HGTV Design Star: Dueling Kitchens Recap

The Design Star Dueling Kitchens segment is always a nightmare. Teams start out with big ambitions, get into twenty fights, and it often ends in tears. This is no doubt because the competition is unfair and unrealistic, but no one should expect reality shows to actually resemble reality. Were this like real life, the kitchen competition would take six months at least, with contractors failing to show up at least three times, and the wrong materials being ordered or shipped at least a half dozen times.

But this is reality TV, so we have 26 hours and $20,000 to complete an entire kitchen, plus some overnight work by flooring and granite installers. The 26 hours are spread out over three days, which perhaps gives the Design Star design teams a false sense of having "plenty of time"--which of course they never do.

Design Star Dueling Kitchens: Just Like Gym Class

Clive starts out the Design Star kitchens episode with the famous pick-a-paint-can gimmick, where those with the star inside become team captains. Amy and Nathan are chosen as Design Star team captains. Amy seems psyched about it, and shy Nathan seems terrified. Most of the designers feel like it's gym class all over again, waiting to be picked and hating to be last.

Amy knows of Antonio's carpentry skills, but wasn't too thrilled with his attitude in the previous Design Star challenge, so she chooses Dan as her skilled labor. Nathan quickly snaps up Antonio and counts himself lucky.

Amy goes on to pick Jany, Lonni, and Tashica. Nathan chooses designers Jen, Jason, and Torie. Amy's Design Star team gets the Johnson family of four, who are looking for a modern but warm kitchen environment for entertaining. Nathan's Design Star team lands the Boucher family, a single mom with three kids who are looking for an inviting space that's Moroccan and perhaps a little Italian in design.

Design Star Dueling Kitchens: Day One

Jason knows well how previous Design Star kitchen episodes have gone. He declares the number one goal as: finish. Design Star team captain Nathan agrees wholeheartedly. They jump into action right away, picking out a dark granite for their Moroccan kitchen. Antonio declares that he's not going to be just the hired help again, and says he wants to go shopping. He and Jen take off to order the cabinets, while Nathan, Jason, and Torie demo the kitchen.

Amy's Design Star team makes a decision to go with dark floors and a pale granite for the warm and modern contrasts in the Johnson's kitchen. Jany and Amy rush out to get the kitchen cabinets and stainless appliances, while Dan, Lonni, and Tashica dismantle the kitchen. We immediately begin Day One of the Tashica nightmare, as she orders everyone to be careful with the Johnson family's belongings--then breaks one of the wine bottles herself.

Jen and Antonio choose a rustic brown cabinet design for their family's kitchen. Jany and Amy aren't thrilled with the limited options for immediate delivery, but go with dark brown cabinetry to complement the dark floor. They also pick up a set of stainless kitchen appliances. Both Design Star shopping duos are surprised to come back to completely demolished kitchens. Amy has a bit of a meltdown from the pressure of the day and Dan does his best to console her.

Design Star Dueling Kitchens: Nathan's Team Day Two

Day Two of the Design Star kitchen challenge is when almost everything needs to be done. Jen and Torie go shopping for more materials, while Nathan and Jason assist Antonio with the cabinet installation. No Design Star viewer is surprised when Antonio has conflict with Nathan, whom he considers "sweet" but basically ineffective. Antonio is peeved when Jason and Nathan hit the road to go shopping themselves, instead of putting up the microwave as they were asked to. Nathan later apologizes to Antonio, saying that pretty much he just doesn't have that skill set to do any installing of anything.

Antonio is peeved that he's once again being put into the Design Star manual labor position. Jason does help him with a lot of the brute force needed for the cabinetry, and Torie helps out by installing the back-splash on her own. Torie has the attractive and time-saving idea of putting up a vinyl tile back-splash that looks like hammered tin ceiling tiles. Jason also takes over buying most of the accessories on his shopping trip with Nathan.

Design Star Dueling Kitchens: Amy's Team Day Two

For Amy's Design Star team, Dan is put in charge of cabinetry with Tashica's help. Tashica is also enlisted to buy the accessories. Jany is responsible for purchasing and installing a tile back-splash Amy and Lonni work on painting and installing appliances, which Jany also assists with. At least I think this is what happened. Amy's team is something of a blur, with random things happening at all times.

Dan bemoans the lack of real help from Tashica, who has no experience in cabinetry. Dan has to explain everything he does, and keep correcting her work, which just slows him down even more. Jany feels frustrated by the Design Star challenge time constraints, and doesn't feel all that pleased with her tile work.

Both Design Star teams are excited about granite and flooring going in over night. The last day is mostly just finishing touches and accessories, and most of the projects should be completely done.

Design Star Dueling Kitchens: Last Minute Catastrophes

Amy's Design Star team is elated when they see the new light granite countertops installed in their family's kitchen. The elation soon turns to distress when they are told that the granite could not be set in place properly because the base cabinets weren't set straight. There are noticeable gaps where the granite pieces join.

On the flip side, Nathan's Design Star team is feeling pretty confident as they near the end of the last day, getting up all their accessories and finishing the painting and cleaning. Then suddenly the vent hood falls down onto the counter with a dramatic clang. Antonio and the others rush to get it back into place, and here's hoping the granite countertops didn't get scratched or cracked.

