For the first time, I’m watching HGTV’s Design Star from start to finish. I have to say that I’ve been pretty underwhelmed so far. The biggest disappointment yet has got to be Jason’s design for a seventeen year-old girl’s bedroom. She wanted a modern princess look, and with $5,000 he should have been able to deliver it. Instead, she wound up with this hot mess:
What was he thinking? (hgtv.com)
There’s nothing royal about this except for the chandelier. The “headboard” is made of placemats!! For $5k he uses placemats?? The lack of drapery disgusts me, too, and his scribbles don’t help the situation.
The other side of the room is just as bad:
Again with the placemats! (hgtv.com)
Honestly it looks like the girl could have put this look together herself with a bit of extra cash. The only good thing he did in the room is to add hardwood floors, and I believe he got her a new mattress. Even if both of these things cost $2,000, he could have come up with something better with the remaining $3,000.
I gave myself a Design Star Challenge to design something better and more fitting of a modern princess. For a smidge over $2,600 I think I beat Jason. In addition to the sloppiness of his execution, I think he misses a few royal elements:
- Texture: Velvet and silk are luxurious but he doesn’t use either. The only texture in his version is a shag rug.
- Feminine shapes: Jason’s furniture choices are boxy and all have straight lines.
- Bed fit for a princess: Clearly he hasn’t read any fairy tales. While he’s right to downsize the girl’s large bed frame, not having any frame at all cheapens the look and misses an opportunity to create a focal point.
The pale pink walls she already has could work with this look, or she could use something a bit more dramatic like a shimmery gray and paint the wall around the desk a contrasting color, like raspberry to mirror the bedding on the opposite wall.
- Chandelier: Z Gallerie, $369
- Bedding: raspberry damask print from Target, $72 for a Full/Queen set
- Headboard: Tufted in black velvet from Target, $330
- Curtains: Black Silk Dupioni from PillowsAndThrows.com, $200 for 2 panels
- Desk Chair: Ballard Designs, $545
- Organization System: in black from Pottery Barn, $489 for the set
- Rug: CB2, $299
- Desk: In black from West Elm, $299
Grand Total: $2,603
The extra $397 could be used for some pink and silver photo frames, a mirror, and wall-mounted shelves from Ikea for extra storage.
Have you been watching Design Star? What do you think of the designers so far? Which design has been your favorite?
Good call on Jason’s room, I guess that’s why he’s gone now. And you’re right, for not too much money it could have been waaaaayyyy better so with $5k it should have been blown out of the park. And for cost purposes we did our second bedroom, office, and stairs (the expensive part) for less than $5k so he should have been able to do that floor for $1k or less is my guess, the room wasn’t that big.
I have to say that I was not too impressed with their backyard renovations last week either nor most of the stuff this season. I personally liked Dan until this week but now I think I’m going for Torie, Antonio’s just too bossy.
Sorry I meant Lonni not Torie, got them confused!
I totally agree with you that this room was a hot mess — there were a few pieces that were good buys (like the black mirror), but those placemats were disgusting, as was that horrendous doodle around the window. All in all, I liked the “before” far better.
Your mood board is fantastic, by the way. Love the BD chair and ZG chandelier (which I just bought for my study!).
The girl is quite the actress to pretend she liked that nightmare. That scribbling around the window is an embarrassing mess. Oh, what I could do for $5,000! Love your design.
This show is a complete disaster this season. So disappointing.
You would have done a much better job on Design Star than Jason. I kept wanting to like him but was consistently disappointed. I couldn’t agree more on this room and the placemats were, in my opinion, the most horrific part. Great job on your design, much more interesting than Jason’s.
I think you have a great concept however, I’m not a big fan of the chair on the basis that it is a knock off of a thomas pheasant chair.
LOL! Glad you like the concept but got a good chuckle out of the chair remark. I’m not a designer and don’t pretend to be, and don’t even know who Thomas Pheasant is. Given that this was about decorating on a budget, “knockoffs” were the smart choice.