Hey peeps! You know what time it is! I’m back, breaking down my thoughts and experience of Episode 3 of Design Star: Next Gen!

Hopefully, you guys know by now that I share my raw and immediate thoughts and reactions via Instagram live every Wednesday night at 8 pm CST (and I hope you haven’t forgotten that those lives are special for the people that show up and are not saved for later viewing), but I’ll always show up here to break down all the deets for those of you who miss the lives or can’t see the show at all! So….here goes!

The challenge of the challenge started before we even made it to set. We were picked up from our hotel and each handed a bandana to blindfold ourselves with! Of course, we had no idea what was going on or why (and voiced very loud concerns), but as you can see from the pic below, just went with it.

We get to set, are mic’d up and then led to the gate you see below. Once there, we were told to face the opposite direction, remove our blindfolds and turn around on their count to three. The reaction you see below is 100% genuine shock and awe because we walked into this:

That’s right! A city transit bus, an old railroad caboose and an airplane were there to greet us!

Not too much later, up walks Allison, Jonathan and Lauren to give us the low on what the heck was going on. Jonathan explains that it’s not uncommon for unexpected spaces, like old retired vehicles like these, to be turned into new dwellings, hence our challenge for the week. And since there were only three vehicles, it would also be our first team challenge!

With Eli being the winner last week, he was given a huge advantage this week of not only choosing his partner, but he also got to assign everyone else to their partners AND their spaces! Of course, and without hesitation, Eli chose me. His words: “Carmeon is one of my biggest threats, so if you can’t beat her, join her.” And I have to say, truer words have never been spoken! LOL!

I was actually super excited to work with Eli! He shines when it comes to conceptualizing and coming up with incredible ideas and is great at building to execute said ideas. I shine when it comes to layering and bringing in the details that truly bring a concept to life! Together, we make a great package: he’s the opener and I’m the closer!

After choosing me as his teammate, Eli paired Chris with Arianna and Justin with Tony. Then, it was time for him to assign each team their spaces (site unseen)! Thankfully, Eli had the heart to consult me before making a decision (such a great partner, btw)! I begged him to not chose the plane or bus for us! He wanted the plane, but I just knew that the round shape would work against any and everything we’d want to do and the bus was just huge with this strange accordion section in the middle and I just didn’t want to have to problem solve around that! The train seemed to be the most straight forward space, with walls and ceilings most similar to a real room and with this being a timed competition, I wanted to go in with as few obstacles as possible!

We felt pretty great about our decision and were super excited to get started!

But when we walked in for the first time to see what we where working with, we both immediately felt regret! It was HORRIBLE! It had to be no less than 60-75 years old because it showed every single bit of it! The plywood floors were cracked and dry rotted. There were all types of obstructions everywhere! And IT. WAS. FILTHY! The photos don’t do it justice, but every single surface in that space was covered in an inch of dust…walls included!

After meeting our train, we set out to work on our game plan! Our carpentry team show up ready to get busy and we immediately put them to work ripping out everything that wasn’t the floor, ceiling or exterior wall. We needed that space to get as close to an empty box as possible! Until we knew what we had to work around, there was no way to think about function or layout or anything that would have to go in it!

So, while the carpenters handled demo, Eli and I tackled the design direction. In the previous challenge, Eli’s winning office space was rooted in a pink color scheme and my top 3 office was rooted in a green color scheme. We both thought that nodding back to those spaces and combining them for this challenge was an easy way for us to come together and for the judges to recognize both of our brands in the space!

But, instead of going with his hot pink and my lively green, we changed things up to set the tone for this new space. Eli wanted a softer pink and went with Sherwin Williams Rosy Outlook (SW6316), so I wanted a green that would ground the pink and give it some weight, so I chose Sherwin Williams Eminent Bronze (SW6412). Eli wanted a splash of something that would really bring the color scheme to life and we loved the look of Sherwin Williams Emotional (SW6621).

With our color scheme pretty much ready to go, we started to talk about things that we needed to work in the space, no matter what! Part of the challenge was having to include a sleeping space, so that was a must. In talking about our train and our imaginary client was that we were designing it for, we came up with a super cool, young couple that lived in New Orleans. They loved to go out, but they also loved to bring all their friends over to hang and chill in the caboose! So we knew we needed seating/lounge space, somewhere to eat and most importantly, a bar!

With those things in mind, we headed back into the train to check on our team’s progress. They managed to clear out almost 90% of our obstacles, which completely opened up the space! Once we could see what we were working with, we started to lay out where everything could go.

There was a huge oil drum thing on one end of the caboose that was permanently welded in, so we decided to use it as the base of our bed. So, once we knew where our sleep space would be, we knew where we needed to create some separation for privacy, so we knew we wanted to build a wall.

