Hello, hello, hello all you wonderful people! School has started and the amount of troubleshooting us parents and the teachers have had to do in the last couple days, especially in my area, is on another level entirely! So! To take your mind off of the stress of not being able to get your child logged in on the laptop they sent you (!!!), here’s a recap on episode 2 of Interior Design Masters.

Now, this week the designers came in with designs for a commercial bedroom space. Judge Michelle Ogundehin revealed the challenge and the special twist: the contestants are to help revitalize a 15 year-old hotel, Hotel Chocolate, and incorporate nods to chocolate. The designers are grouped in teams of three and assigned a chocolate theme: Dark Chocolate, Milk Chocolate and White Chocolate. Taking on Dark Chocolate was Jerome, Verity and Kyle. Working with Milk Chocolate was Cassie, Terian and Frank. And finishing up the groupings were Ju, Nikki and Trish with White Chocolate.

I want to start by saying how much I like that they give the designers their brief (scope of work) prior to the contestants coming in for the challenge announcement. It gives the designers time to work up the plan and save time in updating the spaces. That goes against sooo many other shows, but for interior design it works! Moving on, Milk Chocolate was in trouble!! First of all, they barely tried to get along and come to compromise as a team! They really all sat there like, “yea, this is what I’m doing.” Then Terian is on the verge of tears again, and I’m just like sweetie, you haven’t even started the challenge yet. And then Frank suggests doing everyone that everyone do their own thing. What blew my mind about that, though, is they all agreed. It’s like see, this is why people hate group projects.

As the episode continued, Verity stood out to me. She was intensely affected by the change to her design. I can see why she was frustrated, but she was honestly grossly thrown off by having to use a color she doesn’t like. But as a designer, you have to be able to work through things like that to successfully complete a project. Having a project go the way you want from beginning to end is like a dream. Stuff like that does not happen regularly at all! Professionals have to be willing to make compromises and changes with clients, contractors and other professionals. As a designer, you can try to run from using certain colors or details, but eventually it’ll catch up to you.

Now, I want to talk about the state of this hotel! It’s an old hotel, and they did explain that it was in serious need of an upgrade, but goodness gracious. What were they doing to that place that it was in such rough condition?! Everyone had with issues with the space. Oh, and Kyle with his section of no ceiling was just unbelievable. Overall, though, this was another example of real-life design problems and the solutions designers have to make on the spot. I’ve had my share of demo day problems, so I understand. This is real stuff. I’m curious as to what kind of deal was worked out for the hotel to allow the producers to use and film this space. Regardless, great job on securing this space producers!

So what did the judges think? I was curious, and so far they’ve provided great takeaways for the episode. This episode’s guest judge was Jade Jagger, and she was really looking for a space that created a simplistic elegance, if you will; simple yet impactful, taking care to pay close attention to the needs of the guests of the hotel. The judges were really focused on each designer’s identity. Cassie was one such designer, although I wouldn’t call her design successful. My exact response was, “OMG Cassie!!!! What are you doing?????????”

I watched her give her presentation, then watched her work, then watched her put that room together and wow!!!! All that, in a hotel?? Her antiques background REALLY came out with that one. And the judges said as much. I just didn’t understand how she thought that would really work in a hotel, especially considering part of the brief was an updated design, not a flashback to the Victorian era. As they continued through the rooms, there was some shaking of the head at the lack of chocolate in some of the rooms, but what Judge Michelle talked about more was understanding the designers’ style. Jerome, for instance, had what I thought was a successful room, but they still seemed to struggle with identifying his design eye. I got it to an extent, but I think he was setting himself up as someone who likes to use different pieces or options to create mild BOOM moment. Ah well.

Now that we have the mains done, let’s get to Judgement Day (ooo it sounds so ominous. Duh duh dunnn). Here’s how everything wraps up: Team Dark Chocolate won the challenge and moved on to the next round. They all had clear designs, worked well as a team and successfully incorporated their chocolate pieces. Frank and Nikki were also safe. They both pulled off successful designs, were true to their individual identities, and successfully incorporated their chocolate theme as well. So who’s left: Terian, Trish, Ju and Cassie. I’ve already spoken on Cassie, so let’s look at the other three in the bottom.

I liked most of Ju’s design. Do I think that all her patterns went together? No, but I enjoyed her playful aesthetic, and that’s what made me look at her a little bit differently in this episode. She’s close to creating the right balance of clashing pattern. Ultimately though, her design wasn’t as successful and she didn’t incorporate chocolate in the right way. Trish struggled with time in her design, which was a repeat from the week before. She did have plenty of construction issues, but she had a difficult time getting everything in and done. Not to mention that her design, while pleasant in its way, wasn’t very striking. Her design wasn’t successful. Then there’s Terian, who I think had good intentions overall. I feel like she came from an honest place, but what she proposed for a hotel stay wasn’t something that really fits with the general population. Understanding the personality of your client or its customer is very important, and I think she learned that lesson with this challenge.

At the end, Trish was sent home. Michelle felt that she just didn’t have the design experience needed to successfully complete the challenge. I can be satisfied with that explanation. Plus, I felt like she’d continue to struggle with time if she stayed any longer. So with that, I’m ready for the next recap, so stay tuned. Like, comment, follow, and I’ll catch up with you all next week.