apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I was surprised with how much they liked the pirate room too. I thought it was way overdone. Plus, the kid's 10. He'll be over pirates in a year or two and want a more grown-up teenage room. Then what?

I really liked Goil's room and I thought he should have won.

And Todd, well, he was better this episode.

Goil is totally a brilliant designer. He doesn't take shit from the judges either. He had a concept, unlike most of the others. I also liked Matt's hollywood glam. I am SURE Kelly (the queen of hollywood glam) loved that one.

Can we please get a realistic challenge? I would have really liked to see what the designs looked like if they had known that they were designing for kids.

About "themey"-ness -- doesn't it depend on the use of the space? Its fine for a kid's bedroom, but not so much for an inner sanctum. At least that's how I feel about it.

I thought the pirate room was brilliant -- people expect kids to grow up way too fast today! Let them enjoy being kids! :)

And what's with the whole "black is too sophisticated for a 10-year old girl" discussion?? Have the women judges forgotten what it is like to be a 10-year old girl? I thought that Matt's bedroom was awesome!!

I was a little bit surprised by the fact that they revealed that John had HIV. I realize that reality shows are all about spilling personal secrets and revealing personality disorders, but for some reason all that personal stuff just seems out of place on this show. I'd much rather learn about their personalities through how they decorate other people's rooms....Thought there was also sort of a disconnect between the judges and the kids in this episode. The judges hated the black curtains, but the girl really seemed to like those curtains and commented on it and I still felt like he got grief about the color choice.....

Yes, much better. I'm so relieved, because I really want to like this show! I wasn't crazy about the pirate room... as they love to say on PR, the "taste level wasn't there." But then again, I'm not a ten-year-old boy, and that kid was ecstatic. Still, I was much more happy with Goil's and Matt' rooms.

i thought this episode was much better, but i was completely distracted the second kelly wearstler appeared onscreen. her outfit was so, so bizarre.

she. is. kelly. wearstler.

if she wants to wear michael jackson gloves on television, who are we to judge. and the non-matching blues were also unique.

why does she have to dress like everyone else? at least she's not boring. and no matter what she wears, her face is still gorgeous so just don't look at the outfit.

if you can't tell, im a huge fan of hers. and i just hate picking on people's clothing. personal style is just that.

I couldn't agree more. Goil seems to be the one to watch but his obsession with all things vegetable is bizarre. Perhaps by making peppers cool he's trying to encourage kids to eat them?

she. is. kelly. wearstler.

if she wants to wear michael jackson gloves on television, who are we to judge. and the non-matching blues were also unique.

why does she have to dress like everyone else? at least she's not boring. and no matter what she wears, her face is still gorgeous so just don't look at the outfit.

if you can't tell, im a huge fan of hers. and i just hate picking on people's clothing. personal style is just that.


and episode 2 is much better.

Is it just me or was Goil's room essentially a repeat of his win last week? Apparently his 10-year old client has the same tastes as Alexis Arquette.

I feel bad for Kelly, she is such a good interior designer, but all anyone can ever say is how pretty she is, or how she is dressed. I know, there are worse things to be than pretty, but I would get upset if the focus was always on my looks and not my work. She is the best designer on the panel, and she should be the number 1 judge, not Jonathan Adler. Also, the host-in this case Todd should be a very experienced interior designer or a teacher like Tim Gunn. I feel like some of the contestents know more about interior design than Todd-I mean he isn't REALLY an interior designer-a few projects here and there-does that count as a lot of experience? The host is supposed to guide the designers as they are working like Tim or even Tom Colicchio (SP?) on Top Chef-the major problem with the show is that Todd is just not giving the designers any guidance
while they are working, this is one of the best parts of Project Runway.

OMG, Elle Decor?!? Thats a magazine?! Margaret Russell is such a cliche, starved, gnarled Manhattan editrix crone. Obviously a tacky frat girl who moved to the big city, first apartment paid for by daddy, who mistakenly believes her position of privilege has magically bestowed her with taste. Everytime she opens her mouth to judge ACTUAL creative people I want to punch her in the face. Eat some food bitch.

I don't think the challenges are realistic. Does any professional ever design space without meeting with their clients before hand? How is that an exploration of someone's talents and abilities?

I think the fact that Todd Oldham has become kind of a name with the fashion thing and the TV shows he's already had -- there was something he had about 10 years ago with Cyndi Crawford and something more recently, that THAT is probably what helped him get this gig.

I think he's kind of a likeable figure, and I think his Lazy-Boy line is pretty good, and it might be the name recognition that it brings that might have made them hope that people in Middle American might tune in.

