235 replies to this topic

[Mr. Sobell]

Jonathan Adler, Kelly Wearstler, and Margaret Russell, to be precise -- let's talk about 'em here.

[buyitnow]

Is it Margaret in the promo who says "you can't just design a room around cats"? If that's really what she said she's wrong, wrong, couldn't be more wrong. Cats are a great decorating concept. And isn't a designer/deorater supposed to be able to take any design concept and create something with it?

[FourGOM]

Those two women seemed to be irritated with each other over the litterbox/sandpit.

[rubberwilli]

Not-Nina Garcia can tone it down a bit.

Heebiejeebie: I'm going to have to agree with you on your assessment of Ms. Elle Decor. She is NOT Nina and she couldn't be. But I think I'm going to call her Not-Nina for the duration...if I last that long.

[narcosleepy]

You can't design a room around a cat, but you can design a room around five random objects!
Who ARE these people? Was it just me or did some of contestants appear to have no idea either?

[Morning Wood]

Sump'm' funny going on. In Margaret's blog (she's the shrew from Elle Decor), she says that on the night of judging ...

... we saw only the finished product and were clueless as to the drama behind the scenes.

So then how did they know about the problems between Frankie Terzoli and Ralphie?

BTW, since she's an EDITOR, shouldn't she know to title her blog "Whom Are We Kidding?" instead of "Who Are We Kidding?"

[TeleRaven]

So then how did they know about the problems between Frankie Terzoli and Ralphie?

Body language. My roommate walked in at that point and even she knew there were issues.

But I was kinda fascinated at the way the judges moved around the spaces, or in some cases, their lack of movement. Not that I wanted them all bouncing on the couches, but I guess I expected a little more tactile interaction with the spaces. They were there after all, and you know the Project Runway designers would get all up in those designs if they could. It was wasted opportunity for feeling the pillows, or testing that thin foam seat cushion they bitched about. Especially if these rooms were to be about comfort and meditation. If the judging is going to be that distant, they might as well just be looking at the pictures.

Of course, that might just be a result of the editing process, but I guess time and future challenges will tell.

[greybear]

So then how did they know about the problems between Frankie Terzoli and Ralphie?
Body language. My roommate walked in at that point and even she knew there were issues.

Jonathan Adler said that he couldn't understand how they could work together with the constant bickering. How could he make the leap from observing body language (basically, they were standing far apart) to 'constant bickering?' It might just have been a little body odor.

It's just the same ol' phony reality IMHO.

[Stinger97]

Margaret Russell? Huge bitch. What was with her dirty looks and snippy comments? I don't even have anything else to say about her except that she was ridiculous in the way she treated people. When she was commenting on the swing, she made some comment about how she "certainly didn't want to get on it."

Maybe I'm just reading too much into it, but she was unpleasant to watch.

[Bubbacat]

Oh yeah, Margaret Russell (AKA Not-Nina) needs to seriously dial back the bitch. Did she like anything in the rooms last night? However, I did find one redeeming feature in her comments -- she hates "theme rooms". Yeah, I'll give her that one. The preponderance of theme rooms was my pet peeve about Trading Spaces. (Yes, I'm looking at you, Frank and Doug.)

[rubberwilli]

I just figured out why Jonathan was looking odd (not that I have ever seen him before) but he has no upper lip definition. Who did his make-up?

His pink shirt blended into the background while Ms. Gingham next to him stuck out from the pack.

Still pondering the Adler-Doonan couple thing mentioned elsewhere. I'm going take a stab that they get F-R-E-A-K-Y!

[withwonderly]

Did she like anything in the rooms last night?

I was wondering the same thing, Bubbacat. was fine with Kelly and Jonathan, but I did not care for Margaret at all. She just seemed so snooty and "I'm the editor of Elle Decor, and you are not!" She had an air to me that really made me not like her.

Ms. Gingham, as rubberwilli so appropriately called Kelly Wearstler, certainly does seem to have an interesting fashion sense. I can't tell if she's trying to look as if she's in her late 20's or early 30's. The gingham and the skinny jeans and the boots did not work for me. Oh, well. This isn't Project Runway.

