Design Star: Next Gen, Episode 6 THE FINALE Part 1
Hey friends! It’s been a minute, but it’s time for another breakdown of my thoughts and experience Design Star: Next Gen! This is for Part 1 of Episode 6: THE FINALE!!!
I’m in the FINAL 3! It’s down to Chris, Eli and me! From the beginning, I knew Chris would be my “rabbit” to chase. He’s an amazing, world-class designer that has as many years of experience in design as I’ve been alive! We both have very unique styles that would appeal to the masses, but I have a big advantage of being comfortable in front of any camera…especially on social media! Eli was the jovial, unassuming competitor that, in the beginning, I had no idea what to expect from him. He wasn’t even sure of what his brand actually was, but as each challenged passed and after wining three challenges, he became more and more of a threat to my chances of winning!
I’d been a “bridesmaid” this entire competition. I was the only contestant to be in the top three consistently, while also not winning any challenges. The judges had picked on my space planning and use of plants/plant placement, but it was now time to shoot straight ahead of Chris and Eli and take this thing!
We walked on to campus to meet Allison and the judges to get our final challenge.
Or so we thought.
First, we find out that we have to transform not one, but TWO SPACES for our final challenge. THEN we find out that there will be an elimination after the first and then the final two people will go head to head for the FINALE finale! Hence…why this post is called part 1!
And since they threw so much on our plates, we were happy to find out that we would get some extra help to complete our challenges! Out walks Tony, Justin and Arianna and we’re all paired up: Arianna’s with me, Justin is with Chris and Tony is with Eli!
Our challenge is to create a primary bedroom that includes a seating area and we only have 2 days to get it done! I wanted to get back to my modern bohemian roots and take my space dark and moody, switch up the layout a bit and do something I knew my competitors wouldn’t and, finally, layer the heck out of the space in a way that only I can!
What you don’t see in the episode is that the judges tasked us with a little side challenge! We had to make over a previously failed project and mine was my chopstick and wire mobile that I created for the indoor/outdoor challenge! Now…I wasn’t in love with it, but I definitely would not have considered it a failure!
I had the bright idea to play on the fact that I’ve been a bridesmaid the entire competition and create what I dubbed my bridal bouquet! Arianna and I ripped the mobile a part, used the chopsticks as the stems and formed the wires into abstract flowers! The final touch was spray painting it all white to pop against my black walls! It was my ultimate motivation to win the challenge!
I wanted to incorporate wallpaper into my space, but in an application that was more like art, stopping it short of the ceiling and floors and framing it with some trim. It’s an idea that I had in the first challenge and for my headboard wall at home. Arianna helped me DIY a simple headboard with a curtain and some belts that wouldn’t detract from the intended focal point, the wallpaper. (if you love it and want one for yourself, you can buy a very similar one here)
We only had two days, but we made some great progress on the first day! Arianna was amazing at helping me get it all done!
But, of course, it’s not a challenge until things go wrong. And what went wrong for me? My star wallpaper was missing! We’d gotten just about everything done, but we couldn’t move forward with the headboard or making the bed until it was installed. The drama sent me into panic mode, because I didn’t have a backup plan, but it showed up with less than 2 hours to go in the challenge!
You’ll see in the pic below what I did in my moment of panic. It was basically my goodbye message, because if it didn’t make it, I knew I was being eliminated!
But, if you couldn’t tell from the pic below, we were able to pull it together by the skin of my teeth and the results were incredible! I’d never been so proud of a space at the end of a challenge!
Time is called and we’re called in for judging. I was up first!
With everything on the line, I walked the judges through my space that I loving called my husband’s and my bedroom, because it felt so much like us. Jonathan Adler was the first to speak and he said the room was beautiful! He also said that he could truly see my ‘modern bohemian’ brand with the use of the color black and all the layers and textures from the wallpapers, plants and use of space.
It was an incredible review on a space that I was already proud of, but I was up against stiff competition, so I couldn’t get my hopes up!
After reviewing Eli’s and Chris’s spaces, it was time to hear who was going to the final finale. Since there were only three of us, the judges decided to save one person before sending the bottom two back to their labs to see who would be eliminated.
Well….would you like to guess who they saved???
Yup! IT WAS ME!!! I won the bedroom challenge and was on my way to the finale!!! I cried tears of joy and could not have been more proud of that space! That room was mine and it was me! I had never felt more confident after a challenge and I was rewarded for it greatly!
Sadly, it was Chris that was eliminated. I loved his bedroom, but it was Eli who came out ahead. He and I were moving on to the final step before one of us would be crowned the Next Design Star.
And what’s crazy is that the challenge started IMMEDIATELY!
YES! Before the night ended, it was time to get started conceptualizing our final space: our DREAM room! It could be anything we wanted with zero stipulations except making at least one structural change to the space (no simple boxes allowed).
We also got the word that we’d get even more help this go round: three helpers each! Not only did Arianna, Tony and Justin come back, but so did Peti, Marissa and CHRIS! It was crazy that we was eliminated just a few minutes before and he was back to help one of us!
I prayed that Chris would be on my team and those prayers were answered! He, Marisssa and Arianna made up the team to help me make my dream space come true!
Now that I had a dream team, I had to come up with my dream space. It was actually pretty simple to come up with my concept, because I immediately thought of my literal dream: buying a home and being a dual citizen of the African country of Ghana! It’s something Marcus and I had been talking about for years and I knew this was the perfect opportunity to do some serious MANIFESTING!!!
I mean seriously! Have you ever had the opportunity to mock up a life-sized model of a space that you’d dreamed of for years!?! I highly doubt it!!! This was indeed a dream!
I wanted a space wrapped in neutrals, tons of texture, unique elements and visual storytelling! My team was so excited after I explained it all to them…
You guys will have to stay tune for part 2 to see how it my dream became a reality!
SOURCES
Wall Color: Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black SW6258
Headboard Wall Wallpaper: Astek Home
Front Feature Wall Wallpaper: Astek Home
My Dress and Boots were from Zara (sorry, they’re no longer available)
Once again, huge thanks to Rob Pryce for all the professional photos of us and our spaces! See you guys next week!