Originally aired on Wednesday, 03/28/2007
Episode Rating: ** (2 stars out of 5)
Episode Overview: The final four compete for a spot in the final three and for a spread in Metropolitan Home magazine as they design a luxury hotel suite.
Episode Highlights:
- The designers get to take a field trip to the Viceroy Hotel and judge the judge: its designer is Kelly Wearstler.
- It might seem like a repeat, but it’s not: Carisa has problems again with her carpenter and Goil has problems with keeping his cool.
- A carpenter has a nasty encounter with a saw.
Recap:
The group of designers has been whittled down to the final four:
Andrea Keller,
Goil Amornvivat,
Carisa Perez-Fuentes, and
Matt Lorenz. They head out to meet with Todd Oldham at the Viceroy Hotel, which was designed by Top Design’s very own Kelly Wearstler. They are there to meet with guest judge, Linda O’Keeffe from Metropolitan Home magazine, and learn about their new challenge: designing a luxury hotel suite around the theme of the four elements. The prize will be a spread in the prestigious Metropolitan Home magazine.
The designers each pick a card with the element they pick will be the conceptual starting point for their room. Goil gets fire; Carisa, air; Matt, water and Andrea gets earth, which she is none too thrilled about. They will have a whopping three days to complete the task, and over $30,000 for shopping.
The designers get to drawing and shopping. Carisa and Matt seem to have pretty clear ideas of what they want to do, while Goil and Andrea struggle to make the best use of their concepts. Everyone seems to want to avoid clichéd or, to use our dearly-departed designer Michael Adams’ favorite term, “Disneyland” versions of their elements.
Another thing they all have in common is similar layouts. At one point, Andrea makes the rounds and realizes that all four of them are making identical choices for furniture placement. Matt refuses to change, so Andrea and Goil decide to retool.
Construction begins, and it’s once again a pretty fraught event for most. Carisa and her carpenter Carl continue to clash. Goil continues to be very flustered, and seems to rely pretty heavily on his carpenter to both calm him down and offer clear alternatives.
Matt’s carpenter situation is much more serious, however. His carpenter slices open his fingers on a saw and is taken to the emergency room. Luckily, after eight stitches, he is given the go-ahead to return. So he does, and is able to work, albeit with a bandaged hand.
Even with the additional time, the designers are rushed at the end, and Goil, especially, finds himself running out of time. The judges make their rounds of the room and then everyone returns to the White Room to debrief.
Matt is praised for once again capturing a luxurious feel and for his mature and restrained interpretation of “water.” The judges like his gentle color palette, and comments on his successful use of materials – Lucite, for its transparency and mirrored surfaces for their reflective qualities – and how they evoke water’s qualities. (Kelly, who designs hotels for a living, does have a quibble with the feasibility of mirrored surfaces in a hotel room.)
Carisa is also praised for her unique spin on “air,” using a series of vent-like lattices to frame the negative space. (Kelly again points out it might not be practical for a hotel room to need so much dusting.) She stuck with her usual 60’s mod style, but it all works.
Goil’s room was more successful, I felt, than one would have anticipated watching him run around for three days. But the judges feel like he might have been more literal than desired, and that he lost sight of the “luxury” element of the challenge.
Andrea attempted to stay away from a too-brown or green room as her rooms have been called “sad” in the past, so she wanted to brighten it up. The judges appreciate her ability to listen to criticism and retool, but think the room missed the mark. They are not fans of the bench or the grass inserts.
The judges then turn the tables and ask the designers who they think the biggest threat it. Carisa and Andrea pick Matt. Goil first says, “Everybody!” as he’s acknowledged previously that he knows no one perceives him as a threat, but then he singles out Andrea. Matt says himself!
Well, he has a right to be feeling pretty secure, as he wins this challenge as well. He is safe and so is Carisa, leaving Goil and Andrea in the bottom two. The judges didn’t love her design, but her overall performance is strong enough to keep her in the game, so Goil is gone!
Tune in next week!
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Leslie Seaton, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
(Images Courtesy of Bravo)