Design Star - Challenge 2 - Dueling Kitchens

Task: Choose teams and re-do the outdated kitchens of two suburban neighbors, the McCarty's and the Sturtridges
Budget: $10,000 per kitchen
Time Frame: 28 hours (Day 1 - 9 hrs; Day 2 - 14 hours; Day 3 - 5 hours)
Judging Criteria: Overall design, functionality, team work, fulfilling the wishes of the clients
Winner receives: $5,000 gift card from Sears
Two contestants are sent home

After picking teams "playground style", the teams set out to their project sites and to view DVD's made by the homeowners.

Team McCarty includes: "Organic" Josh F as team captain, with Todd, Christina, Will and Robb

The McCarty's are a young family of four and expressed a desire for a bar area separating the kitchen from the dining area and an "old world" theme, which they'd started with their faux brick painted doorway.

While Josh F was the team captain, Todd quickly stepped over him to take control of the initial planning. The team also decided to make decisions in a democratic manner with little or no discussion. This is a pretty terrible way to come up with a good design plan as it doesn't allow for any analysis or thoughtful consideration of the plan or process.

Josh F was not only a poor leader, he clearly had no knowledge of a Tuscan or old-world design style. This screen shot said it all - grapes , these are Tuscan looking! For this effort, Josh F was eliminated, which is a bit of a shame, since the green design he seemed experienced in was never realized.Will seems to have excellent instincts, but does need to be more assertive in getting his point across and getting his way. This shot above was his clearly frightened response to Josh's "Tuscan" fake ivy and grapes.

Todd continued to show off his physique along with his building skills. He overstepped Josh F in a fairly arrogant manner and seemed a big proponent of the democratic system. However, I would say that it was more because he knew he and Robb would likely agree and they could pull Josh in with them - so 3 against 2, they would win.

Christina came up with the fountain/wine bar concept. It meant taking out a pantry closet for this family of four and Will immediately questioned the functionality of that idea. But he was outvoted and so they made a fountain. Which the family loved.The team was smart in using a laminate counter top that looked natural (on tv) and was something they could achieve in the time allotted. Rob showed himself to have some decent artistic skills in faux painting. I actually didn't hate this as much as Martha McCulley did, but I think the combination of the crackled cabinets and faux bricks was a just too much. I did like the wrought iron basket weave knobs on the cabinets, which might have been painted a more neutral color that didn't make them stand out quite so much. Cabinets should only be a focal point if they are actually beautiful. If you can't make them look high end - or fabulously quirky - then it's probably best to go neutral.

The team did achieve a nice looking peninsula. They didn't have much space and the size they made it was a good one. The lion was just bad and the stools seemed to have no context.
Ultimately, the room was a big improvement over the original and the homeowners loved it. But, as Vern said, professional designers need to give the client more than they know they need. Their rendering of "Tuscan" was amateurish in its concept, although their execution was well coordinated and they did accomplish a big change from the original.

Team Sturtridge includes: Neeraja as team captain, with Kim, Scott, Adriana and "Sparkle" Josh J

The Sturtridges didn't offer any suggestions for design style or colors, but did express a desire for new counters, a wine bar and cooktop. This kitchen had a lot of counter top area, which meant that they really needed to plan that aspect carefully. Team captain Neeraja expressed calm and decisive confidence that she could easily tile the back wall counter top and back splash. Kim worked with her on this project and while she apparently seemed to know how to tile, she clearly deferred the planning to Neeraja. Unfortunately, Neeraja was overly confident in her skills - particularly in her planning and assumptions about availability of tile. The home store didn't have the glass block tile they were looking for (which isn't a surprise, as this is normally a special order product) so they had to head to a specialty tile store. The price they were quoted of $32.09/sq. ft. was what one would expect for this type of tile - something that Neeraja was clearly unaware of. So, out went that idea. Through out the process, an injured Scott expressed concern over the status of the tile and his worries about their ability to pull it off. His concerns were clearly spot on, as they didn't finish in the end and the selections themselves - black 4x4 ceramic tiles on the counter with a rough granity stone backsplash - were pretty uninspired. Neeraja, who was sent packing for leaving an unfinished room, seemed to never really take responsibility for her decision making. Her teammates all suffered because of this , yet she seemed wholly unconcerned. "Well, now we know."
Adriana, who's a dynamo with the power tools, extended the center island and did all the main carpentry work on the project. I don't like the way the island was extended - it seems clunky and awkward and there seems to be room for only one stool. It was hard to tell in the photos how they finished the countertops on the island and front counter, but it seems streaky and dark. Overall the entire kitchen had no real design style that was consistent throughout. Again, as team leader, Neeraja should have been more in charge of the overall plan, not so focused on her one project - the unfinished tile job. They were successful in purchasing all new appliances for the kitchen, although the sink was never installed.
Meanwhile, the design star of the evening was clearly "Sparkle" Josh. His shopping trip was hugely successful - the round table and chairs, the mirror and the window treatments worked very well and he was very budget conscious. The mirror was a huge hit with the judges and while it was very pretty - I couldn't help but worry about whether it would fall over and how often it would need to be cleaned. However, there were no kids in the house, so it would probably work for those particular clients. So, success!


So, in the end Josh J was the winner of the $5K Sears gift card. Josh is proving that his "sparkle" is more sophisticated and broad in scope than his initial audition might have suggested and he's doing it with a wonderfully self-deprecating personality. Loving Sparkle Josh!

Todd, Christina, Adriana, Will and Scott were all deemed to have made good design choices and made valuable contributions to the team effort and move forward.

Kim placed in the last group as she "has yet to stand out, but has proven to be a good team player" and she was moved to the next round.

Neeraja was immediately canceled for her incomplete work leaving Josh F and Robb on the block at the end. Josh showed no leadership or design skill and Robb over fauxed his projects. In the end, Josh F was simply too green (pun intended) to handle this level of competition. Part of being a successful designer is being educated in history, design styles, world styles and having a deep knowledge of many different cultures. And, it's about knowing what you don't know. Josh F was really like a deer in the headlights. Robb isn't well liked by his team mates, with the exception of Todd and they seem to have a very high-fiving "we're men, we rock!" kind of thing going which doesn't leave room for much actual thought. It will be interesting to see how they progress.

So, two challenges down, five remain. They said at the end of tonights show that two contestants will go home next week as well, and that it's an individual challenge, in identical white box rooms.

So, of the remaining eight contestants, who are rising to the top and who are sinking?

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