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HGTV Design Star Season 7 finalist Rachel Kate (Hunt, nee Pearson) started her portfolio out by wowing me with bright color combinations and modern design elements:

Love the color palette but I'm tired of both the bird on a wire thing and wall decals.

Love the color palette but I'm tired of both the bird on a wire thing and wall decals.

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Love the rug...the wreath? Not so much.

Sweet!

Not particularly original, but sweet!

Love this backsplash.

Love this backsplash.

Then we start taking a turn toward hyper-traditional stuff. I will say, for the most part, I can appreciate the beauty of these rooms even if I would never want to live in them. They’re nicely composed, cozy, and feature unique furnishings that come together to create a well-designed space:

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But I can’t get into this home theater, no matter how hard I try:

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Four butt-ugly wall treatments plus a crap ton of cheap-looking red microsuede?

I think I just threw up in my mouth.

Rachel Kate’s got that Midwestern thing that is probably appealing to HGTV, especially if they’re itching to get back to their roots. Once upon a time, the bulk of HGTV’s programming hailed from Minneapolis–Rachel Kate’s hometown. She has a bitchy expression on her face in most of her photos, so I’m getting a bit of a vibe off her that leads me to believe she won’t work well with others. If I’m wrong, she may appeal to the masses in the flyover states.