From Drab To Fab!

Ondine! What a sweetheart she is. It was really hard to watch her struggle after last week's decision to send her home, only to stay by Andrea's forfeit. But the good thing about Ondine is that she knows how to pick herself up, shake off the past, and show us all what she is capable of. If you look over her collective work, she deserves to be in the finale and this week's challenge proved it.

It is a real talent to make a small space beautiful, comfortable, and most of all functional, without feeling cramped and cluttered. She did it beautifully. The only problem she had, as did the other designers, is that she just didn't have every resource to totally finish the job. If she had a seamstress she would have done window treatments. Overall the room was fun and fresh and FAB, FAB, FAB! Which brings me to Nathan. He too lacked the finishing touches.

Window treatments would have really helped pull it together, as he pointed out to the judges. He had a great thing going but he didn't have the ability to go back and change out what he needed to and rework his initial plan. Watching the behind-the-scenes I could see where he was trying to go but he didn't have the time or resources to get there.

The judges don't get to see the work in progress, and if it weren't for his high notes in previous challenges, they would have sent him home on this one. They teetered until the very last second and I was relieved to see him stay. His room was somewhat FAB and somewhat DRAB... Now Eddie on the other hand, did create a lovely room, as Margaret pointed out, but if you could have seen it in person, you would have felt a little uncomfortable with ALL that was going on in the room. The reason it feels a bit old is that it's OVERdone. There was too much STUFF for such a small space -- it was quite cluttered.

Jeff was right --whether the technique is good or not, whether all the design elements are there or not, you have to feel good in a space. It wasn't really mentioned in the episode but these are model homes that have to be inviting to a vast range of people and people generally want what's new and fresh, not what's old and done. DRAB, DRAB, DRAB...

Which brings me to Preston. His space is exactly what appeals and then some! His idea for the grass cloth patterned wallpaper was innovative and exciting. The installer struggled with it a bit, it was a lot of cut and paste, but what a beautiful feature for the room. And his selection of pieces -- all a bit different in time, texture, style -- all came together beautifully with his signature touch, always "FAB!" It is wonderful to see them finally get a proper budget and a bit more time. Watching them do the rest of the house is what it's all about! Can't wait for next week!