Top Design - "Triathalon of Decorating" (Episode 205)

You can never get enough Wisit! (Bravo)

Eddie has been hoping for an individual challenge so hs could exercise his "creative freedom." Teresa feels underutilized and has realized that she's going to be the painter on every team challenge to come. Natalie thinks she still has to prove herself. Andrea has four kids and misses them a lot (no mention of the famous hubby.) Kelly's back with another eccentric hat. India tells the designers the words they've been longing to hear - individual challenge. It's time for the Top Design Triathalon! Nathan's worried - he's not an athlete, he's more of a "smoke-a-lete."

There are three legs in this challenge (hence the name) and the loser faces elimnation. In the first leg, the designers have to create a chair which represents their design personality. They have to take a chair and make it their own with the help of paint, stain, fabric and accessories. They have two hours to create this one-of-a kind piece that the judges want to show their "artistic vision and creativity." Kelly tells them to "step out." There will be an overall winner, but the winners of each leg will also get immunity. It's chaos as everyone runs to claim their chair. Wisit stained the wood and hand-painted the fabric on his chair because he wanted to leave his own "artist's mark" on it. Andrea gravitated toward a "classic and simple" look and worried about coming up with a "wow chair" - but she notices that Teresa's chair, with visible staples, is a mess. Ondine wants her chair to pay tribute to one of her favorite designers in high school, Betsey Johnson. Natalie is over-the-top, adding something modern to push the envelope and impress the judges. Nathan toots his own horn and says his chair is unique and expresses who he is. Eddie wanted to update a Queen Anne chair, because it was "so grandma" adding a "glam factor" and a "beauty factor." Eddie humbly asserted that "it was perfection." Time's up. Preston told the judges he was going for a "desk chair at a Starwood hotel" look. That's pretty specific - but what floor, Pres? Wisit's painted fabric impressed the judges, Kelly said it looked like a printed fabric. Eddie took the grandma out of his chair with yellow paint and a silver lame cushion. Natalie went for "traditional with a pop of modern", but the detail work she did looked kinda sloppy. Andrea looks worried about her boring chair and its saggy uphostelry. She said she was having a hard day and ran out of time. Teresa's chair had a tye-dyed fabric. Ondine took a risk with the bright pinks and purples (and ball fringe!) on her chair. Kelly thought it was great. Nathan described his chair as "fashion and art colliding as one and ending up in an interior space." Kelly said it looked like an "important piece of furniture." It was kinda cool, but not really "important." The judges said a few pieces were less successful - Natalie should have restrained herself. Kelly said her chair looked like a "remnant from a Vegas hotel...25 years ago." Teresa's was "just an upholstery job." They loved Nathan's "loud in a good way" chair,  Eddie's "bold statement with wide appeal" and Ondine's "risky" and "iconic" chai. And the winner is Nathan!

It's time for the second leg of the triathalon with Jonathan judging. This leg involved a table setting - including the table, the chairs and the table setting and accessories. The designers had 30 minutes and $500 to spend in the Top Design showroom and two hours to work their magic. Everyone again scrambles for their table and chairs. Natalie picks a table that is completely the opposite of what she would usually pick. Eddie, who works with Martha Stewart's Living magazine says tables are "second nature" to him. Ondine says what's she's going for is a "Lilly Pulitzer Southern tea party." Natalie went with stark white and silver and tried to keep a "crisp, clean palatte." Nathan is going against the grain and isn't going to set his table "proper." He wants a "Bohemian" hangout, a seaside cottage kinda look. Natalie knows she has to edit and really wants to win. Preston, he of the very detailed themes, describes his table setting as "Napa Valley with my mother on mother's day" (I was waiting for him to say "and she's wearing a tea-length dress with a violet print..." and describing what they were going to eat.) Andrea, who still misses her kids, goes with a child's birthday party, all "girly and super-feminine." She was worried because she was stationed between "fab" Nathan and Eddie who creates "tablescapes" for publishing (those designers have a different word for everything!) Teresa prides herself on finding the "most hideous" set of dishes but later regrets her decision of going rustic when everyone else opted to be "fancy." Eddie's grandma is his biggest decorating influence. At Thanksgiving, she would turn tin foil into decorations around the candles (sounds like crazy old lady stuff to me.) It's time for the judges to check out the tables. Teresa made an informal somewhat zen table. It's kind of a hodge podge of modern and Asian. Natalie obviously hasn't learned to edit, as her table is clutter-o-rama. Jonathan said the taste level wasn't there with flowers, but otherwise it was great. Eddie's table was very him, with a centerpiece of green blooms and Asian-inspired dinnerware. Jonathan said it was "nifty." Is that a complement? Andrea desgined the most sophisticated (and boring) kid's birthday table ever. Not a Spongebob or Hannah Montana in sight. Nathan's seaside cottage table with it's unconventional table setting really appealed to India. Preston's flower-bedecked table made India think she was at a flower shop rather than a meal. Wisit loves nothing more than to feed and entertain his guests with an operatic song. And he then demonstrates. I love Wisit! Ondine's southern garden tea party doesn't impress Jonathan, who says her table didn't reflect her as a designer - and she agrees. In the bottom on this leg were Ondine (who had no emotional connection with her work) and Preston (whose setting was "too busy.") The standouts were Eddie ("confident, chic and great") and Nathan (who's "unexpected" tablescape showed "panache.") Winner of leg two is also Nathan. Kick ass, boyfriend! He fears with two wins that one of the other designers is going to "pour Visine in my coffee." India sends the designers back to the lofts to rest up for the next day's challenge.

