Top Design - "Eco-Offices" (Episode 206)

My Little Asian Design Angel

Eddie is slightly resentful that Nathan has won yet another challenge and can't believe with his experience working with Martha Stewart that Nathan bested him because, as he put it, "Martha only hires the best." Oh yeah, Eddie's bitter. Natalie wants the judges to know that she's "funky, crazy and loud" - I'm sure they already know that - and again promises to "edit." Andrea knows she's up against designers who are better than her and promises to "step out of the box" for the next challenge. Eddie tells everyone it's time to get out of the "disgusting dump" of an apartment they've been holed up in (complete with cuts to the place - if it's a dump, I'd gladly live in the slums  - what is up with the Ed-ster today, anyway? He's definitely not feeling a-maz-ing! today.)

Eddie walks into the studio and is immediately repulsed by seeing a color blocked room diagram. India introduces the designers to this week's guest judge, Danny Seo, "America's leading lifestyle authority on modern eco living." Apparently, he's the  green designer from the "Today" show (thanks Nathan, I would havre never known that since I've not been up for the "Today" show in months.) Top Design is going green this week. The task for the designers this week is to design an eco-friendly environment for the offices of an environmental consulting firm. Danny tells them to keep in mind the "R Words" - reuse, recycle, refinish, repair - he says they should just be resourceful. India tells the designers that they have to use the existing items found in the office and can't create excess waste. They are provided with "low VOC paint" (paint that "does not release significant pollutants" - I am learning so much from this show!) They're also forced to use remnants of previously purchased fabrics. They do get an opportunity to shop in a special, eco-friedly section of the Top Design showroom. Staying green is just as important as the design. Each designer will have a client and will be redecorating their office.

The designers draw paint chips and head to Cadmus Enviromemtal Group. Nathan says the office is "disgusting" with awful carpeting, flourescent lights and outdated file cabinets - and he knows it's going to be a challenge. His client, Chris, says that ultimately, his space will be an office for two people. Chris spent quite a bit of time in East Africa and wanted a "harvest-y yellow and gold" palatte for his space. Natalie met her "client" Emily, a "cool girl" in her book (especially after she admitted that she liked bright colors.) Natalie picked out a seafoam blue for her walls. Bitter Eddie says that the carpet in his space is "dis-gus-ting" and thought his client was "just a dork." The client wanted "funky" -  a word Eddie hates ("it sounds like it should smell.") Wisit's client is Richard, the office manager, who Wisit surmiseed wanted a "masculine" space. Wisit loves quality and elegance and wanted to find ways to express his style "within the confines of the challenge." Andrea's client Tracy told her that she was responsible for the reception area and that she pictured "warm and welcoming robust earth tones." Andrea's biggest concern is "space planning", which she feels is the foundation for her space. Preston meets environmental consultant Joe, who deals with drinking water regulations - so he wants a blue palatte. Preston says he shares the same tastes and feels it will be easy to create an environment for him. Ondine also works with Joe on the office's conference room, which he wanted to look professional and dictates a grey, blue and white color scheme. The gang head to the fabric store where they have 45 minutes to shop for 50 pounds of fabric at $2.00 a pound. Preston went for pinstripes and denim - fabrics he deemed "sharp and clean, like a business suit." Andrea sought out "hippie chic fabrics." Eddie needs "Benadryl and an enema" (he really does...what the hell is up his butt this week?) Wisit loves "an air of simplicity" and goes with a pale beoge and grey-ish green color palatte. Everyone heads off to the Top Design showroom, where they have $500 to spend. Nathan has his eye on office necessities. Natalie goes for two furry chairs, which she thought were "fun and feminine." India interrupts the designers' shopping spree and lines them all up. Could they be in store for another "Pop Design?"

No pop quiz this time - India wants to see if the designers can handle "a little more pressure" and tells the designers to pass their office keys off to the right. The designers inherit a new room and have to finish the redecoration according to the previous designers' plan. Ruh-roh. Wisit was less-than-delighted to get Natalie's room. Eddie got Nathan's room and was all of a sudden kissing his ass. He's like Sybil. The designers only get an hour to see their new space and come up with a new design plan. Ondine doesn't see "masculine and sophisticated" in the fabrics and colors Wisit picked out (I'll give you "masculine", lady.) Wisit tastes he and Natalie's tastes are "so far opposed to each other" and he wishes he could "light a match" to Natalie's stuff. He said it wasn't the green thing to do  but could probably bring "more peace to the world." Natalie has to think "outside the box" to adapt to Andrea's design (and space planning.) Andrea, taking over for Eddie's "bright and funky" space, is definitely out of her comfort zone. Eddie said Nathan's choices are "gorgue" and "deloosh" - and his idea for cutting up the carpet and using the squares of carpet on as wall coverings was "gen-i-ous" (the way he breaks up words is so an-noy-ing!) Nathan took over Preston's room and thought his ideas were nothing new and wanted to make the space more modern and artistic. Preston said Ondine's space, which was three times the size of his original space, left him with a lot more on his plate.

The designers get an hour to meet with the carpenters and seamstresses. Nathan wants ti use the carpenters' sawhorses as the base of a desk. Creative. Preston wanted to stick with the "tailored and clean" idea he had for his previous space. Andrea's assistant said that Eddie's teal-walled room was going to look like "a Tijuana nightclub." Eddie is trying to create a "pow, pow, pow" light fixture. Wisit can't find anything he likes in Natalie's box o' fabric. The seamstress suggest a bright orange fabric. Wisit replies "That hurts me." Wisit is doing Natalie's editing for her, and he's striving for a "simple and almost minimal" look.

