Design Star: Purple Reign

Week nine opens at last week’s elimination. Now that the final two have been selected, just now, we’re led to believe… they are thrown into the final challenge. They will be redesigning an entire house: two bedrooms, a kitchen and a living room.

Clive Flynn announces that Danny Appleseed and Tone will have 44 work hours and four days to complete this challenge. The designers will have the assistance of a team of carpenters and corporate sponsor A & B to provide all the appliances, electronics and the hardwood floors. With that Appleseed and Tone are ushered into a limo and are off to meet their families.

Antonio walks into his family’s house and meets the Starr family, a young couple with a young son.

They would like a design that will lighten up the space, they’re open to ideas and they like splashes of color in their design.

Their kitchen is very dated, like Brady kitchen dated… and the Starrs would like the new design to be light and airy, more specifically, they would like light cabinets and dark countertops.

Dan walks in to meet the Goldberg family, a cougar and her cub. Momma Goldberg is a recently separated woman who is looking for a new beginning with her daughter– it’s all very lower-middle class Gilmore Girls.

Dan is given a tour of their home, their living room is small-ish and drab, but Jackie like to practice dancing in there nonetheless.

Their kitchen is also small, further stressing the space, it’s also their laundry room.

Jackie’s room is a little’s girl’s room that has to be brought up to a Jonas Brothers’ level of sophistication. The master bedroom is equally sad. Momma Gail has a large bed oddly situated in a small room, accented by a large industrial vent looking window on one wall. Both rooms need to be updated.

Dan notices shades of lilac in the house and asks the Goldcats if they share a love of purple. In fact, they do. Prince is never wrong.

Danny Appleseed is going to run with purple and make a feminine design for their new beginning.

Tone’s family takes him through their house and they show him the master bedroom next. It’s a large room, where they have a seating area and a bedroom area, and a bizarre entrance to the bathroom.

Tone will also have to design a room for baby Miles, whose room is currently bare, aside from a crib and a lingering sense that no one threw this woman a proper baby shower.

Tone like the eclectic vibe, and is going to open up their floor plan and inject fresh color and ideas. No needles or ink involved.

Day 1, 12 hours:

Dan is planning a Spring inspired design to usher the Goldcats into their new life. He is going to inspire them solely through the use of throw pillows and mirrored walls. It’s the Nate Berkus school of pyschology.

The crew arrives and Danny Appleseed and the Dannettes get straight to the plan for the space. Dan walks his crew through the house and tells them he wants to unify the kitchen. He wants to hide the laundry space and install deeper cabinets, reposition the fridge and update the space.

In the master bedroom he plans to reorient the bed and lose the window that the cougar never uses. Then he can create built ins around the bed. To give her extra storage for her single lady toys.

In the Starr house Tone meets his crew and says he feels bonded to his crew immediately. He walks the crew through the house and explains how he’s going to change the layout.

In the kitchen he’s going to do an “old school kitchen, but you know modernize it.” Because actual 1960s asbestos tiles are hard to come by these days. He’s going to make the space look modern with lots of stainless steel.

In the master bedroom, he’s going to keep the two functions, a lounge area and a bedroom area, so the family can still hang out together in the room.

He finishes the tour in Miles room. He’s planning a star graphic for the wall.

Tone’s excited about his crew and the project.

Back at the Goldcats’, Dan is in Jackie’s room discussing a custom bed for the cub that will provide workspace and storage.

Dan is ready to start knocking out walls and assigns his team demo work so he can head out to the store.

Appleseed hits the cabinet supplier first and selects dark cabinets to contrast the cashmere granite. I like the sound of that… I hope it comes in purple. They had it custom ordered for the HQ of The New Power Generation.

In Sears Dan picks up a stackable washer-dryer and various shades of purple paint.

Next stop is the print shop where he is having a pic of the Goldcats blown up and printed in black and white.

Tone has a similar plan for day two, he gives his carpentry team their orders for the day and lets them go forth and knock out walls. Which is the part I would want to stick around for… what better way to triumph over tan walls?

Tone goes to the cabinet supplier and picks out light cabinets, because he intends to have a dark granite countertop installed. In Sears he selects his paint and then he’s off to pick out his stainless steel appliances.

When Dan returns from shopping the house is gutted and the team of carpenters are ready to start prepping and painting.

Tone also arrives back at the house to see the demolition complete. Since the team is working so quickly he’s going to add in another task to the design and change the awkward entrance to the master bathroom. Antonio thinks if he’s going to do this, he’ll do it right.

Day 2, 12 hours:

Dan wants the hardwood floors and the cabinets to go in on day two. He is planning to cover up the window in Cougar Gail’s bedroom. He leaves the team to their tasks and heads out shopping. In the furniture store he’s looking for big ticket items, he wants a strong sectional for the living room. He’s also picked out a dining room table with cream colored upholstered chairs.

Back at the house, the carpenters are working on the built in cabinet above the mantle for the television set and the custom bed for the cub.

In the Starr house, Tone is also planning the day around cabinet and floor installation and shopping. While on the hunt, Tone needs to find a cabinet to function as the mantle, the cabinet for the television, the centerpiece of the room and the future site of Poppa Starr’s stash.

Dan is headed to the tile store next to pick out a stacked stone backsplash and the new tile floor. When he returns to the Goldcats’ house the floor and cabinets are going in and he’s able to run though the plans for day three. The next work day, Dan plans to “execute in a way that will make him the next Design Star.” Or at least HGTV’s equivalent of teacher’s pet.

Tone returns from shopping and the floors are being finished and the cabinets are going in. Which was possible because not a single member of the carpentry team stopped to attend to personal hygiene. Obviously.

