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Worst/Best designers on Trading Spaces

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Worst/Best designers on Trading Spaces

Old 03-29-03, 01:38 PM
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Worst/Best designers on Trading Spaces

My vote for worst is that Doug guy. He's lazy, a smartass, and couldn't care less about whether the owners will like the room makeover. Did you catch the Zebra bedroom with the bamboo accents or the ridiculous brown home theater?

One of the best is the Vern guy. He usually has the best design ideas and the rooms are functional as well.

Your picks?

Frank


Gen


Laurie


Hilda


Doug (Diva)


Vern


Kia


Edward

Last edited by big whoppa; 03-31-03 at 08:00 AM.
Old 03-29-03, 01:59 PM
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I agree with both of those

I'd want to work with Genevieve

Hilda can be good but when she does a bad room it's really bad. My favorite bad room of hers was using wine bottle stickers as wall paper in the kitchen of a family who's religious and doesn't drink. She was going to put a wine rack in it to but they changed it into a really crappy pot rack.

Last edited by MrX; 03-29-03 at 03:47 PM.
Old 03-29-03, 02:00 PM
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Best
____

Vern



Hilda




Worst
_____

Genevieve



Frank

Old 03-29-03, 02:29 PM
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Worst is the new woman - Kia? or something like that.

I've only seen 3 episodes with her so far, but each design was terrible and she only halfway thought things through- like suspending someone's bed from the ceiling- she had no clue that someone (Ty) would have to go into the attic to get everything supported just right.

And her ideas don't seem to fit the people she's designing for at all. It's like she says to herself next time I'm going to force an Egyptian theme into a room no matter what, and then is blinded by the fact that the owners would have no interest in Egyptian themes.


As for the best, I guess Gen and Vern are the two I'm usually most impressed with, followed by Frank. Although, I think everyone's done some questionable work.
Old 03-29-03, 02:39 PM
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I hate Hilda and her straw on walls monstrosities.

I like Vern, Gen, and Doug the best.

Hate Frank, Hildy, and Kia

I am indifferent on Laurie. Some of her designs are ok, but a little too boring for me and she needs to get over her obsession with expensive fabrics.
Old 03-29-03, 03:16 PM
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I like Vern and the old guy the best.

Gen gives me the hot.
Old 03-29-03, 07:39 PM
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Vern easily is the tops. I don't think I've seen one of his designs that I've disliked.

Gen usually does a room right.


I wouldn't want Frank anywhere near my room. Most of his designs wouldn't be too bad if he kept his most wild impulses to himself....like "artwork".

Doug neither, I just don't like him! (Although once in a while his design will be pretty good, but I wouldn't want to put my friends through two days of his diva antics)
Old 03-29-03, 08:39 PM
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Best: Vern and Doug.

Worst: Lorrie...awful designs, and she doesn't help out one bit. I'm not a huge frank fan, either. Did you see the one with the MonkeyDesk? If i were the kid that had to sleep in that room, I'd freak out.
Old 03-30-03, 11:23 AM
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For entertainment value (good tv) Doug, Genevive and - if he gets into one of his rare snits - Frank is funny to watch too. The most boring TV is Laurie and that guy they've only had on twice (can't even remember his name).

For designs I like Genevive and Vern the best and dislike Hildy the most. Doug has had some "whopper of a bad design" rooms in the past, but he has also had some good ones too so I would call him one of the best AND one of the worst.

Frank usually attunes his "artwork" to whomever the room is for. I have seen rooms of his that have no artwork, he doesn't seem to usually do it if it won't be appreciated by the homeowner. I think Frank usually is the most flexible and listens very well to the homeowners and his "staff" and tries to incorperate something of their ideas as much as possible.

I like Genevive's inclusion of something evoking nature in most of her rooms (on the extreme end was the room with the moss - I understood where she was going, I have used it in jewelry displays, it's a neat idea but it doesn't work the way you think it will in theory). I also like that at the same time, her style can be very graphic, so it's a combination of chic graphic and sensual nature and it usually comes off very well (to me). She's great at kitchens!