I think it's interesting that Todd Oldham looks like a real human being whose teeth are NOT relentlessly straight, and yet pretty nice-looking.

haha. Ralph I totally agree with you. Margaret Russel provides enough snark to make up for the fact that the judging panel is fairly lifeless (compared to say, american idol). I think Kelly Wearstler has the background/status to be really judge-y, but she seems to be the most demure of them all...

none of the judges are likeable! they're all too intimidating, soulless, and plastic. when the contestants walk in to the white room, the judges are sitting there looking stiff and uncomfortable in their bar stools. when the judges were walking away back to the white room after viewing all of the rooms, i had to LOL---they even walk uncomfortably, teetering with their huge attitudes in their high heels and perfectly fitted outfits.

i think they wanted to cast margaret russell as the bitchy judge, cause the tv keeps catching shots of her with the most unflattering looks on her face. i'm sure that when she watches the episodes she'll be pissed off by that b/c i have noticed that all of her pics in elle decor look exactly the same---same smile, same hair, and all perfect. i do like todd oldham better this week. and ohmygosh, i guess jonathan adler is going to say "see you later, decorator" alllll season long... ergh. he's disappointingly annoying.

Reading something like "I wanted to punch her in the face. Eat some food bitch" on a site like Apartment Therapy is so depressing! Not funny or witty or clever or smart or interesting. Yuck.

abe-

i totally agree that kelly wearstler is a fantastic designer but i do have to note that she puts tons of pics of herself in her design books. granted, she looks fabulous in all of them - one even sunning topless (back only, no nudity boys and girls) - so i'm thinking she knows how hot she is and uses it to her advantage. so i wouldn't feel bad for her, she knows what she's doing and probably laps it up when todd calls her 'the resident hottie'. i doubt she's ever upset about comments on her looks. luckily her designs will be around longer than looks that do eventually fade.

sorry people, im done spazzing like a 16 year old about kelly wearstler. obviously, i heart her. jonathan adler owes much of his early popularity to margaret for putting him in elle decor, which he's admitted. she may not be able to create the designs, but she knows good talent when she sees it. funny thing is, she hasn't really liked anything so far. the first two challenges have been kind of hokey, maybe they will continue to improve.

ohmygosh ralph. i can't believe you would be so...cruel. especially when your name has a link to your site (?). most of us blog a lot and now i'm glad to know to never support your site.

Well - my site is all about GOOD magazines. We read EVERYTHING. I support creative, independent design and editing that isn't overly consumerist.

Elle Decor is exactly what my blog, Print Fetish, is against. Poor typography, unimaginative art direction, dull editorial voice, advertising masquerading as content, corporate bullshit.

Russel is the kind of person who confuses her status quo, commercial, bourgeois aesthetic for taste. These people are a plague upon culture, they deserve to be trashed and torn apart with the same sort of bile they spew out upon the world. How do these lackluster minds ever become Editors?!?! It's truly MIND boggling how many of these thin, humorless women (lacking the most rudimentary skills of journalism) gain such positions of power in New York. These magazines are horrendous and deserve to be thrown in the trash. DON'T BUY IT!

Ralph, you sound like a misogynist and you are spewing a lot of bile yourself.

I found this episode sadly lackluster. If there is a second season, a new host and judges are in order. And a new format. It doesn't seem to work well. I really wanted to like it, too.

what's up with the white room? It is so ugly. If the set designer of top designer can't design a decent set, it doesn't bode well for the show.

Did anyone else notice that not a single one of the designers put a dresser in their bedroom? Probably every dresser in the design center costs $8000. A great part of interior design is sourcing materials. I'll be even more disappointed in the show if they don't get out shopping!

tracy, that is an EXCELLENT point! they had desks, chairs, and beds, and some artwork/decoration, but where are these kids gonna put their clothes? no built-in closets or dressers, or even storage space or trunks for toys or kid clutter.

i liked this episode much better, but i still feel like it is missing a lot of life. it is quite stiff and manufactured and i don't feel like it every really makes progress towards feeling sympathetic or relating to any of the designers. i just don't think their designs are enough to compensate for their not getting to exhibit their personalities.

also, i am much more interested in how the designers solve problems and piece together the room than how these judges feel about their final products. instead of having a whizzing-by montage of their shopping spree, a minute of them sketching, and then 2 minutes of them installing lamps and painting, i would really like to see the creative process -- more insight into how they initially approached and designed the room (spatially envisioning and sketching it), how they put together and built specific pieces, why they decided to buy certain objects. i feel like they just rush through till the finished room, and i'm really interested in seeing how these talented people are able to work from the ground up to create these sets.

maybe that's a little too how-to or hgtv for what they're aiming to have the show be about, but i feel like even on PR they would talk about fabrics as they went shopping, how they were trouble-shooting and trying out different things..... maybe it would take away the impact of seeing disconnected bits and pieces and then seeing the big finish, but i think the process is fascinating and should be covered in more depth and airtime.