Day 3, 12 hours:

Tone briefs the painters before he goes back to shopping. He has selected several different wall colors from the space. I, for one, hope these men apply paint better than they apply deodorant. You can see the stink lines coming off this bunch.

In the furniture store, Tone finds a couch for the living room and two red patterned chairs with “a great vibe.”

Dan is visiting furniture stores too, he comes across a purple loveseat for Jackie’s room and a chandelier for the dining room, on sale. He’s confident it will add character to the space.

When Danny Appleseed returns from shopping he is very happy with the custom cabinet above the fireplace and will be adding beveled edged mirrored tiles to the cabinet, as well as creating a mirrored wall in the entranceway. It’s traditional to add the mirror above the fireplace, because mirrors lighten the space and make the room look bigger. I like how he used the mirror tile, instead of a solid mirror, because it’s hard to keep them clean when you have stupid or drunk family members consistently walking into them, or screen doors, or banisters.

Dan has finishing work to do tomorrow. He has to finish up painting and the tile floor.

Antonio is back from shopping and the contractors are already gone. He does a quick canvas of the house and is unhappy with the paint color in the kitchen. The lilac paint on the wainscoting with the white-distressed cabinets is too cutesy for his taste. He says it looks like “Barbie dream house.” He’s “fustrated.”

Day 4, 8 hours:

Dan has a daunting day ahead. First task is to get the washer/dryer installed but the cabinet opening is too small by 1/16 of an inch.

Dan has to trim the cabinet before leaving to shop for flowers and groceries to accessorize the house. Spring was his design inspiration and he wants lots of fresh elements in the rooms.

He picks up the picture at the photo shop on the way back to the house, he feels good about this element and is confident the Goldcats will like the design. Dan arrives back at the house and installs mirrors in Gail’s closet doors, because if you can’t win them over, which is the third set of mirror we’ve seen him install in this house. I guess if the Goldcats are not thrilled with the design he’s hoping to distract them with many, many reflections of himself?

Tone tackles the color in the kitchen first. He discusses with his Geico team and decides that they’ll mix up a lighter version of the slate color from the living room and repaint the kitchen.

The new color still has a hint of purple, but is a nice contrast to the cabinets. I don’t know why he used the wainscoting as a backsplash, I think this would be a cool opportunity to bring in more metal, or cool glass tile, but the final product looks good.

Next he has the Tonettes alter the Moroccan armoire to turn it into a mantle and a cabinet for the television. He also has the stars going up in Miles room. Once orders are despensed, Tone heads out to shop for colorful accessories for the room.

In the final minutes both Dan and Tone are both rushing around to complete the final touches when Clive Flynn arrives to call time. Clive congratulates the men on completing the challenge. Tone says he feels she showed what he can do, and Dan thinks he has done everything he can. Clive allows the two men time to get camera ready before they host their space and reveal the design to the families.

Elimination:

The final segments are revealed to the judges. Dan is in the Goldcats living room to explain his Spring inspired design. He seems a lot more relaxed and even manages to not giggle, even though he replaced the annoying giggle with the Valley girl method of making two syllable words 20 letters long. “This huuuuuuuuuuuuuggggge mirrored wall.”

He leads us through the upgrades in the kitchen, which are all undisputably better than before. He hosts Jackie and Gail’s rooms. He provided ample storage in both rooms, which a girl has to appreciate. The entire house is very girly and purple-y and comes together pretty well.

The judges are pleased with Dan’s purple haze and his hosting. Vern says his hosting has improved. Candy Stallion likes the unexpected touches, Dan always thinks outside the box. Vern agrees and says there are a lot of “beautiful moments” in his design. They think the kitchen is sophisticated, although Vern thinks the backsplash looks unfinished.

Candy Stallion like the ways Danny Appleseed designed Jackie’s room and pulled all the shades of purple together with the use of black and white. In Gail’s room, Vern approves of covering the window. Candy likes the mirrors Dan added to the closet doors.

The Goldcats love the space and Cougar Gail is almost in tears when she sees her living room. She loves the palate, the pic of her and her daughter and custom cabinetry above the fireplace. Both the Goldcats are thrilled with their kitchen and bedrooms. Gail says it feels like home. All in all, the judges and the Goldcats think “U Got the Look” Dan, you can now “Party like it’s 1999,” because your design caused them all to “Gett Off.”

Candy congratulated Dan on reading his client perfectly. Dan may be annoying on camera, but the guy is a good designer.

Tone steps up to face the judges and watch his segment. As usual Antonio is relaxed on camera. It’s a bit like he learned to host from watching MTV cribs, but it’s entertaining. He takes us through the living room and the kitchen, which both turned out really well. Both spaces look much better than I had anticipated, from only seeing the elements separately.

Candy loves the color cues from the TV cabinet that Antonio picked up in the living room. Vern is concerned with the layout, but Gen isn’t, she loves the room. All the judges like the update to the kitchen. The difference is really astounding.

I was underwhelmed with Miles room and the master bedroom, but the judges like the design and they like the way Antonio presented it to the Starr family, he was having fun with the reveal and even teased his clients. They applaud Tone’s bold use of color, and liked that he took the master bedroom design a step further and moved the bathroom entrance.

Tone gets emotional watching the Starr family’s reaction, they love everything Antonio designed and are very happy in their new home.

As foretold by his neck tattoo, Antonio wins and is the new Design Star. Candy finally gets to hug him. Dan has won the fan favorite vote and will receive an online show. If he learns to curb the annoying giggling and unnecessary Valley speak, he’ll be on the network in no time.

Did you think Antonio should have won? Based on this challenge or the past challenges? Are you hoping to see Dan on HGTV soon? How do you think Antonio will do with his own show?