Vern has a great East Meets West style that I think most people like.

Laurie is too prissy, Kia is all over the place, Hildy is too high drama (Doug leans this way as well).
Old 03-30-03, 01:17 PM
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Vern is by far the best. The rest are hit and miss, although I tend to dislike Kia's and sometimes Gen is out there somewhere.

The shows with Ty aren't worth watching anyway - Amy Wynn Pastor is the best thing about it.
Old 03-30-03, 01:21 PM
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Amy Wynn is hot, but for entertainment sake (and quality of work) I'd rather watch Ty.
Old 03-30-03, 07:26 PM
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Ty is hillarious, but there's something hot about a woman who can wield tools (maybe 'cause I can't).

As far as designers, Vern and Laurie (and sometimes Frank and Gen) turn out the most "normal" designs (ones that a normal homeowners would like...it's sort of like the fashion industry...most people wouldn't be caught dead in what is considered fashionable).

Doug is good for the entertainment value, but I wouldn't want him doing anything of mine...he doesn't listen to his "customer."

I haven't seen Kia do anything that a 12-year-old couldn't have put together. She has way too grand ideas for a $1000 budget and sometimes doesn't even get things done. Of all of them, I'd take her off for next season.

Haven't seen enough of the new guy (why can't any of us think of his name) though he seems OK.

And that leaves Hilda. Want to like her, I enjoy when she's on, but her designs are about 90% God awful. It's always nail or staple or stick junk on the wall. The worst was the bathroom where she stapled on 8000 artificial flowers. A) It was ugly B) It would be a pain to clean C) It was ugly D) If they ever have to take it down they're going to have to spackle 16,000 little holes and, of course E) it was ugly.
Old 03-31-03, 02:12 AM
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BEST
Verne - I have never seen a design of his i didnt like.
Frank - His designs are sometimes too "country" for my taste but he does fine work.

WORST
Doug - I have never seen a room of his i have ever liked.

Genevieve - her stuff is really hit and miss and most of the time its miss.
Old 03-31-03, 07:53 AM
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I have to chime in with my pics.

Best:

Vern
Genevieve

I don't think I have ever seen a design of Vern's that I didn't like. He definetly has some of the best rooms on the show.

Genevieve, for the most part, has some great designs. Sure, she has a few that I didn't like, but overall she is consistant and has some great looking designs.

Worst:

Edward
Kia

I know both Edward and Kia are new, but so far I haven't seen a single thing they have done that I liked.

The rest of the cast has had some hit and miss designs. Some I like and some I don't.

If I ever got on the show, and I know you can't choose who you work with so this is moot. But, I'd want to work with Genevieve and have Vern doing the room in my house.
Old 03-31-03, 08:04 AM
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I haven't seen Kia's work yet. I've seen some of Edward's work. So far, it has been OK.

Frank and Laurie are both a little artsy, fartsy.

I haven't seen much of Gen or Hilda. But of course, I somehow catch Doug more than I like. I want one of the unhappy couples to deck him.
Old 03-31-03, 08:57 AM
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Vern is easily the best. If you ever get on the show I'd be willing to bet most people pray they get Vern over the others.

Gen and Frank are very hands-on while I get the sense that Hilde just likes to delve out projects and barely does any "legwork" herself. Most of the time I've seen her sitting around expounding on her ideas and making the people do the work for her.

Doug is easily the most entertaining out of the group. He totally does not listen to the homeowners and goes his own way. I remember when that crying woman's (the covering of the fireplace) thing got into Entertainment Weekly and Doug was asked if he would ever allow a designer into his house and he said, "are you crazy? I'd be stupid to ever do that even if I wasn't a designer" or something along those lines.

Doug is extremely hands-on and he is very hit or miss. Sometimes his designs end up looking better than Verns, but when he misses he really misses.

And I would rather see Ty than Amy as the carpenter. Ty has saved quite a few designs with his own ideas...Amy barely ever brings any ideas to the table. I would love to see Ty get a one-shot at doing a design...although I have no clue if he would even be able to do that. Without Ty on the a show we have to rely on Doug (if he is on it) to be the funny/sarcastic person on the show. Vern can do it too, just not as well as Doug or Ty.