I'll give ElleDecor a pass, they're sponsoring the show, they have to have a judge on the panel. But I'm with Ralph on the Russell issue. She is nasty, and not in a Ms. Jackson kind of way. Her critiques are subjective and don't show any regard for the requirements of the client (she critiques as if she is the client).
It is good and fine to have a bitch of a judge, especially if that bitch is there to reinforce that talent wins over personality. That is why Simon is such a great bitch/judge on AI. He's honest and he's right most of the time and he's not cutting anyone slack for being just good enough. To win you must be great.
Russell is bitchy to be bitchy and I get the impression she was bitchy long before anyone put her on the TopDesign panel. She's not providing insightful critiques, she's not helping the contestants grow their talent. She offers nothing of value to the panel beyond ElleDecor's sponsorship dollars. If she were at least a funny bitch (Janice Dickerson) she would bring some entertainment value.
For the record, I am not a misogynist, I'm a bitchy lady with opinions. And in my humble opinion, Ralph is right, Russell sucks big, plastic peppers.

Russell is a bit too....high on herself, maybe? A little...self-important? And Adler is Mayor of Knock-off Village. I can't believe anyone would call him a design icon with a straight face, as Oldham did! The host and other judge, the one with pictures of herself everywhere in her book, are a snooze. The contestants rooms are all stinkeroos. I won't be watching a third time.

Frankly, I'm just not happy with the show. The judges and many of the contestants on it are just plain irritating. And since when does one only source solely from a design center? Perhaps I am expecting to much from a TV show, but I had really expected to see some design excellence and originality with realistic environments and clients. Everyone on this show seems to be out to trounce each other with put downs. The judges on the contestants, the contestants on one another, especially that woman from Elle Decor.

I'm not at all impressed with designing rooms in a three sided box. Real interior design involves working with the quirks and issues of a space and a building, and working with real people for clients. I will likely not bother with watching the next episode.

I am wondering where Goil's fave faux grass can easily be purchased on the web. Googling it just does not work. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

As someone who knows Peggy (Margaret) Russell, I can tell you that all your observations are right on

She's unpleasant, spoilt, saccharine "sweet" (NOT) and VERY unvisual . Her staff at Elle Decor change every few months as they can't take her.

She's all about POWER and kissing up to the right people .. Not a talented individual
She's a miserable chick and it shows big time.

What the hell is Ralph talking about? Since when is a critic or editor supposed to be a creative talent? Are film critics supposed to be film directors as well? NO. Is Anna Wintour a fashion designer? NO. Is she a great fashion editor? YES! The same can be said for Margaret. In my opinion she puts out the most beautiful interiors magazine of all of them. Beautiful photography, classy uncluttered typography. and above all they have the most stylish and diverse collections of homes. Granted Margaret does come across saccharine (will someone please wipe off that pinched fake smile of hers) but what editor in chief doesn't? Face it Ralph, any joe schmo can put write a blog, but not everyone can put out an successful magazine that sells year after year to loyal fans for the past 20 yrs

As someone else who knows Margaret Russell, I have to disagree entirely with mydish. Ms. Russell is knowledgeable and passionate about design. The reason her staff changes every few months is because they're either aggressively pursued by competitors, or because her standards are so high that some folks just can't cut it. Did you see the way she praised the diaphanous curtains of Team Tahiti's cabana? She saw that now only were they beautiful, but difficult to construct. Come on, this is a reality show and she's been cast as Cruella DaVille. Her comments about design are not throw-aways, she's insightful. Give the woman a break.

Alice - being an editor is supposed to be a creative job. Further, movie critics do suck because most don't seem to have an education or talent in critical writing. They don't have to be filmmakers - but they should be critical, analytical thinkers and good writers.

Elle Decor is not well done - The cover photography, logo and cover lines make it almost invisible on the rack. And actually, it doesn't sell that well, it simply has a corporate machine behind it to keep it going.

Don't EVEN get me started on Anna Wintour - the most iconic, crone and the worst of the bunch. You read it LAST in Vogue. Every Vogue on the face of the earth is a superior magazine to American Vogue. The staff at Vogue obsessively read better magazines to get their information, new contributors and future talents. A great magazine is one that finds brilliant people and publishes them for the first time - not one that is so scared it has to wait for other people to take the risk first. Even the brilliant photographers and writers they do hire do their most boring, pedestrian work for them - Vogue demands it.

Actually the fact that any joe schmo can write a blog is what makes it such a powerful medium. Its why I don't like a SINGLE interiors magazine right now - but I absolutely LOVE this blog right here - Apartment Therapy.

More power to this blog! and it's 20 or 30 readers. advertisers should really flock to this site and throw money at it the way they do at Vogue and elle décor. because that money is certainly wasted on the hundreds of thousands of readers who read those magazines. get real ralph

20 or 30 readers?! They are going to be on Oprah! In any event - you judge quality by sales figures and advertising dollars? Thats kind of disgusting, but yay you.