en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/630143 Comments by Schnj_56 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/28/preview-of-challenge-7-the-longest-yard/#IDComment32618538 There's a new one. I thought the "H" stood for humble, as in my humble opinion. Here's the final countdown and I am wondering why there was no team effort on Dan and Antonio's part to inform both women the cost or that the design was over budget before okaying the work. They are all being judged on their ability to work on a team and develop their communication skillset even if they are in competition with one another. This is where Antonio's attitude shift plays well for him. All he has to do is state, as he has before, that a decision had to be made and deem himself as supreme decision maker. That makes everything okay for Tony Soprano. Of course, if Dan tried it this week, he wasn't allowed to follow in Antonio's footsteps lest he wear concrete shoes. And if the women disagree, well they should be sent shopping or eliminated for getting hormonal. No stereotyping there. About that sarcasm font...If the construction crew is building the pergola, what are the Designers doing? Serving as a grounds crew? Not all that interesting when the teaser's give the plot away trying to drum up interest. From Torie's double-take, she's out. We will be left with Dan the Apple Man, Tony Soprano, or sad-sack Lonnie. May the best Designer win. Sun, 30 Aug 2009 23:42:32 +0000 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/28/preview-of-challenge-7-the-longest-yard/#IDComment32618538 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/28/preview-of-challenge-7-the-longest-yard/#IDComment32617137 I think they are all good in their own right, but if HGTV wants a host, someone that is able to supervise a crew, think on their feet, and make sure the work gets done on budget, on time, the team challenge is the only true test. Sun, 30 Aug 2009 23:20:10 +0000 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/28/preview-of-challenge-7-the-longest-yard/#IDComment32617137 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/28/preview-of-challenge-7-the-longest-yard/#IDComment32554217 I wonder where Antonio placed the television and the blue walls outdoors this week? Maybe that is why the pergola is over budget. We need a sarcasm font on this discussion board... Sun, 30 Aug 2009 13:14:38 +0000 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/28/preview-of-challenge-7-the-longest-yard/#IDComment32554217 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/24/davids-vlog-jason-got-ripped-off/#IDComment32145784 That is the point, Nancy, thank you for supporting the train of thought here. Not even the light fixture was changed. What did Lonnie spend the money on? Three cans of paint, pans, rollers, brushes, tape, flooring (boards and padding) and an installation kit, a diamondplate dresser, and plywood doesn't add up to $5000 even if you include the carpenter's wages and the installers for the flooring. Did she have to pay the camera crew to film? The room wasn't that big.Better than nothing is not a standard, she could have really done so much with that room. If she wanted to do a baseball fan room for an older guy-why they called him a kid in this challenge is beyond me-why not include electronics? Stadium locker rooms are full of media in the lounge areas for the players before a game. Check out any college locker room for a state University if you can't get clearance for a pro stadium. There are big screen televisions mounted everywhere so they can view play strategies. This is a young man either off to college or the job market. No essential PC access at this age? For that money, she could have included a paid year of media service for the family and a PC, something extra for the family as a gift for letting them work there in their home. I do think Lonnie and Jason's clients were too old to be considered in a "kid's challenge" and that to be fair the client's should have been closer in age. Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:49:22 +0000 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/24/davids-vlog-jason-got-ripped-off/#IDComment32145784 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/24/davids-vlog-jason-got-ripped-off/#IDComment32085636 I find it very difficult to believe with all of the permit pulling that needs to be done when it comes to a remodel, carpentry, wiring, or plumbing that licensed professionals were not hired as stated in the "Jason Champion" reply. Obviously if they are union, they will not work another's trade. The law varies from state to state, but even if you are doing remodeling a permit must be pulled, a building inspector called, and fees paid. I think the argument has no merit. Doesn't matter who hired the carpenter. This is about dealing with people who are not always going to have the same skill level, working on a team, collaborating with trades, and behaving in a manner that entertains others points of view not placing blame. Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:06:05 +0000 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/24/davids-vlog-jason-got-ripped-off/#IDComment32085636 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/24/davids-vlog-jason-got-ripped-off/#IDComment32082982 And since the little character loved noodles, why not use those foam noodles for the pool? Build a 4'x4' sunken ball pit having more noodles suspended from a frame above the pit swinging freely to bat and play with while watching that television? A slide from a loft bed connected into the ball pit? It would have been colorful, charming and incorporated his love of spaghetti. Need the televison? Mount it in-wall behind a sheet of plexiglass to protect the kid from disaster. Make a frame that looks like a dinosaur mouth around the televison like Candice suggested. He could have used palm fronds, set up a couple of trees to hang the kid's jacket and backpack on after school or used the dinosaur stickers on plywood and bolted those to the wall to give dimension. Obviously not a room to send a child to punishment for, but if you are going for the entertainment angle why not push the limit a little? Wed, 26 Aug 2009 23:53:35 +0000 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/24/davids-vlog-jason-got-ripped-off/#IDComment32082982 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/24/davids-vlog-jason-got-ripped-off/#IDComment32064188 Jason, as one professional to another I am surprised that you or HGTV would hire a carpenter without going through a union. I do not have people work for me when I am on a time budget that does not allow for elaborate plans, I have carpentry skills that I do not go beyond in a limited time frame of my own with my own equipment I haul to the site. I do not have to do research on reality show limitations, Jason. I work with client-time limitations everyday. If you want drama, it is certainly there from curtain color, design, and hem length to mural design and paint content acrylic versus oil and on and on.Are you completely sure that the carpenter spoke English and not Spanish? Another area covered in my first college degree in Science and Arts, and certainly explored in my Liberal Arts BA. Learning to work with others is trying, but doable and sometimes you do not have the "luxury" of firing an individual just because of personal diferences or work ethic. Vern Yipp and Candice Olsen have repeatedly stated that all contestants were given enough time. What is your opinion of the time given? Do you feel it is your time management skill level or are they expecting too much from budding talent? To be fair, did you have a plan for the headboard other than the woven place mat material that did not get completed because of the carpenter? Or plans for dressing up the window that was painted around? What can you tell us that did not hit the air? Did the $5000 only include shopping at the sponsor's stores? Wed, 26 Aug 2009 20:16:04 +0000 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/24/davids-vlog-jason-got-ripped-off/#IDComment32064188 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/23/challenge-6-kids-rooms/#IDComment31927297 If Antonio is the designer to beat, then let the beatings begin. His lack of attention to detail of the client's needs, as with pushpins above a child's bed or even in a child's room for that matter, or televisions hung low enough for children to manhandle or possibly electrocute themselves on should have disqulaified him in the last challenge. Repeating the same mistake two weeks in a row in a house full of children is ridiculous. I wonder what the parents will say when Conner jams something into the input/output on that $1000 television in a 5 year old's room or the military family who now has 2 televisions within acessible child's reach? He has no sense of family oriented living applied to his design. I have no particular favorite, but his work is highly questionable and not user-friendly. Tue, 25 Aug 2009 11:48:47 +0000 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/23/challenge-6-kids-rooms/#IDComment31927297 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/23/challenge-6-kids-rooms/#IDComment31925668 Lonnie's room was a hit, but was it really a room for a 17 year old man? What guy that age doesn't have a stereo system, a dedicated place for an iPod, phone charger station, a TV, or place for his blue-rays, or DVD and CD collections? With $5000 for a room she could have given him all of that and more. There was nothing wrong with the floor he had. Even if he wasn't a gamer, where was the computer? What 17 year old doesn't need one of those these days? No dresser or place for clothes storage other than a dresser the size of a nightstand or that tiny closet?The nightstand made out of diamondplate was awesome but not designed, it was bought. Wouldn't it have been awesome to showcase one of the guy's baseball jersey's? Or baseballs, or by using bats sawn in half as closet door handles? Why not take it a step further and build in plexiglass walls that housed new baseballs trimmed in bats or put in a half wall with half sawn bats? An outline mural of a pitcher as long as we are talking about using stickers and decals this week. That