[LizDC]

Jonathan Adler's Bravo Blog - Props for the Chops

Margaret Russell's Bravo Blog - Who Are We Kidding?

Kelly Wearstler's Bravo Blog - Short and Sweet

Top Design Guest Judges' Bravo Blog - Alexis Arquette: "More Options than Constraints"

[FourGOM]

I like Margaret a lot more now that she's fully admitted that she's the bitchy judge.

[tashiann11]

Margaret Russell (AKA Not-Nina) needs to seriously dial back the bitch. Did she like anything in the rooms last night?

I thought she liked the "dialouge between the wall and the floor" That just cracked me up. It has to be one of the most hilariously pretentious statements I have ever heard.

I like these judges. I like them a lot better than Top Chef but not as much as Project Runway.

[radicalmoderate]

Is that really Adler or his robot prototype? I found him a bit dry. If for nothing other than the personailty I liked the addition of Not-Nina.

[YellowKid]

What was that thing on Elle Decor's lapel?

Is Jonathon Adler related to that other designer, Grace Adler?

Edited by YellowKid, Feb 2, 2007 @ 1:52 PM.

[Refresh]

I like Margaret a lot more now that she's fully admitted that she's the bitchy judge.

Me too. And she addressed, but didn’t really apologize for, the eye rolling. I respect that. She could grow on me.

Is Jonathon Adler related to that other designer, Grace Adler?

Grace Adler is a fictional character from the NBC sitcom Will & Grace. Her character was an interior designer. She was acted by Debra Messing. I don't think it's simply a coincidence the creators chose her character's last name to be "Adler", but it's not that uncommon of a last name.

Edited by Refresh, Feb 2, 2007 @ 3:47 PM.

[Kolohe]

Did anyone else happen to listen to the blog on Bravo by the stylist for the judges, Paris Somebody? Cracked me up, although I don't think that was the intent. He was saying how Jonathan Adler likes to look like a child (shortened sleeves on his jackets), and that the delight in dressing Todd Oldham is he can mix $2,800 suits w/ $200 shirts and still look fantastic. Imagine! Paris was also thrilled that Kelly Wearstler, a real fashionista, mixed vintage Gucci (I think) w/ cheap jeans from Barneys. Does Barneys sell cheap anything? I'm beginning to grasp that this is all relative. Of course my reaction to Kelly's ensemble was "why is a grown woman wearing those weird legging things w/ a frou-frou pink gingham strapless sundress?" Shows what I know.

Edited by Kolohe, Feb 3, 2007 @ 6:15 PM.

[PMS Babe]

Grace Adler is a fictional character from the NBC sitcom Will & Grace.

Hahaha~ I love that you italicized fictional.

[Quiddler]

Is Jonathon Adler related to that other designer, Grace Adler?

Hee!

(I think that was a joke, Refresh.)

Ok, the thing I hated most about non-Nina? Is that she had no idea that the rake was intended to go with the sand pit to create a Japanese Zen garden. Hell, my idea of design is the white sale at Target, and even I knew that! (And was yelling that very thing at my tv just before Kelly did.) If they'd included a few rocks (or rock-like objects) in the sand, it might have made that a little clearer, but ... jeeeeesh. The editor of Elle Design not knowing about Zen gardens does not bode well for her.... or us.

Also, I hated the stilted-sounding way they kept referring to the contestants as "Interior Designers, your next challenge ...." "Interior Designers, meet your judges..." Me-thinks it was so they wouldn't sound too much like the Divine Tim Gunn by only saying "Designers..."

Edited by Quiddler, Feb 4, 2007 @ 2:54 PM.

[Phawless]

I loved Jonathan Adler. I found him adorable and enjoyable to watch. His line about the coffee table needing zoloft because it was a bummer was my single favorite moment of the show.

Not-Nina really grated on me. I rewatched the judging early today, thinking that maybe I had been to0 harsh on her based on my first impression. This time I thought she was even worse. That snooty sniff when Kelly explained the purpose of the rake was so nasty.

Kelly was sort of neutral to me. Nothing she said was memorable, which, I suppose, isn't good t.v. I'm sure she'll reveal more of herself as time goes by.


Edited becase "to" and "too" do not mean the same thing.

