This is it, folks: We’re down the final four. This week, the remaining designers struck out on their own with an individual challenge: design a living space in a newly-built condo using a bright color as inspiration. They also had to test their performance chops on live TV with a design demo on CBS’s The Talk.  So, let’s have our own little roundtable about what went down.

Danielle’s color inspiration: blue. “I’m not happy with all blues, but I can do teal,” she said, and so she set out to use it as an accent color.  That didn’t exactly pan out…the finished space looked like she’d drawn beige as her inspiration hue. Yes, I know it’s easy to overdo blue, and she had trouble finding accessories. In the end, time management was her downfall this challenge, and she ended up with a blandly “nice” space.

And then, there was the dining table saga. Danielle wanted a glass-and-chrome model, and found the perfect one…right after Hilari put dibs on it.  Would a glass dining table would have looked better here? Yes. Was that the only thing she could have done to make this area more exciting? No. A rug, some more wall art or more colorful accents would have gone a long way here.

I was  a fan of these painted wooden pendant lights, but alas, Danielle didn’t manage to get them up before the end of the challenge. She left a lot of unfinished moments — and the judges definitely noticed. By the end of the design challenge, she looked pretty defeated.

She did manage to pull it together, though, for her camera challenge. She showed viewers (along with The Talk hosts Aisha Tyler and Julie Chen) how to paint photo mats for an unexpected pop of color, all while having a good time, too.

Hilari wasn’t too happy about her color choice — red — after last week’s mixed reviews on her red kitchen countertops.  But she said she hoped she could choose the right hue of “redemption red” and Hilari, I think you did it.  She (wisely) used red as an accent color, creating a layered room that finally evoked those “Versace moments” she always talks about.

Moments like this glam dining table. (Sorry, Danielle!)

I was also in love with this element — she mounted an Indian blanket on a wooden frame and used it as wall art. It adds so much warmth here, and helped fill what she called “the Great Wall of Marina del Ray.”

She went a little twig-happy, though…the design panel liked this vine sculpture, but wished she’d, er, branched out and skipped the manzanita branches in the rest of the room.

Genevieve praised her demo on The Talk, saying, she “knew when to chat and when to give information,” but she seemed a little all over the place to me. Still, there’s no denying that this girl has a fun personality.  How could your room be dull with Hilari calling the shots?

Britany got lucky with a color she already loves: yellow! (Britany, I’m with you. Obsessed.)  She pulled together a polished space with cool blue-green walls and lots of bright yellow accents.

She painted vases bright citron….

…and brought in brass lamps and yellow florals to represent a range of yellow hues.  She did another wall overlay to represent her “bold and graphic” style, and while it looked great, Genevieve was all like “We’ve seen her do this five times now.” Britany, time to switch it up a bit!

Later, on The Talk, she showed how to paint colored stripes on a lampshade. Vern still dinged her a little for “not smiling enough,” but overall it was a solid challenge, and the panel declared Britany this week’s winner.  She definitely smiled then!

And then there was middle Mikel, who drew green as his color inspiration. In the first five minutes, he made the decision that would be his downfall: the mint green paint. Genevieve called it “institutional” and Vern said he was “baffled” by Mikel’s choice.  It’s not the worst color imaginable, but it’s on every. single. wall.

Mikel said he “loved to do space planning,” but, unfortunately, his enthusiasm didn’t translate into any kind of flow.  Why didn’t either one of the two (amazing) sofas face the TV, Vern wondered?

If there’s one thing Mikel can do, it’s pick jaw-dropping midcentury furniture pieces. As a fellow low-slung, atomic-age furniture junkie, I was drooling over his credenza pick and dining chairs. I also preferred his wall treatment to the graphic element in Britany’s space.

After (wisely) scrapping his plan to talk about buying pillow covers, he painted a table and showed us how to antique it. Great tip…but not for a color challenge. The design + camera mistakes meant the judges decided to send Mikel home this week.

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

So what did you think? Did the right person go home? Did the right designer win? What was your favorite design element? 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.