The next morning, the designers arrive after the carpenters and painters have done their work. Nathan is excited about the challenge and loves coming up with creative solutions and seeing everyday objects in a whole new way. Natalie is making reupholstered panels for her space, makingit "art, not just panels hanging vertically." Okee-dokee. Wisit decided not to have a bunch of "reconstructed pieces" in his space. He is not about to chop up furniture - it's not his style or taste. Ondine decides to "work with" Wisit's odd palatte and creates a "time consuming" chandelier out of plastic water bottles. Eddie has lots of painting and carpet cutting ahead of him. Andrea is "completely freaking out" about her blue walls and isn't getting any help from Eddie.

It's day two of the challenge and Eddie wants his light fixture to be "O.T.T. - over the top" (much like his personality has bee this week.) Todd shows up to check on everyone's progress. He's like Tim Gunn, if Tim only got three minutes of screen time per episode. He basically tells everyone he likes what they're doing. (He does offer Ondine a valuable bit of advice about her plastic bottle light fixture.) Natalie hopes to show her personality in her space through the use of a mish-mosh of fabrics. Todd loves Andrea's "Tijuana nightclub" walls. The designers scramble to get their spaces ready for the judging. The clients stopped by to meet their new designers. They all seem happy, but they came from bland, bland, bland - so anything's got to be an improvement. Natalie's client says the only thing she's missing are recycling bins. D'oh! Wisit is hoping the judges appreciate his minimalistic appproach to Emily's space instead of Natalie's "gimmicky" ideas. Everyone else seems happy about how the other designers have taken the ball and ran with their original ideas and are glad to give feedback. Well, except for Eddie, who admits that he doesn't want to help Andrea because he felt doing so would lend his support to a space he found "sh**ty." ANdrea thought Natalie's fabric-covered wall panels looked "silly." Natalie said Wisit's space was "not working."

Apparently, Kelly needs every other week off to go hat shopping, as she's not around for this week's judging. Eddie told the judges that he took Nathan's ideas "to the next level" and staple-gunned the carpet squares to the wall for an (admittedly) cool look, which became an effective "pin board." He took apart some wooden blinds and arranged the slats over the flourescent light fixture, which was also unique. Eddie thinks Nathan has "the best taste ever - shown in his color choices for the space. Natalie didn't stray from Andrea's floor plan, but contributed her own idea of the layered panels. She used the leftover building materials to construct some impromptu "recycling bins" (which completely looked like an afterthought.) Wisit's room looked over-edited (as much as I hate to say it). He simply draped some fabric over Natalie's fuzzy chairs. His "green thing" was "not to waste." Ondine's light fixture was pretty darned cool. Jonathan noticed and said "props for the chandy." Ondine said she was confused with a lot of Wisit's choices - India said for a man's office, the colors were pretty feminine. Nathan's space was actually masculine. Nathan used the old legs of the desk (replaced by the sawhorses) as shelving. he also used the cardboard tubing from the bolt of his fabric as a curtain rod. Pretty inspired. I can see why Eddie was getting his panties in a wad. Preston got to use his clean and tailored colors in the new conference room. Andrea again placed the emphasis on "space planning" in the room she inherited.

The judges weighed in on the designers' work. Danny was impressed that they were able to be so green and roll with the punches. Margaret said the good ones were good regarless of who coceived the original design. Jonathan was impressed that Andrea finally worked with color. Margaret admired her space planning. Ondine again got props for her "chandy." Nathan (who wants to be a "provocateur") and Preston know how to decorate a room. Danny loved the cardboard curtain rod. Preston was "restrained and strong," but Danny thought the containers he chose for recycling were way too small. Jonathan wished Wisit could dress a bookshelf like Preston and wanted him to "crank it up a notch." India thought Wisit covered the chairs in a "sad fabric." Natalie was back to not being sophisticated, but she got props for her bins. Danny said her panels weren't functional. Eddie's carpeted wall was praised by the judges. Jonathan said he "nailed it on all levels." The designers came out to face the judges. The three who stood head and shoulders above the rest were Nathan, Preston and Eddie. The winner of the challenge this week is Eddie. You go with your crazy ass! (Or, is that cr-ay-zay?) Ondine and Andrea are also safe this week. It's down to Natalie and my beloved Wisit. Uh-oh. Wisit giggled and said he didn't like Natalie's choice of fabrics. Margaret thought he was "flummoxed" by the challenge. Wisit said he created a "timeless" design. Margaret called him a "one trick pony" and Jonathan said he should have used some of Natalie's ideas to give his space "more oomph." Danny said the wood that Natalie picked to create her recycling bins wasn't the greenest choice and thought she should have used some of the wood she used for the panels. Margaret hated the fabric panels and the pillows by the window. She said it looked like a condo and she didn't want her office to look like a condo. So, who's going home?     

Damn it! My little giggly Asian opera-singing angel is leaving. I'm devastated! I saw Nathan wipe away a tear, so I know I'm not alone in my sadness. Wisit just hopes that someone watching the show thought he was a good designer, artist or art historian. Me, pick me! If I could ever afford you Wisit, consider yourself hired! Next week, everybody breaks stuff and Eddie makes an "American Psycho" reference.