The wall would actually be a major focal point when you first walk into the space, so we wanted to give it a ton of interest. I told Eli about my slatted headboard wall back home and thought it would be great to do something along those lines for our own wall. It was truly indicative of my brand, so I’d own it!

Middle of day 2, we met our guest judge, industrial designer, Karim Rashid! A true design genius in his own right and one of the biggest influences on modern design. I mean, the guy designs everything from everyday packaging for soaps and energy drinks to modern hotels all across the world! And it’s actually thanks to Eli that I even knew who he was! Karim is someone Eli greatly respected and actually mentioned him during our first challenge. It was crazy to see him show up just a few weeks later and actually judge our spaces!

So, things were going well with our progress on the caboose, all the way up until the final day. We showed up to set that day in the middle of a rain storm. The weather put a total damper on our progress AND my mood! We were already pressed for time, but now we had the rain to battle too.

We managed to get everything built and finished, but completely ran out of time when it came to my most important contribution, styling! Allison was calling 20 minutes remaining when I still hadn’t made the bed, placed a single pillow or plant! So those last 20 minutes were a mad dash to just get things in! There was no time to think at all!

In the end, I was crushed. It was my biggest contribution to the project and it resulted in a total fail!

With the rain and the smaller spaces, evaluation looked a lot different this week. We were only able to explain to the judges up front about our spaces, but they were going to walk them alone and ask us questions later. So, anything they didn’t like or understand, we wouldn’t be there to defend.

But, what they walked in to, we were really proud of. What we managed to pull off in 18 hours over 3 days was nothing short of amazing! (Even without my next level styling)

During their walk thru, the judges were pretty impressed at what we’d done. Karim loved that we took advantage of our space and built in all of our major furniture elements. He said it was the true difference between designing and decorating. Lauren loved our kitchenette and my mural and Jonathan was obsessed with Eli’s bar. But he totally slammed me for my styling and plant placement, calling them haphazard and unintentional.

Here’s a few shots of the other spaces. Everyone did an incredible job transforming these insane spaces.

Chris and Arianna’s Marie Antionette & Pablo Escobar Love Bus

Justin and Tony’s Private Jet and Lounge in the Sky

Once the judges were done reviewing our spaces, we all met back in the furniture warehouse to hear our fates and answer any of their questions.

They started with Chris and Arianna’s bus, stating that they loved how loungey and comfortable it was. The were dinged for their unfinished columns and Karim didn’t like their décor, but overall, it was a success!

They then moved to Justin and Tony. The judges loved the luxe private jet feeling and color scheme, but were disappointed that they didn’t build in more of their furniture. Tony was put through the reamer for poorly installing the drapery that separated their lounge from their sleeping area. He had problems attaching them to the structure of the plane and his last resort was to use double-sided velcro. Just know that it didn’t turn out well.

When they finally got to Eli and I, we got high praise for how well thought out and considered our space was, but of course, Jonathan was not going to bypass the chance to tell me how much he didn’t like my plants. At the moment he asked me, the stress of the challenge and the full meaning of my use of plants in my projects all started to well up and I stared to cry.

If you’ve been around a while, you already know of my love for plants and what they mean to me. If you are new, here goes:

I grew up in a home filled with plants and I vividly remember my mom watering them every Saturday morning with a plastic pitcher. The baker’s rack in our kitchen was covered in pothos plants and she would let the vines grow really long and drape them around the structure and over the doorways. It was a mini jungle! I lost my mom to breast cancer almost 11 years ago, two months before my wedding. Her love for plants and how incredible they made our home feel always stayed with me.

After fighting through lots of tears (and the most awkward period of dead silence from the rest of the cast and crew), I was finally able to explain this to Jonathan and he reluctantly accepted the fact that they at least had meaning. Eli and I took the win for the challenge and Jonathan said he looked forward to my use of plants in the next challenge. I told him that he could continue to critique them and I promised I wouldn’t cry about them anymore! LOL!

Unfortunately, someone had to go home and ended up being between Justin and Tony. The judges deemed their space the least successful and sent both of them back to their labs for their dreaded door handle fate.

Sadly, we all had to say goodbye to Tony! He’s a true light and joy to be around, so we were so sad to see him go.

So to wrap this up, this was THE HARDEST THING I’VE EVER DONE IN MY LIFE!!! We freakin made over an old, rusted, dusty caboose into a dope ass tiny apartment! Would I do it again? Hell yeah! But definitely not under the 3 day timeline competition circumstances!

And just for fun, here are some images I managed to snap with my phone before the shut down the set for the night! Again, I’m super happy with it, but goddamnit, I wish I had an extra half hour to really blow this place out of the park!

