April 11, 2007: Lofty Visions
"Was there any question, really, people? Seriously." - Matt.
No, Matt, no indeed.
Both his and Carisa's final projects were gorgeous and inspired personal visions. But Matt dependably exuded his polished, sophisticated and serene self - an aesthetic that's a bit older and more refined than Carisa's, and a better match with the tastes of
Elle Decor's Margaret Russell.
Though Todd told them they'd have two months for this challenge, let's be honest: They really only had five days. Two months of conceptualizing and formulating a plan and phoning the PDC, yes, but
five days to install flooring, walls, paint, furniture, kitchen cabinets and appliances, curtains, etc, throughout a 1,700-square-foot loft in downtown Los Angeles.
Two months later and three days away from the deadline, both found themselves over budget at the PDC and behind schedule back at their respective lofts, despite the added carpenters (did you see Sarah?) and crew.
Both finalists chose black floors that looked beautiful but after lots of white paint and dry-wall dust and tape not so much. I don't understand why Carisa's floor needed to be hand-carved mahogany if she was just going to paint it black. It was so heartening, though, to see her really stepping up, pulling an all-nighter, refusing to be the "Mayor of Excuses Village" and painting into the wee hours without complaining and/or blaming her carpenter Carl. (In fact, two months apart seemingly transformed that relationship, and they got along swimmingly those last five days.) Ed, Matt's initial carpenter, was back, too, but all his handiwork couldn't save Matt from also having to repaint his black concrete floor until 4:45 am, when he literally painted himself out of the loft and was ready to "lay in a corner and cry."
I don't know how they did it, but somehow both designers pulled it all together. I loved Carisa's ping-pong/dining-room table, bed pit (and Adler's "I can imagine getting into some freaky scenes in that pit") and layout, as well as Matt's daughter's princess bed, purple bathroom (Michael, take note), furniture selection and color scheme.
I've never seen Carisa and Matt so nervous in the white room. Understandably, it was tense: There was a lot on the line, and past Bravo reality shows have been known to pass over the polite and composed talent for the more conniving artiste. Plus, Adler kind of
matched and Kelly's hair could pass for tousled-chic and guest judge "La Styler" (aka Trudie) was more harsh and persnickety than Margaret Russell. So I was puzzled by such a (relatively) staid, almost grim judging panel, and was unsure what kind of decision would come from this new dynamic.
Well, then again was there any question, really? Carisa took the loss so graciously; she was alarmingly poised. But surely she's smart enough to know that assignments and job opportunities will now come streaming in and she has a great career ahead of her.
In the meantime, I'm curious to see what happens with the Top Designer, and wondering what the other
Designers will be up to in the coming months. If anyone stuck around for those "exclusive" contestant interviews that aired during the
Shear Genius premiere, and if anything interesting was said - do tell.
Thanks for watching with me, and thanks for reading!
Addendum: Sorry for the belated add-on, folks, but I've been under the weather. Here's TVGuide.com's
interview with winner Matt Lorenz, in case you haven't read it yet.