would not have involved a carpenter, just wallpaper equipment. The green carpeting could have been made to look like the baseball field... Tue, 25 Aug 2009 11:21:52 +0000 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/23/challenge-6-kids-rooms/#IDComment31925668 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/23/challenge-6-kids-rooms/#IDComment31924638 I am curious as to why so many commented on the child not being able to walk underneath a loft bed in Torie's room? Obviously Torie has been to college. Have none of these people been to a campus before? There isn't a loft bed built that anyone could walk under. The students all have their desks underneath the lofts, including their art supplies and computers in that space. If the girl is truly interested in Art as a career, she had better get used to the idea of working in a dorm room that would be less than half the size of the room shown and be able to share that space with another student. There would be no room for an easel or dresser unless it was small enough to be shoved into an already crammed shared closet. She certainly gave her a dose of reality of what her future would hold. Incidentally, David, I love your comments, however, those dorm rooms are not Industrial Chic either. I was sadly disappointed with Torie this week. Tue, 25 Aug 2009 11:04:49 +0000 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/23/challenge-6-kids-rooms/#IDComment31924638 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/23/challenge-6-kids-rooms/#IDComment31923765 Yes, Parkerbernet, then the child will go on to whatever Disney's latest illustrator's fanfare produces followed by SpongeBob SquarePants and Ben 10. How do the parents get rid of the cave now permenantly affixed to Conner's bed? The drywall is permanently damaged and the structure is attached to the carpentry weakening a load bearing wall. The home must be in a part of California where earthquakes never occur (!?!). Antonio's designs are limited to "set" design challenges that change with the whim of the director or producer that has a budget to make those things happen. Parents in this economy,I'm not so sure have that luxury. If the family decides to sell the home this would not be a plus, especially if Antonio doesn't win the show. Why he would put the child's bed on an outside wall is anothr thing that boggles the mind. Tue, 25 Aug 2009 10:51:13 +0000 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/23/challenge-6-kids-rooms/#IDComment31923765 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/24/davids-vlog-jason-got-ripped-off/#IDComment31879679 I would love to have the parents take on a thousand dollar TV in a 5 year old's room. "Now go to your room, Conner, for punishment and watch your television"...and make sure your little friends with their sticky little chocolate-covered fingers, footballs, baseballs that will get thrown, & everything else that lives in the world of a five year old go in & demolish that TV set hung low enough for you to play with all of the buttons & input and output cords. By the way, did you see any safety latches so that TV couldn't get pulled down when the child inevitably trys to do a pull up on it? Or any saftey cord features? How about any padding around the sharp edged cave features? Or the thumbtacks used in a child's room right above a bed? Wow, what a great decorator, more like the decorator from your worst kid's nightmare. Hope the kid doesn't put an eye out when he rolls over on one of those thumbtacks or push pins when they fall onto the mattress during the night. Obviously, Antonio has never been a father of a rambunctious little boy that jumps on the bed before going to sleep! Hope Antonio has a good lawyer. With designs like that, he is going to need one. Tue, 25 Aug 2009 01:27:00 +0000 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/24/davids-vlog-jason-got-ripped-off/#IDComment31879679 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/24/davids-vlog-jason-got-ripped-off/#IDComment31878654 Antonio makes many comments with condescending overtones yet no one seems to be bothered by this? If you listen to his comments at the end of that tirade and in front of the judges he states that he wanted to make it a place where the couple could watch television while the children were playing, totally missing the reality of having Autistic children as a part of the client's family. Antonio wanted to give "him" what "he" deserved by putting two televisions in a room with Autistic children as if the kids didn't have a hard enough time paying attention and making the mother of the children look like a complete (fill in the blank). It is plain to me that he has very little respect for the mother in this episode or the sanctity of family. If this is the main contender for HGTV programming I guess they want to alienate most women and families. Tue, 25 Aug 2009 01:09:34 +0000 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/24/davids-vlog-jason-got-ripped-off/#IDComment31878654 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/24/davids-vlog-jason-got-ripped-off/#IDComment31869791 Vern has good reason to