For one, instead of dropping plants on random surfaces, I would’ve created little hanging installations in the banquets. You guys know I’m all about layers and textures, so I would’ve loved to have made that bed look as lush as humanly possible. Although I love what’s on it, it just looks so sad. Those art ledges in the bedroom would’ve gotten a lot more art (btw, Eli and I made all of the art in our space, including the wood and tassel piece that hangs over the bed). The bar would’ve gotten some killer decanters filled with water and apple juice to look like vodka and whiskey, some staged cocktails, complete with fake ice and lemons and limes. The lounge area would’ve gotten a few books and blankets to amp up the cozy factor. And if I had an extra day, you bet your ass their would’ve been some coral colored cushions made for the seats.

The entire cast had a series of lives on Thursday where all of the partners got together and shared the never-seen goodness from the episode! You can watch Chris and Arianna’s here. Justin and Tony’s here. And mine and Eli’s here! We only had about 30 minutes and couldn’t get to everyone’s questions, so I thought it would be great to include them here (from Eli and I both)!

What was cut from the episode that you wish would have aired?

Soooo many things! First, Eli and I’s connection over Welch’s Fruit Snacks! We realized by the 2nd episode that they were our favorite snack to grab from “Crafty” (craft services). Anytime I would get some, I’d grab him a pack and vice versa. When it came time to figure out how we’d work together for this challenge, Eli thought we should have a safe word in the instance our personalities began to clash. That safe word was “gummies”. LOL! Fortunately, we never had to use it! Well, actually, Eli used it once…on himself. He kinda barked an order at me while we were building the bar. I was so focused on getting it done that I didn’t even notice, but he stopped, said “gummies” and checked himself. He even apologized. Told you he was a great guy!

Second thing that I hate was cut was Eli’s idea to make our bed operable! He wanted to really up the functionality of the space by creating a platform for the bed that would slide in and out, transforming it from a bed to a sofa. It was absolutely wonderful in theory, but I told him we didn’t have time for that! In my mind, all I could think about was “that’s great, but how to we create it so that it looks great in both modes?” What kind of mattress do we use to make this work? How do I make the bed to make this work? ALL THE FINAL DETAILS! He could not be swayed…this was something he had to do, but in the end, I convinced him to just let it stay as a bed and I’m sooooo glad we did! If the judges would’ve moved it, it would’ve been a disaster….because that’s what it was when we tested it! LOL! Here’s a pic of us sitting on the mattress that Eli thought we could use. You can see in my face that I wasn’t having it!

Eli, when/how did you get interested in design work?

Eli: “I was originally an industrial designer but always wanted to do interiors. After designing and building my restaurants in NYC I knew this would be a lifelong passion. A few years later I left restaurants for design full time.”

How were the pipes attached to the bar?

Eli: “super glue!”

Carmeon: “Actually, it was hot glue! LOL!”

Eli, how TV did you win this social media challenge and have only 1000 followers?!

Eli: “Fortunately, my Instagram following doesn’t reflect my ability to do good design. Also, it was 850 at the time, not 1000.”

Carmeon: “I’m going to step in on this one. Our social media capabilities were created specifically for the show, not posted to any actual platforms and judged specifically for creativity, engagement and brand continuity. What you do and how you do it is always more important than the number of people you’re talking to.”

What did the cast do during the downtime? Were y’all allowed to go out?

Eli: So much planning and there was very little down time. But we would try and grab as many meals together as we could. Eating, drinking and laughing got us through this together.

Carmeon: On shot days, the only real “down time” we had was during lunch and at night. We were usually too exhausted to really do anything. A lot of my nights resulted in me passing out in bed by 9pm. Due to COVID, we weren’t really able to leave our hotel or put ourselves in places/situations where we could be exposed to the virus, so we really only had each other when it came to socializing. We made it a point to all eat dinner together the night of each elimination.

Carmeon, what you learn from Eli that you can incorporate into your work?

Carmeon: “Eli taught me that I was thinking too small and too safe. I’ve created a habit of designing to solve the problem (think the shortest distance from point A to point B). Working with Eli reminded me that stepping outside of the box sometimes is great risk that can lead to even greater rewards!

Per usual, I’m not going to let you leave without handing over all the sources. Remember, a huge bulk of our “furniture” was custom made to fit the space, but everything we didn’t build is listed below!

Blush Wall Color: Sherwin Williams Rosy Outlook SW6316

Green Wall Color: Sherwin Williams Eminent Bronze SW6412

Coral Banquet Color: Sherwin Williams Emotional SW6612

Dining Arch and Table Color: Sherwin Williams Dusted Olive SW9028

Furniture & Accessories

Once again, huge thanks to Rob Pryce for all the professional photos of us and our spaces! See you guys next week!