Just my 2 cents...
Old 03-31-03, 09:03 AM
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Vern is absolutely the best. And with only one or two exceptions, I've always liked what Genevieve does too.

The worst? Kia's pretty bad. But I'd have to say that Hilda is the absolute worst. I *love* when she's on the show (because, as someone said in another thread, she definitely adds a sense of drama). But she's not allowed within 50 feet of one of *my* rooms.

Not only does her taste seem... erm... questionable, but she also doesn't seem to take the owners into account at all. Example: The wine bottles (as mentioned) or the record albums covering every square inch of a room (when there was *zero* indication that the owners liked records, music, etc.)

Then there's the flowered bathroom, the hay on the walls, the painted couch, the "orthagonal" room... yikes!
Old 03-31-03, 09:46 AM
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Edward has gotten better, after really hating his first couple rooms. Vern is the most consistent, but I also like Gen and Doug. Haven't seen much of Vern lately though. I agree that when Doug misses, he's a lot more than "just a bit outside" though (home theater with what a 19" TV???). His designs are typically very clean, and not busy (Frank is the exact opposite).

Although Frank does take the homeowner into consideration, his designs are still too country for me. Kia is all over the place and horrible. One show, the homeowners said "something sports-themed, Hollywood, or even hunting would be OK". The room ended up with all three: game table, popcorn popper and movie poster, and stuffed birds.

Laurie is also good for a "clean" look, but she doesn't help out with anything and is a little for fabric-reliant for me.

Hilde cracks me up with her outrageous ideas and is good for drama, but I wouldn't want her anywhere near my house.
Old 03-31-03, 10:46 AM
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I think the consensus is that Vern is the best, but the worst for me will come down to a 2-way tie with Frank for that "monkey desk thing" ("every little girl needs a monkey in her bedroom" - riiiiight) and Kia for her guestroom/attic grave design.

And I love Doug's work. Perhaps not the design all the time, but his smarmy act and "we're gonna do it my way" attitude make him a pleasure to watch. I love the way people now approach him with the foreknowledge that it's his way or the highway.

Hilde is fun for this same reason ("Let's dye the carpet orange!"), but to a lesser extent.

Gen is just fun for the sheer energy she brings to her work. Her rooms often look like crap right up until the final moments when everything just seems to come together.
Old 03-31-03, 11:08 AM
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Ahem.

A "Trading Spaces" thread and no one - NO ONE - has yet posted naked pictures of the hottest daddybear currently on cable television - Frank - for my enjoyment?



Egads. The "fun" really has left the forum, hasn't it?



BTW, as for on-topic-ness:

Genevieve has yet to dress a room that I haven't thought was spectacular (and no, I've not seen this "moss" episode that everyone seems to attribute to her). In fact, her Swiss chalet, wood-stravaganza, basement rec-room was probably one of my very favorite designs ever in this history of the show (plus I'm stealing her idea of using old men's ties as curtain tie-backs).

When Hilde and Laurie are "on," they manage to inject a little class into rooms that could quickly look cheap with just a $1000 budget. Yes, sometimes Hilde goes a bit wild - a pink spraypainted couch anyone? - but I love her spunky "I'm the designer" personality. Same goes for Laurie. While I may not always agree with her "Miss Fancypants" designs, I always love the Laurie episodes because of her overly made-up, almost too campy "southern belle" personna. Her little judgmental asides and horrified faces are infinitely more entertaining than any of Ty's frat-boy mugging.

Vern's just average, IMO. He relies too much on geometric shapes, long lines of votive candles, striping on the walls and those damned hanging crystals. His rooms are superficially pretty at first glance, but they don't look like anyone could actually live in them. Plus those biceps of his always look dangerously close to popping like a pair of overripe tomatos. Doug, too, just doesn't do it for me. Besides being the biggest art-snob b-i-t-c-h on the show, what the hell is that man's obsession with the color brown anyway? Nearly every design of his involves spackling the wall's in "chocolate." Sometimes I think he's deliberately using the most drab, "soiled" looking colors just as a practical joke on the homeowners whom he holds in nothing but the lowest disdain.

