Top Design Season One Recap
Matt Richenthal
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The first season of Top Design, which kicked off following the season two finale of Top Chef on January 31, recently came to a close.
Here's a synopsis of the first season for those of you who may have missed Bravo's hot new reality TV series and interior design competition.
Episode 1: Mystery Judge
Airdate: January 31, 2007
Hosted by Todd Oldham, the series begins. Contestants worked in teams of two to design a room for a mystery judge based on five personal items the judge feels represents them.
Winners: Goil and Elizabeth
Out: Heather and Lisa
Episode 2: Child's Play
Airdate: February 7, 2007
The contestants are assigned to design a room, and are given a fact sheet about each client. They buy their large furniture at the Design Center, on an $8,000 budget. They are surprised when they meet their clients; they are all 9 or 10 years old.
Winner: Erik
Out: John
Airdate: February 14, 2007
At the beginning of the episode, each contestant is given a bag of trinkets which includes a postcard of an "exotic beach getaway." The three postcards depict Miami, Tahiti and St. Tropez. Since there are only three postcards, multiple contestants got the same card, which randomly selected teams.
The teams' mission was to build a cabana inspired by the postcard, with limited time (16 hours in total) and resources (unlike other challenges, furniture was only allowed to be purchased from Pier One Imports).
Winners: Andrea, Felicia and Michael (Team Tahiti)
Out: Elizabeth
Episode 4: One Man's Trash
Airdate: February 21, 2007
The designers had to design a room for a design student. They shopped for furniture at garage sales. The winner of this challenge got the first pick of carpenters the next challenge.
Winner: Carisa
Out: Felicia
Episode 5: Garage Band
The fifth episode of "Top Design" featured designers working with the All-American family - three kids, two parents, and a dog - to create a dream family space in their garage.
Winner: Andrea
Out: Ryan
Episode 6: Life of the Party
The designers had to design a party room in teams. There were two teams of three; team one was Carisa, Michael, and Matt were one team and Andrea, Erik and Goil were the other team. The teams had to decorate a tent using lemons (along with other supplies) and people actually came to party.
Winner: Matt
Out: Erik
Episode 7: Chef's Choice
The designers design a chef's room for Tom Colicchio's new restaurant which features dishes made from the highest-quality natural ingredients. They must adhere to a design aesthetic associated with the arts and crafts movement and featuring handcrafted, natural items.
Winner: Andrea
Out: Michael
Episode 8: Metropolitan Home Suites
Airdate: March 28, 2007
The remaining four designers were each assigned one of the four basic elements: wind, water, earth, and fire. Utilizing the assigned themes, the designers were given three days to design a luxury hotel suite.
Winner: Matt
Out: Goil
Episode 9: ELLE DECOR Cover Inspiration
Airdate: April 4, 2007
The strongest remaining interior design contestants select one of 10 ELLE DECOR Magazine covers as inspiration for their design.
Winner: Matt
Out: Andrea
Episode 10: Lofty Designs (Finale)
Airdate: April 11, 2007
The final pair was given two months to plan to decorate lofts in Los Angeles, to their own taste and style, and five days to execute their plans.
Winner: Matt
Out: Carisa
Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.