The next day, the still-sleepy designers get ready for another day of design. The third leg of the triathalon challenges the designers to create a breathtaking space, taking inspiration from nature to tell a story. Their space is going to be used for a photo shoot. The winning space will be photographed for Elle Decor. The designers can only shop for this leg at only one location - a garden center. They have $1,000 and 45 minutes to shop. At the store, Nathan gravitated toward cacti and succulents, wanting a Mexico/Spanish look. Eddie made a beeline for the statuaries, grabbing a birdbath and an urn. He says "I just want to do pretty." Teresa loved the textures she saw at the garden center and wanted to go for a "zen coutytyard" look. What's with this zen stuff anyway? Natalie used vintage planters for a Martha's Vineyard look. Andrea wanted an indoor/outdoor vegetable and loaded up on palletes of vegetables. When they arrived at the studio, they were greeted by spaces that were depressing and boring (and right next to each other.) At least Wisit and Nathan are neighbors. Wisit's concept is  "springtime in a Parisian apartment" and he's creating a formal paneled room in a muted grey color. On the other end of the spectrum is Ondine's 60s pop look in kelly green and white. It's really bright. Zen Teresa wants peopple to feel bliss when they see her space. Teresa's "zen" could be the best TV-related drinking game since "Hi, Bob!" Nathan's space was looking "so bad" and it only got worse as he saw that Teresa was doing the same finish. Nathan then said what is easily the quote of the episode, "I diahrrea-ed in my mouth." He painted like he's never painted before because there was no way he was having same finish as Teresa's zen buddha palace. Preston's latest overly-detailed concept is "hanging out in with his grandma in his garden room." He ambitiously paints stripes on the walls. There's faux complements all around. Eddie said Teresa's "tobacco-colored" walls were giving him smoker's cough. Meow! Natalie's late mom is her source of inspiration. Later on, the boys and Andrea talk about Teresa's awful tobacco room. Eddie is fake and Andrea doesn't want to surround herself with ingenuine people. Leave the show immediately, woman!

The next day, the desingers have only one hour to finish up their spaces before the judges arrive. Good news, Kelly isn't wearing a hat, but her hair looks like the Bride of Frankenstein. Preston's stripey wall looked cool, as did his vine-covered chair.  Teresa again reminded us that she loves the whole "zen" thing. Jonathan asked her why the center of her space was empty and she told him she initially wanted a water feature but they were really expensive. Wisit's "springtime in Paris" space was lovely. He painted French doors and a chaise lounge on the walls and even painted a distressed herringbone pattern on the floor. Jonathan thought it was "surreal and thoughtful." Sadly, Wisit didn't have time to finish - bamboo that was supposed to be a curtain rod but ended as impromtu molding on the floor. Nathan said his space was a "beachside shack in Baja" and was more of a "transitional space" than a formal room (which sounds to me like he was just being kind of lazy, because he already had immunity.) Oh, by the way, love the plaid pants, Nate. Nataile's sun room got kudos from the judges. Kelly loved the trellises. Ondine was pleased with her 1960s pop hangout room. Andrea edible garden looked unfinished and Kelly asked about the visible mounds of dirt on the ground. Andrea said she couldn't afford bigger trees and was hoping to force some perspective. Jonathan was hoping for a more creative use of materials. Eddie used time spent in the Hudson River to lend a "glam factor" to his space. Jonathan loves the round carpet of grass in the center of the room but Kelly senses something "granny" in there. Eddie was indignant about that critique.   

The judges deliberated over the triathalon. Natalie nailed the third leg of the challenge. Eddie's garden room lacked the "glam factor" and had a "granny, dusty sensibility." Preston's ivy covered chair got kudos, but India thought the overall space was "complacent." Wisit's room added an element of fantasy and he displayed more ideas than everyone else. The judges noted that Nathan took advantage of his immunity and delivered a "boring" space. Ondine didn't wow the judges. Andrea's fountain was great, but the rest of the room was boring. Teresa's plants were nice, but that's it. Kelly said it was not cohesive and Margaret compared it to "where you wait for valet parking." Ouch. The competitors come back out for the decision. India announces that Natalie actually won the third leg of the challenge and gets the spread in Elle Decor. Nathan was this week's gold medalist. Nat and Nate are safe this week. Preston, Eddie, Wisit and Ondine are all also safe, which leaves us with Teresa and Andrea. Teresa thought her zen courtyard was representative of her. Jonathan wanted her to take it to the next level. Andrea's work lacked contrast and nothing wowed them. Jonathan thinks she runs the risk of being "insipid." The judges are tired of the zen from Teresa and think Andrea needs to expand her color palate and quit being so vanilla.  

The designer heading home tonight is either one note and predictable Andrea or two out of three leg loser Teresa. The judges cannot live with Teresa's zen design and she's heading home. Next week, there's a shake-up, Nathan freaks out and Eddie dieplays even more plumber's crack.