White Room Challenge - Flowers

I am was a huge fan of Design Star on HGTV when it first came out.  Loved it.  And the best episode of the series was always the White Room Challenge.  After a few seasons of the show, however, I became less enchanted.  The producers seemed to focus much more on drama and less on design.  I really wasn't into the drama and I stopped watching the show.  Except for the White Room Challenge episode.  I always came back for that one.  So imagine how excited I was when HGTV decided to make a whole series around that little slice of Design Star heaven.  It was the first time in years that I was actually making plans around a TV show.

I still remember the first season of Design Star when David Bromstad created a living room out of pet store supplies.  I was amazed.

So creative.  I've always believed that season one contestants had it harder than the rest because they had no idea this challenge would be presented.  And even though the future contestants didn't know what kind of crazy store they would have to work with, they at least knew the white room was coming.  They could plan a little.  But the only other room that made any sort of impact on me was season two's Todd Davis' - 

Using supplies from the dollar store, Todd created a tidal wave.  Not very functional, but very clever.  And well executed.  And if I remember correctly, he was scolded for it's lack of functionality.  Over the years, that changed.  Judges wanted the room to be creative.  Usefulness no longer mattered.

Which brings us to the new show - The White Room Challenge.  The people at HGTV have taken the best element from Design Star and and made it into a weekly series.  Yay!  So what did I think?  Ummm....meh.  at best.

The challenge was to use at least 1500 flowers in a creative way (not just stick them into vases).  Let's see how they did.

First up, Saadia.

Oh my.  She really had a tough time during the challenge.  I thought the couch looked great.  Utilizing roses was a great choice.  What didn't look so great?  The back wall.  It had potential.  Saadia was trying to create a chevron pattern but ran out of time.  Had it been finished, it would have been really cool.  But, I don't understand why she was also making a chevron rug.  That didn't make sense to me.  There is such a thing as too much chevron.  I also didn't get the coffee table redo.  Using huge flowers threw off the scale.  Needless to say, the judges weren't wowed by her room.

Next, Carissa.

Carissa was going for a floral bistro look.  I didn't get it.  At all.  But the judges loved it.  Even though many of her flowers were just thrown on the floor.  It was much too busy for my taste.  It looked very sloppy.  

Moving on...David.

David's room was the most colorful.  The judges loved it.  But again, I was confused.  There was a lot going on and I wasn't seeing a very cohesive look (which was one of the requirements).  He created a very cool coffee table by pressing flowers between two pieces of plexiglass.  Although it was pretty, it was way too big for the space.  And I really disliked the paint-splashed floor.  It kinda looked like an afterthought.  Blah.

The last contestant was Matthew.

This was my favorite room.  I know the color may be a little boring for this challenge but I thought it was well thought out and executed.  I love the "sconces" on the side walls.  And the focal point on the back wall was stunning.  It seemed very elegant.  It doesn't read as well in the picture above as it did on TV but believe me, it was pretty.  Unfortunately, the judges weren't as impressed.  It came off as boring and Matthew didn't win.  

Ok, now the fun part.  What would I have done.  Come on, you know you think about how you would handle this challenge.  Well, my immediate thought was an ombre wall.  Using flowers.  Something like this - 

But with flowers.  Like this - 

Or this - 

How beautiful would that be?  Or how about a flower arbor?

Or a cascading flower table runner - 

Or flower chandelier - 

It seems like there were so many things you could do with flowers so I was a little unimpressed with the four rooms on the show.  But I'm still hopeful.  Next week, the contestants will travel to a salvage yard.  Hmmm...

Did you watch The White Room Challenge?  Did you like the rooms?  Did you agree with the judges?  What would you have done in this challenge?  I'd love to know if I'm the only one who is watching this show...