Dude, Where's My Design?

There are no rules for flower arranging. They just have to look great. I like to go to the flower market, see what they've got, and then buy whatever looks fresh and gorgeous. It could be a series of rununculas in bud vases, or a giant bunch of tulips, or a medley of white flowers. I work with whatever looks good. Pair them with the right vase, make them work in context, et voila. I loved the Pop Design this week because it told us a lot about the kids. Some of them really knew their way around a flower and showed tremendous competence and creativity.

Shazia, Andrea, Wisit, and Teresa all showed that they know how to arrange flowers, but I wasn't blown away by their originality. Their arrangements were all lovely but a bit deja vu. Ondine's flowers were gorgeous. Intuitive, sweet, panache-riddled. She was a contender and her arrangement was lovely. The lovely Preston and the lovely Natalie both did profoundly unlovely arrangements. Quel disappointment! In person, Preston's arrangement was horrid, but I get the feeling that he just started out with a bad idea and didn't have time to fix it. Artificial petals! Oy veh!

Natalie: She's an interesting case. She has some innate talent, but she's got to work on her connoisseurship. "Elegance is refusal" said Coco Chanel. Our Natalie must start refusing something or other. Height, color, variety, Natalie's arrangement had it all. If only she had kept one element consistent (all white a la Andrea would have done the trick) her arrangement might have worked. But she didn't and it was a mess.

Eddie Ross. Eddie Ross' flowers were GORGEOUS! His haute couture country flowers were big and impressive and looked EXPENSIVE. He's an excellent stylist and he obviously loves flowers and he did a great job. His arrangement would be perfect on the entry table of a rich old broad's country house. Not the most creative or original look, but lovely. Gorge job Eddie.

Nathan. Nathan, Nathan, Nathan! Loved loved loved his flowers. Simple, intuitive, lovely, sculptural, subtle, powerful, ORIGINAL! I was so thrilled to see his work and it really made me think of Nathan in a new way. He seemed to have dispensed with his rock and roll bad-ass subversive thing and delivered simple beauty.

Re: bachelor pads, oy veh. Them team challenges are a tough one to judge. I will tell you the highlights: that grey bedroom with the faux fireplace was gorge and was clearly the work of Eddie Ross. Also loved Ondine's Cabinet of Natural Curiosities decoupage. Gorge ideas, but sooooooo not panty-dropping. Context girls! Lowlights: Preston, Nathan, and Shazia's entire bachelor pad. It was awful. Lucky Nathan had immunity, so either Preston or Shazia had to go. Tough call, but we just couldn't live with Shazia's design. I'm not worried about our Shazia--she's a talented, motivated chick and I fully expect to see her work popping up in major shelter mags very soon. But this week was not her best.

Final note: I was not feeling Eddie's encounter with that showroom guy. He broke the pot and then slagged off the merch and was rude to the dude. Eddie's work this week was sublime, but that showroom episode was not pretty.

- Jonathan Adler www.jonathanadler.com