now they're landscapers?

Caught up with my DVR'd Design Star last night.  Okay, I have a bit stronger opinion about this episode.  First, are you kidding me with the landscape challenge?  Not only do they give them a back yard to do.  It is flipping huge and completely barren.  They did get a fairly decent budget (which I'll get back to). Time allotment was also a bit better.  At this point in the competition though, I'm thinking individual challenges would be more appropriate, or at least a division of two groups.  It is clear to me that they were all unfamiliar with pools.  Putting that giant expanse of concrete around the pool was not only ugly but also completely not functional.  Concrete gets hideously hot and with small children and their sensitive feet, not a very good choice for this family.   Pavers or cool crete would have been a much better choice.  The judges were pretty generous with praise  for this project ( I think they felt bad about the amount of physical labor these people had to do).  Vern, only mentioned that there wasn't any interest around the pool but said nothing about the use of concrete.  So, lets talk about the gazebo.  They paid almost 11K for 160 sq ft of gazebo.  It wasn't esthetically that great and lacked any sort of Zen element.  I think Dan, should have gone home for that decision alone.  He's is cute and he did better in his hosting, so I understand why he didn't get the boot.  He did have some redemption. If that gazebo guy would have given me that price, I would have laughed in his face.  Part of having a design business is negotiating the best deals.  I know they are competing for a show but it comes in handy when you're trying to stretch a budget on TV too.  He just rolled over for that ridiculous price.  I thought $4300 for the playground was high too. Just saying.  Then there was the furniture.  The placement lacked function, it wasn't very attractive and I wasn't feeling the pillows either.  That's just me.  Nothing like having a bar 1/2 mile from the house.  That would be fun to truck stuff back and forth (ice, beverages, etc).  I wonder if that will ever get used?  I thought one of the best elements besides the grass and plantings was the water feature.  Antonio, got no love for that at all.  What gives?  Okay, back to the budget.  If you didn't see the show, the team was given 25K.  Due to some miscommunication they overspent by 5K.  So the consequences were that Clive, gave them the extra 5 thou.  What?  Great precedence for the next season.  I think the writers need to rethink that challenge.  An outdoor space would be awesome.  I think it would have been more interesting to see 4 individual small courtyards in an individual challenge.  So what did y'all think? 
 

Comments

[Melanie]

I'm am with you on everything you just said. I didn't think an outdoor challenge was very good at this late stage. I think it should all be individual challenges at this point. Is it me or is Lonnie (I think that's her name) always looking tired? I feel for her. She is the oldest one left and she doesn't have a strong voice or personality. I think it is down to the guys.

[Chris P]

I thought Dan should have gone, but she did not do that well, so not a loss at this point. I am a bit disappointed-nothing that makes me excited this year. I do like Antonio-he has potential. I know he is not endearing to many-but if I paid for design, I want talent. I think he can be toned down and that he would be able to deliver a good show! I am not feeling it with the others. I miss David and his energy!

[Dream Mom]

Oh, don't get me started on this silly show. I mean, they need to take a large step back and re-think this whole show. If we are going to have a design "star", I think the bulk of the challenges should be individual challenges. I'd like to see different themes every week, say one week, they all have the same bathroom to do with outdated tile and a small budget and see what they would do (kind of like the white room challenge but with the same room). Then we could see some creativity! Then next week, they get a room with built in problems, say lack of windows, lots of doors, etc. Another week, it might be a modern room challenge, or some other design trend. Then one week, they get a decent room with an unlimited budget and few problems. Essentially, lots of differet scenarios to showcase their talent. I think the best season was really season one, that David won where the top three for that year were actually creative and had real design potential.

O.K. so this year, we don't have much talent to work with and silly challenges. Not sure how many folks are hiring an interior designer to do their back yard in lieu of a landscape professional but suppose they did. The concrete will not only get hot but when wet, the kids/adults can slip and fall, hit their head on the pavement and then slide right into the pool and drown. Even a stamped concrete might have provided a little traction so people don't slip and fall. The gazebo, located at the far end of the yard is silly. First, who will trek to the end of a huge yard to sit in a gazebo. And with all of that sun, I would have preferred that he put a roof on the gazebo that provided some shade from the hot sun. I didn't see any landscape planning to let's say, break up those long expanses along the fence. Heck, that yard was so big, you could put a labryinth in there, I think. And did we have seasonal plantings at all-something to bloom every season? No. They could have planted an all white flower garden which would have looked spectacular at night. There could have been a koi pond, etc. It might have been nice to have some dwarf Korean lilacs for a wonderful scent near a sitting area. They could have thought through the design a bit more and had some decidious trees for shade, maybe some flowering trees or a fountain or some focal point to view when sitting at the gazebo or in that large yard. I'd like some evergreen trees for the birds to nest in, with a half retaining wall around it with mulch and flowers, etc. And who uses rock today? I'd use a beautiful cedar bark mulch so that this rich color of the cedar bark would make the green grass pop. So many missed opportunities! A better landscape challenge might have been a smaller yard.

I agree with your comments except that Antonoio has to go...I don't think he has any talent. Who would hire this guy? And he's never the one doing the shopping. The only one where he did some shopping was for that hideous dinosaur room. And he was a set designer so that room should have knocked our socks off!

I think Dan's hosting abilities were the best this week. Lonnie looks exhausted. Torie, I mean, she did need to go home-who handles the budget and doesn't make a plan? I like her and she was the one I'd most like to watch although that doesn't mean she has the most design skill. But on the flip side, have we seen any or enough individual challenges to see who even has some talent?

The best design challenge was still the pet store challenge a few years ago and the glass room challenge. At this point, there are people on "Rate My Space" that seem to have more design potential.

[Denise]

I read this on a comment section to HGTVs blogs:

From an interview The Idaho Press did with Dan:

http://www.idahopress.com/blogs/DIY_Diva/?2009-09...

Here's what really happened, according to Dan:

"There was, obviously, some big confusion about budget," Dan said afte
r the show aired. "Nothing was ever in writing. Once Torie and Lonni came back and we realized the issue, we went back to vinyl store and made some major cutbacks.

"The original pergola, at $10,648, was raised, with steps, had railings, built-in furniture and included a matching arbor along the far end of the pool. After all the cuts, the final cost was $5,500," Vickery said.

"That's why I was laughing in the elimination room. I had made a huge mistake, but it was fixed and only $500 over budget. In the end we were still somehow $5,000 over budget. I had nothing to do with any other costs, so the remainder of the overage was baffling to me."

It is funny how this never came out in all of the edits for the final show. I think they are just trying for the drama.

[Anne]

I just don't get shows like Design Star. I'm an interior designer, and it's not a part of my job to install a landscape! It's also not my job to paint walls, build entertainment centers or work on electrical components. While it's important to know how things are built so that my specifications and designs are buildable, safe, user friendly and beautiful, that doesn't mean I need to do it all!

[Oceanpages]

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