April 4, 2007: The Trinity
Oh, Matt, don't scare me like that! Why that momentary crisis of confidence?
I was quite surprised he wasn't more gung-ho about tonight's task. Granted, designing a high-end living room inspired by an
Elle Decor cover for $7,500 total was a tall order. Still, chic luxury is his shtick and he's succeeded with a limited budget several times in this game. And surely he knows how to spell "Los Angeles." Clearly, the pressure was finally getting to him.
Indeed, by the end of the second day, every member of the
Design trinity had pulled a Goil/Jan Brady by freaking out over some aspect of the challenge. Carisa made a biting but hilarious crack about Andrea's wall color ("nothing says happy like gray"), and suddenly Andrea realized she'd wasted time and effort (not to mention some embroidering) painting her room's gray walls with another horribly neutral shade of gray. Carisa's drama centered on her carpenter (as usual), as they bickered over divergent visions of the back wall's stone aesthetic. Where Carl saw exposed brick, artistry and old-school handiwork, Carisa saw round blobs in a Montana log cabin, and much eye-rolling ensued.
Matt's stress level only increased when Sarah, Goil's former carpenter, was assigned to Matt since his (evidently) efficient and dependable go-to guy was too injured last week to work on this project. She got bogged down in intricate flooring and French doors, while reupholstering turned out to be Matt's kryptonite. At least we got to witness some quick thinking from Todd and see him relay some great advice. But unfortunately, Matt still turned in his most incomplete and unpolished product in the competition so far. Eeek!
Honestly, by the time the judges came around to their rooms, I was unsure who of the last three designers wouldn't make the finale. Andrea's living room was mellow and neutral again, but at least she had splashes of color and was able to do away with her initial grayer gray. I was too distracted by Kelly's garish earrings during Matt's explanation of his living room, but what I gathered was that he tried to go "dreamy," and he later rattled off several things he didn't have time to complete. When Adler (again sporting a range of color and design palettes from the waist up) emphasized both the importance of imitating the
Elle Decor cover as well as creative inspiration in this challenge, I feared Matt's might not have enough of the former and too much of the latter. Carisa did a great job adapting her room to the magazine cover and keeping her voice. But that meant she still had way too many pillows and too funky a design and color palette for luxury. I was so glad that her (well, Carl's) wall worked out, though Carisa couldn't seem to muster much of a compliment or credit his way in the white room.
Even though Andrea was able to depart from her standard gloominess, the architect was shown the door. I couldn't believe Carisa's delirious response to Adler's "Why do you deserve to be in the finals?" didn't seal her fate. (After all her opinions about her competitors and all that cocky self-promotion, how could she have been so tongue-tied by that question?) Well, you all know I would have preferred to see Andrea and Matt battle it out next week. But at least Matt can still win the war.
