Episode 8 Recap: Yurt Last Chance
Get it…yurt last chance? Har, har. I couldn’t help but carry on all the yurt-related puns used in tonight’s show. Tonight, the final three designers took on a brand new challenge for Design Star: turn a yurt into a dream bedroom suite. (Find out more about yurts here.)
Entertainment Tonight host Mark Steines joined the panel to see which one of the designers shares his hosting skills. Like always, some of the hosting moments (and yurt suites) were dreamier than others — here’s what went down on this week’s episode.
Britany’s yurt was my favorite of the week. She worked with Design on a Dime carpenter Joel West to create a modern beach bungalow look in her yurt. She set out to do something different from her usual glam style, and she delivered — it was still bold and graphic, but in a new way. Her camera challenges had a few awkward moments, but she’s getting better there, too.
Her room’s main feature was a rotating bed with hidden storage along the back. I loved where her head was at, but think it might be kind of hard to get to said storage if you were really (okay, theoretically) living in this yurt. My favorite part of the room: The draped teal fabric, all gathered around an ethereal, white pendant.
Britany’s a designer-slash-photographer, and, though she’s referenced her skills a lot this season, this was the first week we’ve seen her prints in a room. Vern wasn’t impressed, though — he said he “wanted them to be a little more abstract.” Ouch! As Emily Henderson would say, Britany, you’ve been Yipped.
Moving to the neighbor yurt, Danielle was paired up with Elbow Room host Chip Wade, and they created a “global contemporary” bedroom suite.
Danielle’s room seemed the most finished, with lots of artistic touches and cozy accessories, like these layered rugs:
Chip and Danielle collaborated on this contemporary bed with a reclaimed wood headboard. It sounded like a great concept, but the combination of the gray hue and super-wide bed posts just didn’t work with the rest of the room.
Oh, Hilari. You personality makes me smile…and so did your crazy times (all related to the antique bed) with carpenter Jeff Devlin of DIY’s I Hate My Bath. The problem? Your camera challenges have so much personality, but they don’t have much substance.
Once the crazy interlocking panels were in place, this bed was the perfect centerpiece to Hilari’s Bali-themed yurt: The judges called it “a fantasy bed.”
What they didn’t like: The blank spaces on either side of the bed.
The gold-leaf bookcase (which is amazing!) looked great, but didn’t create real storage space. In the end, no one had a bad challenge, but Hilari’s tips were more style than substance, and the panel decided to send her home.
Now it’s down to two! Only one more week until we crown the newest HGTV Design Star…can’t wait!
Check back tomorrow for Meg and David’s reactions to tonight’s episode.
What did you think of tonight’s episode? Did the right designer go home? Tell me your thoughts in the comments below.
Yip said Hilari didn't bring info? WHAT? did he watch the video? The FIRST THING was that door design. I think she was the only one that brought a practical tip for the average homeowner. But no. You can see the designer panel fawning over Danielle and Britany. I knew a few episodes back these would be the final two. The panel already has their "Chosen One".
She always has good cheap ideas to freshen up your space. Tips that she has given on the show. I still remember unlike the other people.
Genevieve never has anything negative to say about Britany's designs. The show is so obviously very poorly crafted. Genevieve needs to go now. She is biased, stiff and makes wrong choices. Hilari is so delightful and talented! I have no interest in watching a Britany show at all!!
I don't think that Genevieve is all that as a designer herself! She hasn't impressed me at all on her show! Therefore, her opinion about anyone else's designs fall mute to my ears. And I have not seen a good camera challenge from Brittany yet!
I am so bummed that Hilari is gone!!!!! She should have been the one to win. I thought her designs were good and her personality was great! I think the judges made a mistake! I'm not as excited to watch the final episode as I would if Hilari was on the show.
My sister said she stopped watching this sometime ago. There is no reason for Hilary to be gone.
All of a sudden camera challenge doesn't matter? You cannot be in the top 3 with good camera challanges all through the competition with a good recovery from a mishap today and still get voted off!. Incredulous! Guess the majority of their viewers will not watch people of color. Maybe Latina, but definitely not people of color. Then the show should stop pretending they have an opportunity for a show even when they know they don't.. Don't have them compete just to say 'see we do have people of color". False advertisitng I think!. Hilary was very gracious. I am so sorry Hilary. Why is it so inconceivable that a black person can have a show and design for the audience? My sister said it was a racist show. I now believe her.
So true, but i am a Latin and i love she! I don care!
