The Great Interior Design Challenge

Its a bit of a British invasion for the blog right now, since I'm neck-deep in preparing for my sister's Cath Kidston-themed birthday shindig at home tomorrow. I'll be pretty busy because I not only have to decorate the house, I also have to cook two types of pasta for her party tomorrow - and to add another challenge to that, my slipped disc has been acting up lately, probably from the stress that I've been experiencing with the drive to the office, and with the stuff going on at the the office.

Taking a bit of time to relax, and I was able to download the two seasons of BBC's The Great Interior Design Challenge. I chanced upon the first few episodes of Season 2 on Youtube, and I enjoyed it so much I decided to download both seasons, and it took about 2 weeks for it to be completed. Not a lot of people seed it.

I was already able to finish Season 2, and now I'm watching Season1, what a reversal, huh?

Well, I decided to write about Season 1's Episode 7 because I got a bit excited that they showed a Macbook. Fine, fine, I'm probably obsessing about Macs again like a rabid fanboy, but the Mac was just something that caught my attention, which made me pay attention more to that particular episode, and the designer that was using the laptop.

So how this show works, each episode is composed of 3 amateur designers from all-over the UK, with either a bit of a background dabbling in interior design. These 3 designers are given their first clients, and they are given 48 hours in a span of 3 days to transform the semi-identical rooms in the houses that are part of the architectural theme for that particular episode. They have to fulfil the designer's brief of the homeowners, while injecting their own personality, creativity, and originality in the process.

What I love about the show is the viewers also get to learn about the diverse and rich architectural history of the UK - which comprises the theme of each episode. They've designed rooms in Edwardian house, Victorian mansions, Medieval homes, boat houses on the Thames - you name it, they've probably shown it.

To introduce the amateur designers, they show glimpses of the contestant's own house. Now here's where it got interesting for me. One of Season 1 Episode 7's contestants, Johnny, was in-between homes. Yes, read between the lines. What was shown as his home was a Volkswagen van that had a mattress and three funky coats of his. He's a painter and decorator, but he wants to make the move to become an interior designer, and he was shown working on designs on his Macbook in coffee shops.

For the Mac alone, I was betting on him winning that particular episode already. And then he goes and pulls this off - here's a picture of the living area that he was to transform:

It seemed a bit bland and confused. A hodgepodge of furniture, and it didn't have an eclectic look. Plus, the homeowners wanted to update to a more modern look. After his three days, the room looked like this:

It wasn't a sure-win though, because the other two designers really came up with brilliant and excellent designs as well. What made the judges choose him was his bold risk to make the room asymmetrical. I myself would have preferred a symmetrical room, take the focal wall, build even shelvings on the side, and dress it up a bit. But his bold decision to create modern floating shelves, that (look at the edge) ate up into the entrance from the other room area, actually tied the two rooms together. Brilliant. For that, the judges chose him to be elevated into the semi-finals. He was shocked himself. He took a risk, and it paid off. The Macbook helped a lot too, I'm sure. 

Give this tv series a shot. It isn't noisy or full of drama, but the raw talent of these amateur designers will keep you looking forward to the next episode and the next episode and the next - you get the picture.