5 Reasons Why Every Design Buff Needs to Watch Best Room Wins
Design fanatics: Prepare to meet your new favorite show, Best Room Wins.
This article was created in partnership with Elle Décor.
Interior design is being taken to a whole new level this year thanks to Bravo’s newest home show, Best Room Wins. Haven’t seen the preview yet? You’re going to want to click on the video above, friends.
Here’s the gist: Each week two top designers go head-to-head creating a new room in just four days with only $25,000 to work with. (ICYMI: That’s a very small budget for these contestants — one of them even declares, “$25,000 isn’t even my retainer!”)
Intrigued? As you well should be. Below are five reasons why every design buff — or, ya know, regular human — absolutely needs to be watching this show!
1. Holy Street Cred
A winner is chosen by interior designer Genevieve Gorder (who’s also the show’s host!) and ELLE Decor editor-in-chief Whitney Robinson, whose resume also includes a stint as style director at Town & Country and writing for the likes of The New York Times Style Magazine, WSJ Magazine, and Departures. And each week Genevieve and Whitney are joined by a rotating panel of guest judges like Thom Filicia, Molly Sims, Jonathan Adler, Martyn Lawrence Bullard, and more. Point being: This show is chock full of design world luminaries that bring major street cred with them.
2. The Prize Is Priceless
As the saying goes, you really can’t put a price on publicity — especially when it comes in the form of the design world’s bible. That’s right, the winning designer from each episode will be featured in an online spread on elledecor.com. As one contestant says, “Being featured on elledecor.com, for me it’s like getting an Oscar.” Enough said!
3. Because There’s Drama, Too
Sure, we could say that everyone plays nice… but that’s not really fun to watch, is it? Nope. The designers on this show are at the top of their games and they want to win. Badly. Which makes for some pretty great TV.
4. The Before and Afters Are Epic
Man oh man, do we love a good before and after, and Best Room Wins brings us not one, but two each week! Each designer is assigned to a couple with a room in serious design need. And while the rooms look tragic — droopy furnishings, wood-paneled walls, bad lighting — they also look familiar, like spaces in our homes that are neglected or that we don’t have the time or money or energy to fix up.
Watching these uber-talents completely transform these dilapidated spaces into rooms worth of ELLE Decor is utterly entertaining… and motivating!
5. So. Much. Inspo!
Tasked with serving up million dollar looks without the million-dollar budget, the show’s designers are in the ultimate race to create luxury looks for less. Which makes for a whole lot of #designinspo for us viewers with real takeaways that we can actually use in our homes. Example: When a contestant refurbishes a second-hand armoire, Whitney declares, “That piece was $600 on Craigslist — I mean it looks like $6,000!” And as another contestant sums it up: “I always say: ‘Five-star look, two-star budget!"
Be sure to tune into the Best Room Wins premiere on May 1, 10/9c, and to check out elledecor.com after each episode to see the weekly reveal of the winning room!