Edited by Phawless, Feb 4, 2007 @ 11:20 PM.

[Puds38]

Not-Nina really grated on me. I rewatched the judging early today, thinking that maybe I had been to harsh on her based on my first impression. This time I thought she was even worse. That snooty sniff when Kelly explained the purpose of the rake was so nasty.

I liked her a bit more after I read her blog.

[bmb654]

From Jonathan Adler's blog:

That was my first meeting with the contestants and it was all weird because we’re not really allowed to interact with them so, there we were, modeling up a storm and pretending to be intimate, but we didn’t really know each other. I imagine it’s what a porn shoot feels like.

Hee! I like him already. He also scores points in my book for his stellar use of the word "bummer."

[Phawless]

I enjoyed reading all of the blogs (though it still didn't make me like Not-Nina any better). Did anybody notice that all three of them made a point of saying that they didn't interact with the constestants at all? Seems a little odd that all three would just happen to make the same point, when nothing else about the blogs is very similar. Hmmmm......

[kayobe]

The gingham and the skinny jeans and the boots did not work for me.

Those were jeans??? I thought they were baggy tights. I'm putting her on high "needs a cheeseburger" alert anyways. Even skinny jeans shouldn't be baggy. Gross. Eat a burger!

[Refresh]

(I think that was a joke, Refresh.)

Whoops. Duh. Or should I say Duh.
I was sincerely trying to be helpful! Hee!

Anyhoo... I rewatched the ep today and on second watch I agree a bit more with NotNina's comment about the rake. Reason being, the rake was pretty generic looking. If you're going for the zen garden thing, wouldn't you want to have a more zen garden comb-looking rake?

Also, the way it was placed on the swing was weird. It reminded me of how my brother, who has a drooly basset hound, puts a broom on the couch so that the dog doesn't sit on it. Between that and the catbox...

So maybe it wasn't the idea of the rake, but the rake itself that bugged her. Just a thought.

Edited by Refresh, Feb 5, 2007 @ 12:18 AM.

[Quiddler]

Heh. Don't worry about it, Refresh. Sarcasm can be hard to read on the internets.

One thought that struck me during the first show is how the judges on this interior design show were a lot more fashion-forward than the judges on Project Runway. I mean, not that I would ever wear a gingham dress with jeans and high heels, but I thought it was actually kind of kewl (and more than a little ironic) that Not!Nina (the editor of an interior design magazine) was out-fashionista'ing Nina (the editor on a clothing design show).

[heebiejeebie]

One thought that struck me during the first show is how the judges on this interior design show were a lot more fashion-forward than the judges on Project Runway. I mean, not that I would ever wear a gingham dress with jeans and high heels, but I thought it was actually kind of kewl (and more than a little ironic) that Not!Nina (the editor of an interior design magazine) was out-fashionista'ing Nina (the editor on a clothing design show).

A friend who used to work for Harper's once told me that some of the hig muckety mucks tends to be fashion minimalists as they want to pay homage to designers they love, but try not to be seem like they are playing favorites by wearing things that are immediately identifiable as a certain designers. At least in certain situations. Other situation either require the piece to be known or do so to throw the designer a bone if you will. I've never been bowled over by Nina's grab and a few things I thought were nose-wrinkle worthy if not a nostril-flaring sniff.

For me, Not-Nina seemed to be wearing a huge fashion chip on her shoulder. And looked damn good doing it. But still, I suspect she went on this show determined to show that she does wear Prada. And D&G. And has a few piece of Tom Ford's classic Gucci collection still lying around. If they go on site and she is touting around any bag from Hermes, I will find her efforts to be a bit too much.

Jonathan was looking good. If a little too "there's a Carson Kresley in my Closet". Wax Woman looked like someone pulled her out the dryer and, after realizing that they had forgotten to put in a dryer sheet, left the clothes that static had stuck to her, on.

[KimKelly]

I'm not exactly a big Nina Garcia fan, so I was really surprised that I took a liking to Margaret Russell. She was no-nonsense, and I loved that she thought the Zen garden was ridiculous. Kelly seems to be trying too hard to come off as young and quirky; I think Margaret will bring the classy.