Edward has actually come up in the world from his first few tentative designs. I think as he's gotten more accustomed to the time-frame and the budget, his designs have improved over time.

Frank - poor, poor craft-store damaged "Francine." As fine a piece of ass as he is, when your only "design" trick is to doodle with a paint-brush over every existing piece of furniture in the space, your palatte gets exhausted pretty quickly. I absolutley loathe country-cute red-and-white checks, chicken-shack murals, dried flower arrangements and - GASP! - painted concrete floors. But then, anything that makes the man roll around on all fours on the floor getting all sweaty and huffy-puffy is perfectly fine with me. If only he'd wear a proper pair of shorts and not just those 3/4th leg clam-digger things. Keep yer Amy Wyn in a tool-belt boys - 'cuz Frank is mine, all mine.

As for who takes the booby-prize for hands-down worst designer? Oh god, Kia. Egyptian pyramids that drool water? Wallpaper border accents in almost every room? A color palette that never wavers from green, lavender and gold? She's the first designer I'd vote off the island if given the chance.

Oh, and Page rocks. There's two kinds of perky. Perky-cool and perky-dork. Upbeat, cheerleader (with those fab themed blouses) Page does perky-cool with style.

Whoops, just blew the butch, manly-man exterior . . .

Last edited by grunter; 03-31-03 at 11:12 AM.
Old 03-31-03, 11:12 AM
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Wow, I thought I was the only person who watched this show.

Vern is definitely the best. I'd love to work with him but, then again, I think I'd rather have him working on my house.

The worst is Frank just because I saw a show where his idea of designing a bedroom involved nailing vertical molding on a wall, attaching curtains to them and that was it -- most of the $1000 was for fabric. He's all smoke and curtains to me. He should just get a gig as a body double for Celine Dion's husband.

I also think that woman Kia is terrible. Did you guys see the "grave" she made with the branch headstone and astroturf bed? Were those people just acting for the camera when they said they loved it?

NOTE: I just saw a Trading Spaces DVD at Sam's Club for like $13 for highlights of the best designs, etc. I got a hankering to pick that up. Has anyone seen it?
Old 03-31-03, 11:21 AM
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Originally posted by Khalid
He should just get a gig as a body double for Celine Dion's husband.
Body double? Maybe.

But when you get up close, Frank just doesn't have Mr. Dion's pouty collagen-enhanced lips.

Frank's infinitely studlier.

Just FYI.

Old 03-31-03, 11:38 AM
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I have yet to see a room of Vern's I didn't like.

I have NEVER liked any of Doug's rooms, and he's an a$$.

Hilda is 2nd to Doug, imho. I saw my first Ed room last night and liked it a lot.

And let's discuss Ty... imho, this guy is way too in love with the camera. He is always so aware of the camera and always trying to be funny or cute or whatever, he annoys me.
Old 03-31-03, 11:46 AM
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Re: Worst/Best designers on Trading Spaces

Originally posted by big whoppa
Gen


Laurie


Vern

vern can do no wrong, gen is so much fun and laurie has the same taste as me and is pretty close to vern's style.
Old 03-31-03, 12:05 PM
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Originally posted by grunter
Ahem.

A "Trading Spaces" thread and no one - NO ONE - has yet posted naked pictures of the hottest daddybear currently on cable television - Frank - for my enjoyment?



Egads. The "fun" really has left the forum, hasn't it?



I thought your Frank batted for the other team at first. And then he mentioned his wife. Of course, that's no clear indication. Nevertheless, you'll have to go looking for pictures of Frankie in his birthday suit if they exist.

Page gets on my nerves. Too perky for my tastes. I like it when she actually helping out otherwise she doesn't do anything on the show.

Last edited by big whoppa; 03-31-03 at 12:09 PM.

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