The designers took on the dreaded kitchen challenge this week, but the stakes were a little higher: The winning kitchen won a feature in HGTV Magazine, and the bottom two designers went home. Read on to see which kitchens turned out dreamy and which, well, didn’t. Plus, tell me what you thought of this week’s episode!

Danielle had a big advantage from last week’s win: She got to choose her partner and pair up the remaining 4 designers. She also got first pick of the sink options that would inspire each kitchen. She chose Britany (they’re back to being BFFs now) and the contemporary sink. They chose a cheery-if-safe pale turquoise and yellow palette and a “collected” vibe for their space.

The judges loved the eclectic, lived-in look of the room, from the well-chosen accessories…

…to the right furniture pieces, like this weathered buffet. “You captured how people live today,” Vern said.

Britany was jazzed about the photo frame backsplash, but Anthony Carrino of Kitchen Cousins thought it wasn’t very practical — photos look better without grease stains.  The art she chose also wasn’t very impactful — a blown-up photo backsplash would have made a bigger statement.

Despite a few complaints, the panel unanimously agreed that Danielle and Britany were the co-winners of this challenge. Then, there was everyone else.

Stanley and Hilari’s kitchen inspiration: a black apron-front sink.  Mr. “If You Build It, The Panel Will Come” and Ms. Versace Glamour had trouble deciding on a theme at first, and then decided to go bold. Gulp. I was worried for them as soon as they paired bold blue walls with red countertops. In their defense, it definitely didn’t turn out boring. But as Kitchen Cousins  star John Colaneri said at evaluation, “Step out of the box doesn’t mean jump off a cliff.”

Case in point: Stanley’s “handy” cabinet pulls. Theoretically, this works, but the cabinets still need to function…rouge thumbs and pinkies actually keep you from opening the cabinet doors. Instead, why not use a couple of these as accent artwork or even a towel hook? The panel definitely gave this element a thumbs down.

One element I loved in Hilari and Stanley’s kitchen: The blown glass pendant lights over their kitchen island.

Then, there was Team Rachel and Mikel, whose kitchen inspiration was a printed country sink. Unlike last week’s Victorian debacle, Rachel was confident that she could deliver a cool country kitchen; “I’m from the Midwest,” she said.

After floundering for a couple of weeks, Rachel knew she couldn’t play it safe. Enter the idea to wallpaper the back wall of the kitchen. She and Mikel struggled to find the right pattern and, well…they failed. The pink toile is too overwhelming with no wall cabinets…Genevieve called it “a punch in the face.” Also, functionality-wise, why a completely blank wall? I wouldn’t sacrifice that much space in my kitchen, even for an amazing wallpaper. Open wall shelves would have helped a lot here.

The panel loved Mikel’s pick of an ornate chandelier tied up with rustic twine, although they lamented that it was hard to see against the crazy, pink toile wallpaper.

Genevieve said she would “lay on a railroad track” for this tressel table, but otherwise, the panel wasn’t impressed with this room’s overall look…or its cramped space plan.

In the end, Rachel and Stanley both made fatal errors that, alongside another round of lackluster camera challenges, put them at the bottom of the pack. They were both sent home last night.

Check back tomorrow for David and Meg’s reactions to tonight’s episode.

Now it’s your turn: What did you think of last night’s designs? Did the right designers go home? Tell me in the comments below.

Liz Gray is a writer and senior editor for HGTV.com. She lives in a midcentury tri-level that’s stuck in the ‘70s…for now. When she’s not working on remodeling projects with her boyfriend and mystery breed puppy, Miles, you can find her buying impractical hats, baking homemade pies and drooling over Danish modern furniture.