'Top Design': Eddie and his ego head home
Catch up on Top Design with guest blogger Karen Shih:
This week, the challenge is to design one room of a three-bedroom home to persuade the judges to let them finish the home, which will be the final challenge. The designers get to pick whichever room they want, and they get 90 minutes to pick out colors and wallpaper. The contestants have the rest of the afternoon to shop.
Happy Birthday to Nathan! They're partaying it up (with hard liquor, Eddie adds), but Preston is kind of being emo in his own room, talking about how his family has a history of alcoholism. He goes to sleep, leaving a heavily intoxicated Nathan to prance around in tights and a wig as the "host" of Top Design.
The revelry over, the contestants start the next day with their wallpaper done and furniture downstairs. They get a lot of help on this challenge: They have movers for two hours, but there's dramarama when a desk, the centerpiece of Ondine's room, can’t fit through the door (she chose the smallest room in the house). After some mild hysteria, they somehow get it in. They don’t show us how.
Judging this week is particularly intense; the judges are more critical than usual (it is the second-to-last week).
Eddie's room looks like it came straight out of a Martha Stewart catalogue (surprise, surprise). It's supposed to be East Hampton-esque (easy, breezy and relaxing), but the judges don't seem to like it very much. His bed is totally white with no accents. It's probably their least favorite room because it looks like a hotel room and has no personal touches. Jonathan, the guest judge from Flipping Out, says Eddie's style is for older people -- those with walkers and oxygen tanks. Eep. Kinda harsh.
Nathan has an elegant and refined bedroom, though the judges think the dark wood bed doesn't really go with the rest of the room. It's minimally decorated, and he even admits that it's not totally finished; he would like some extra flowers and a window treatment. He toned it down this week, he said, and tried to do something pretty. Bthe judges say he has an edge that he needs to maintain.
Preston' room is typically his: manly but simple and classy. There's lot of furniture, but the judges love the blue diamond-patterned grasscloth (I think that' what they called it) on the wall. The judges call his room polished and confident, Margaret in particular calling it "swank and sophisticated."
Ondine' room is black and white, with flower wallpaper on two walls. There's one burst of color coming from a painting on one wall, which the judges appreciate. It's modern and fun, they say.
No surprise then when the finalists are announced in this order: Preston, Ondine and Nathan.
Eddie's going home! Never terrible but always safe, he's finally going home to Martha (and taking his ego with him).
Next week: grand finale! The contestants finish designing their condos.