advise since many have commented on his "pattern" of design. Why wouldn't he tell Lonnie not to make the same mistakes? I do not agree about Antonio and his tough but oh so gentle approach. He does not listen to anyone. He mistakenly called the Naval base an Army base: the whole basis of his objection for painting anything tan, he does not incorporate the other designer's ideas when working on a team instead of manning up and owning the decision at the time it is being made, and instead of doing original design, this week he riped off a design from MattressZine.com, pasted stickers from Wal-Mart on yet another blue wall, and hung his third television set after shopping for a bed. What did HE actually design in the room? Mon, 24 Aug 2009 22:29:58 +0000 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/24/davids-vlog-jason-got-ripped-off/#IDComment31869791 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/23/challenge-6-kids-rooms/#IDComment31866288 Yes, the dinosaur cave bed rip-off from MattressZine.com (among many others) should have sent Antonio packing if the plagiarist decal's didn't. What was his point? So easy even a caveman can design? I am so disappointed with Candice supporting his "Soprano-design" style. I thought she had better judgment than that or was enough in-tune with the design community she could see the copy-cat lack-lustre idea being produced. Wow, imagine that, a bedroom with dinosaurs for a five year old. What originality. Please. At least he could have created his own take on them instead of using someone else's work. Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:34:13 +0000 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/23/challenge-6-kids-rooms/#IDComment31866288 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/24/davids-vlog-jason-got-ripped-off/#IDComment31865281 Amen. Give anyone a $5,000 shopping spree and they will come home with a good to mediocre new room. This year it's all about the shopping and nothing about the talent. Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:20:09 +0000 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/24/davids-vlog-jason-got-ripped-off/#IDComment31865281 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/24/davids-vlog-jason-got-ripped-off/#IDComment31855848 Getting down to the finals and the show gets more disappointing with each episode. Just when I think it can't get worse or the designers will come up with their "wow" factors, the audience gets a show with big-box retail stickers in a room copied from an out-dated national magazine and a cheap imitation of a French brothel titled a "Princess" room. This year, the show is all about shopping. When are these people going to actually do some original art work or design something? Photo-copying half a child and pasting it in the middle of the wall is not art-it is a future psycho-analytical bill for the poor child wondering what happened to the rest of his body (eaten by the run-of-the-mill dinosaur stickers?). Of course, there was the little league room for a grown man or hideous color schemes with names in light and of course, buying brand new bamboo flooring to "recycle." No originality here, just tired cliches. Mon, 24 Aug 2009 19:27:29 +0000 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/24/davids-vlog-jason-got-ripped-off/#IDComment31855848 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/24/davids-vlog-jason-got-ripped-off/#IDComment31853804 Sorry Melanie, I disagree with you on the rush statement. If the designers have a well executed plan, then they know exactly how much time, including disaster, which should be a part of the plan, will take. It is all about visualizing what a final design will look like and completing the goal given the time constraints. If Jason hadn't asked a carpenter to do his painting, he probably wouldn't have had to fire him. What a slap in the face to the carpenter. What was Jason thnking? This year's "designers" think design consists of shopping. What a let down. David has consistently lamented over no focus, lack of planning, and no plan B. Mon, 24 Aug 2009 19:18:28 +0000 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/24/davids-vlog-jason-got-ripped-off/#IDComment31853804 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/24/davids-vlog-jason-got-ripped-off/#IDComment31852356 Amen, I am also working in this industry sewing, painting, creating original artwork, doing carpentry and anything else it takes to stay within budget. For $500 those rooms could have been fabulous. Running to the big box retailer down the street is not designing. It is shopping. Mon, 24 Aug 2009 19:12:18 +0000 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/24/davids-vlog-jason-got-ripped-off/#IDComment31852356 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/24/davids-vlog-jason-got-ripped-off/#IDComment31851682 Agreed. It looked more like French brothel than princess. The only thing missing was"for a good time call ...." written on the wall. Completely tacky. Mon, 24 Aug 2009 19:09:20 +0000 http://blog.hgtv.com/design-star/2009/08/24/davids-vlog-jason-got-ripped-off/#IDComment31851682