Design Star Dueling Kitchens: Nathan's Team Results

Nathan's Design Star team, for the Boucher family, worked the Moroccan/Italian theme hard. While the dark cabinets, floor and granite made for a warm and cozy environment, the red, gold, and blue bands of paint from ceiling to soffit didn't go over well with the judges. Judge Vern Yip stated that it looked like "a rainbow threw up in there". The accessories were also pure madness, with Moroccan lamps, curtains and statues coupled with grapes and decorative vases and plants and tiles.

Jen, the Design Star "color expert", had to take responsibility for the wild color choices. Judge Genevieve Gorder instructed designer Jason to try to find accessories that work with both styles, that are similar in both cultures, rather than buying tons of items that don't fit or connect in any way. Despite some of the issues, Nathan's team was praised by judge Candice Olsen for giving the family a completed kitchen.

The best part for Nathan's Design Star team was that the homeowners loved it. They loved the high-end appliances and rich cabinets, the open floor plan, and also seemed to enjoy the colors and lamps and accessories. They felt the team had captured what they had wanted and they were very happy.

Design Star Dueling Kitchens: Amy's Team Results

Unfortunately, Amy's team made a mess of their Design Star kitchen. The cabinets weren't installed properly. The granite had thick caulk joining the seams together. The back-splash was not expertly done, and none of the trim or outlet covers were replaced. While the judges agreed that the warm cabinets and floor and cool gray granite counter were good choices, there was nothing else in the kitchen to give it any personality. Tashica had bought all of the accessories, but never got them into the kitchen.

Amy was distraught over the unfinished state of the kitchen, and the Design Star judges didn't let her off easy. Dan, Amy's big consoler and confidante, suddenly piped up that he felt he'd been the unspoken leader, taking on tasks that Amy couldn't handle. Friendships are fleeting on Design Star. When asked who the weakest link was, all four members said it was Tashica, and once again she was criticized for being all talk and no action.

Mr. and Mrs. Johnson had the reveal of their new Design Star kitchen. Initially they seemed somewhat happy, as anyone with all new cabinets, granite, flooring and appliances would be. But as they looked around the kitchen, they began to see all the flaws, which included missed painting, woodwork, missing cabinet handles, and other examples of shoddy workmanship.

Design Star Dueling Kitchens: The Judges Decide

Dan and Antonio were marked as the true leaders of their group, and were the first to be saved. Jerky as he is, I have to admit that Antonio did more than his fair share of the work and was involved in the decision-making on design. Dan did plenty, but I'm not sure I would have gone so far as to call him the leader of his Design Star team.

Despite the unfinished tile job, Jany was saved along with Jason, Tori, and Loni. Basically they got to move on because they didn't do anything glaringly awful, but they were all warned to speak up more and have more input on future projects. Jen, Nathan, Amy, and Tashica were left as the final four Design Star contestants on the line for dismissal.

The judges took Nathan to task for being too much of a people-pleaser and not taking enough charge of the overall design focus of the room. Jen was told that her supposed color expertise had led to two weeks of bad color decisions so far. Both were considered salvageable, however, and were passed on to the next Design Star round.

Design Star Dueling Kitchens: The Final Verdict

This left Tashica and Amy. Amy was of course criticized for her self-admitted lack of focus and for not getting her team's kitchen anywhere close to done. Tashica was called out for accepting responsibilities that were beyond her skills, and that she should be up front in future about her limitations. To my surprise, the Design Star judges then told Amy her show was canceled. This seemed outrageous to me, since Amy definitely did put a lot of effort into the kitchen--and did make a lot of decisions and tried to be proactive. Tashica got pointed at as the weak link by everyone on her team, made huge errors that seriously hurt the "finished" product, and yet she was allowed to stay.

Amy shouldn't take a loss at this stage too much to heart. Like many other reality competitions, a lot of winning has to do with luck. Those who draw the Design Star team captain's card are under much more scrutiny than their fellow competitors, and take the brunt of the blame when anyone screws up.

Design Star's focus on carpentry and other handy-with-tools skills is also unfair. Designers do what their name implies--they design. I understand that having some knowledge of the basics of how things are constructed or installed is valuable, but for the most part, a contractor and skilled tradesmen are going to do the work. To penalize a designer because he can't hook up a microwave, or she can't grout tile well, is a little bit ludicrous.

And let's be honest, most HGTV designers/hosts aren't doing any labor either. They may pick up a roller for two minutes in front of the camera, but as soon as they stop filming, a crew comes on and does all the work.

Obviously all of the Design Star challenges are meant to add drama and suspense and the potential for catastrophes. Which is fine, as long as all the designers and all of the audience keep in mind that this is not a surefire way to find the best person for the job of HGTV designer/TV host.

Check out: HGTV Design Star: White Room Grocery Challenge Recap
HGTV Design Star -- Design Your Hollywood Home Recap

Watch all the drama and bad carpentry unfold on Design Star, Sunday nights at 10/9c on HGTV. Visit the official Design Star website for designer bios and photos.