I have to agree with Ena. As an African American I hate to see when the race card is pulled, because sometimes it is pulled when race has nothing to do with the issue. Unfortunately, that is the case in this issue of Design Star. I find it extremely hard to believe that in seven seasons of Design Star, there has never been an African American winner. There were four finalist. Out of the four, three were black. Now we are down to the last two and there is only one black. When it comes to probability, this does not by any means add up. So what else can a person do than to pull the race card? I think Hilary did, and has done, a fantastic job. It is too bad that she will not be able to have her own show, which she would be well deserving of, because she is simply "too black" for the viewers on HGTV. I will not be continuing to watch Design Star.
Yes there was… Several seasons ago. I think Kim was her name…could be wrong on the name
Kim Myles was the season 2 winner. Her show didn't last, perhaps because her on-air persona for the show was not the same as the one we saw during Design Star and so was not what we had come to expect.
I think u r absolutely wrong I think they want Danielle because she is more exPerienced and since they wanna broaden there audiences they want simply a black girl!!
Who says she is black. They only have shown her mom in pictures, no dad. So how would we know what her nationality is? I wouldn't want Affirmative Action on this show.
As a causian who only judges everyone by looking at their heart- not by skin- WHY do you believe the race card was pulled? This should NOT be the automatic response for every downfall that people of color encounter. Personally, I LOVED Hillary and thought she was spot-on. She should have flanked that fab bed with ficus/bamboo trees. I think she did herself in by saying that she wanted to have "longevity" in the competition. People in authority do not like to be told of their decision through a very assertive comment and they subconsciously wanted to prove that they were in charge.and thusly eliminated her. Oh, by the way- as to the heart issue otherwise- Hillary had the best. Someone out there WILL recognize she has the stuff.
ENOUGH WITH THE RACE CARD!!!!
Not a race card so much as an observation. Seven seasons, one person of color, Kim Myles, but no show now. Hmmmmmm. People of color just can't host a show? Just never can quite get there, almost, but not quite. Good effort! Way to go! But no cigar! Sorry
Don't bother talking about it. It's not hear nor liked to bring attention to "the R card" LOL.
It's just the way they do things at HGTV and all their other networks.
They just got rid of Ahmed on DIY and replaced him with some other dude.
Yard Crasher fans are outraged about it. They even took the matter to Change.org in an attempt to get him back. They had one other guy on the show "I hate my kitchen". But don't know if he's still on.
And look at all their foodnetwork stars and travel network stars…I could go on and on… so though things have changed for the better in our 21stC modern "progressive" america, it still remains the same. A reality we just need to face in this country. There are a few Latinas represented and then there's Vern Yip. So they do have some token reps.
Oh and IDC if you dislike my post. Go ahead. It doesn't make the facts go away.
HGTV and the rest of it's networks are just another indication of what's been going on, on the rest of the TV. (Why I don't watch much TV at all)
i LOVED Britany's yurt, Go teamBrit! So happy that she showed the judges that she really does have range. That bed was awesome too. her rooms always look so gorgeous and put together, but like spaces I would actually feel comfortable living in. Not that I would ever live in a yurt, but if i had to camp in one for a weekend i'd choose hers.
Hilari's yurt was gorgeous too, i loved it. I definitely don't agree that she should have been the one to go.
She was so much fun to watch.
If you look at the picture of Brtiany's yurt all you see is the bed. I don't think there is anything fantasy about that bed. She once again had the worst camera challenge and yet she is still there.
Corvette Lady, it's basically a HOTEL ROOM, when you're in a hotel room, what's the main feature?? THE BED. And actually, if you look at all the photos above, her bed looks the least prominent out of the three, especially Danielle's ugly looking thing.
All simply a matter of opinion. And that was kind of the POINT of the bed. I love the dark wood, the built in side tables, and the fact that there was actually clothes storage in the room. I definitely like it better than the plain, boxy, 2×4 style grey bed in Danielle's room and the mixture of dead animal skins on the floor and chairs–not my preference. I don't think Hilari should have been the one to go home, like i said, but I'd take Britany's bed over Danielle's, thats for sure. You think THAT'S a fantasy bed? Ummm…Just because you drape some gauzy fabric over a very boring canopy doesn't make it ethereal.
I actually thought Danielle and Britany's camera challenges were pretty close, and when Danielle's personality showed through she just seemed a little awkward to me. Hilari is always fun to watch, and I am sad we won't see her next week.
I can't believe they kept Britney who has never had a good camera challenge and booted Hilari who was the Best on Camera. I thought you had to be good on camera to be a TV host. They said she didn
't give enough info but she was having to cover for her carpenter that knocked part of the bed off and didn't have a chance to finish telling about her design.
I think Hilari gave info, plus I am sure once they have a show they also have a script. Much easier to read a script then to find a personality. I really don't know why they sent Hilari home, she should have won.
I agree with you 100%. They could have scripted Hilari's show and I would have loved her personality on a show.
You have to remember they edit a lot so I am sure Britany did better than you think. I do agree with you that Hilari should have stayed. They are both fun to watch.
Agree, SEH, the only negative thing they can point out about Britany is her camera challenge and she has improved immensely showing her light personality. I feel like everyone just needs something to be negative about her since she's the clear winner in design and looks…
I really missed Candice. Bring back Candice and two new judges.
Yes but I think she is busy with her new children and famIly
She probably got in trouble for her blog posts from last season because she disagreed with a lot of what was said on camera on her posts. She was trying to be an undercover rebel. LOL! Go Candace
If she didn't want to compromise her integrity for the sake of being a judge on the show, then my hats of to her. You go girl!
Plus she also probably hit HGTV's age limit. Someone posted last season that they laid off people who were 40+ at HGTV. They want their ratings to go up so they add the young and hip on their shows.
Anyway, I think HGTV is trying to give us the "new and improved" on their network but a lot of what they do just doesn't work for the average folk. (Unless they are trying to cater to a completely different crowd – the rich and famous that is) So don't expect too much from them and watch what you like and turn the channel if you don't want to watch. HGTV stopped caring about what their current or patron viewers want A LONG time ago. So time to move on if you don't like.
It has been obvious from the commercials for the show featuring Danielle and the Volvo commercials featuring her design that she is going to win. What do you think? Not the best choice considering her lack of camera charisma. Hillari has much better camera presence. And her design skills are a plus. She should have at least been one of the final two.
I would still pick Danielle over Britany. But Hilari really was the best on camera.
Corvette Lady, it is SO obvious you have something against Britany, and as others have said in past posts, looks like a little jealousy…
Why would I be jealous of Britany? I don't know her, I will never meet her and I am not in competition with her. I started out liking Britany, even voted for her for fan favorite. I think as the season wore on that Hilari's personality won me over. I know some think that Britany is the best designer but I don't, I also don't like her on camera persona. I don't think I am the only one who would pick Danielle over Britany. But if Britany wins, I will give her show a try.
I really started routing for Hilari after her 80's lounge. Every episode she showed growth and was very versatile in her design. I also liked her personality; I'm going to miss those funny and very real moments she has; for instance when she picked red for the color challenge and she wasn't thrilled because the red counters in her kitchen bombed the challenge before, her groan was hilarious. Even tonight when her bed fell apart during her camera challenge, she rolled with the punches. I wish her good luck in her future endeavors. I'm not disappointed, I like each of the last 3 ladies for different reasons. Hilari was my favorite.
I agree with all these other posts! Hilari was the best! I never really like these reality show contests, but I loved Hilari. Her designs were beautiful and they were brought something new and fresh to the network. Britney and Danielle are so predictable. I don't want to watch another fake blond who seems to me rather elitist, and Danielle's overly emotional responses to everything are so annoying. Hilari was a real person and I think everyone can relate to her. She was the only one whose show I would want to watch!
"Fake blond" and "rather elitist"?? Really? How the hell do you get that from her silly voices and skills/willingness to get down and dirty with power tools?
Yes, the other one's are predictable and they have designer's like that on the network already.
Hilary go home is a big mistake maybe she is to black! am i a Latin an i love she!
Here we go again, playing the race card! All three finalists are excellent, but Hilary, although cute and personable, had a rather grating voice. Danelle is very good, but I think Britany lights up the camera and has gotten better on it. Remember how awkward David was at first, now look at him.
I know what you mean about the race card. And as I pointed out elsewhere on this blog tonight (to someone else who hinted at prejudice) an African American woman won Season 2 (Kim Myles). She was a moderately attractive, but very short and somewhat pudgy girl. (She used to joke about being only 5' tall but having a size 9 shoe!) Yet she beat out a tall, very handsome blondish guy (I think he was blond), named Todd. So I don't see a racial agenda here. However, Kim's designing was consistently high-end looking throughout the season, and she also had a polished television demeanor. By that I don't mean just hosting skills and ease in front of the camera, but a classiness in speech, physical demeanor and grooming, which a design show host needs to have. Hilari is so talented, but I think she needs to work on those latter three things, and also to remember that Design Star is not a sitcom.