The debut of this year’s season of HGTV’s Design Star is less than three weeks away, and normally I would have already checked out the finalists in detail, made my predictions for the season, etc., etc. But with last season’s succession of sucky challenge after sucky challenge and sucky mural after sucky mural, combined with this year’s explosion of business on my personal homefront, I just haven’t had the inclination to devote a lot of time to it. Still, I’m incredibly curious, so to tackle it between now and July 19th, I’ll just take it one finalist at a time. Today’s victim finalist is Jersey girl, Blanche Garcia:
Blanche is a practicing interior designer in Montclair, NJ, who defines her style as “Green Glam.” Her work:
Bachelor's kitchen and dining room, from Blance Garcia's portfolio.
This is the first photo I saw of Blanche’s work, and it was a pretty good place to start. Both the kitchen and adjacent dining room look clean, sleek, modern, and sophisticated. I would’ve rather seen nice art on the wall behind the dining table rather than sticks in a vase, but no biggie.
Presumably the same bachelor's home...this time we're in his living room.
Unfortunately, it’s apparent that this bachelor’s inner child comes out in Blanche’s design for his living room. This room looks more like a playroom than a sophisticated guy’s hangout space. It’s not the art that makes things seem juvenille…it’s the combination of that particular art and that particular wall color and all of the white furniture that sort of screams Romper Room. The unity that made the kitchen and dining room relate to each other well is completely missing in this attached living room. Everything has more of a hodge-podge feeling to it. I like most of the individual elements…I just don’t necessarily dig them all together.
Bachelor's bedroom, designed by Blanche Garcia.
Beautiful and peaceful. What more could you want from a bedroom? A tad fem for a dude, maybe, but pretty.
Traditionally-styled master bedroom, designed by Blanche Garcia.
What is with the bath mat tiny postage stamp rug next to the bed? Looks awkward next to such a grandiose bed.
Entry designed by Blanche Garcia.
Love the console table vignette but am shuddering over the faux finish on the ceiling. I suspect this client’s motto is: Gaudy = Grand.
Stairway nook, designed by Blanche Garcia.
I’m aching to simplify this.
Living room, designed by Blanche Garcia.
More Gaudy = Grand. Brownie points awarded for including Candice Olson’s lighting in the mix…that has to make Candice smile.
Bar designed by Blanche Garcia.
Again, I just want to simplify this space. I can appreciate the gorgeous barstools and the lighting selections, but it feels visually chaotic all together with 25 beveled mirrors reflecting everything back at you. More brownie points awarded for getting Candice’s chandelier in multiple photos though!
Traditional kitchen designed by Blanche Garcia.
This kitchen features a ton of luxurious finishes, but I can’t get over how boring and bland it is.
Boy's nursery designed by Blanche Garcia.
Like the window treatments.
Bathroom designed by Blanche Garcia.
How very, umm, 80s. Nice job balancing the tray of plants on the curved-top toilet tank though.
Another traditional kitchen designed by Blanche Garcia.
Another spendy kitchen design that is boring as hell.
Kitchen desk area designed by Blanche Garcia.
Oh, okay. This must be the not-as-boring side of the kitchen. Still a bit hyper-traditional for my taste, but at least it shows some personality.
Sunroom designed by Blanche Garcia.
Pretty window treatments, pretty light fixture, comfy sofa. The furniture arrangement is a little wonky though. The nesting tables seem out of proportion with the bulky sofa, and the table in the corner of the room looks like a neglected afterthought. Although the wood floors are pretty, I’m dying for a rug.
Media room designed by Blanche Garcia.
Finding it hard to critique this room because I just loathe the style. I do like the rug though.
Bedroom designed by Blanche Garcia.
Yikes. Talk about stylistic whiplash, going from Grandpa’s media room to this coke-den-as-bedroom. This boudoir’s design says a lot about the client and I’m not sure I want to know that much about them. You just know they have video cameras installed in all four corners of the room for when it’s Sexy Time.
Living room designed by Blanche Garcia.
This tragic living room has to belong to the same homeowners as the bedroom above. Getting a real Tony Montana vibe.
Dining room designed by Blanche Garcia.
Oww, my eyes! Dining design gone wrong…on so many levels. Nice chandelier though.
Bedroom designed by Blanche Garcia.
Here’s where we start to regain our stylistic sanity, although I yearn for a pillow with some pizazz on the bed. Love, love, loving the light fixture…those types of selections seem to be Ms. Garcia’s strong suit.
Boy's bedroom designed by Blanche Garcia.
Nice.
Bathroom designed by Blanche Garcia.
Ahhh, love everything but the schlumpy towels.
Doctors' office lobby designed by Blanche Garcia.
I’m not a superfan of the gargantuan medical insignia, but you rarely see a doctor’s office this chic.
Doctors' office designed by Blanche Garcia.
Although this concept is nicer than what you would normally encounter in the average urgent-care clinic, there’s something coldly futuristic about this design. I’ll chalk it up to the fact that it’s a computer rendering.
Living room designed by Blanche Garcia.
Curtain tiebacks, how I loathe thee. Struggling to remain objective but my anti-uber-traditional bias is getting in the way.
Modern seating area designed by Blanche Garcia.
The lamps are pretty, the white chair is sort of cute, but everything feels off. Maybe it’s the gaudiness of the Venetian plaster wall, or maybe it’s the microscopic side table that is out of proportion with the other furniture. Not digging the look as a whole.
Blanche also designed the home of former New York Jets safety Kerry Rhodes, which was featured on MTV Cribs. For the most part, it’s okay but the master bedroom is cringe-inducing:
Kerry Rhodes' master bedroom, designed by Blanche Garcia.
And although I dig the idea of an oversized wing chair, it looks oddly-placed at the skinny end of this dining table:
Kerry Rhodes in his (former?) dining room, designed by Blanche Garcia.
With a little digging, I found this bathroom remodel segment Blanche did for a show called Design Smarts–very chic and tailored:
Bathroom designed by Blanche Garcia.
It’s still a bit more bland than I would personally go for, but it’s definitely very luxurious and spa-like.
Although this nursery design looks more like the homeowner winged it themself rather than something an interior designer put together, Blanche displays an on-camera ease on another episode of Design Smarts, which bodes well for her as a Design Star competitor:
Blanche Garcia offers tips for designing a nursery.
BLANCHE ON A BUMPER STICKER: Blanche’s portfolio showcases a wide range of design styles, so there’s something for everyone to like, from yuppies to playahs to the retirement set, which I assume HGTV would like. Considering her touchy-feely blog, which strikes me as having been written by someone trying to cultivate a mass audience with Oprah-style inspirational posts, and the fact that she already has an endorsement deal (with Patio Enclosures), I think Blanche might have made it to the finals.
Coming soon: I’ll check out the next contestant, Brooklynite Bret Ritter!
I was pleased that there were no murals in her portfolio! I need a fun, mindless diversion this summer, so it can’t start soon enough for me…
i was not expecting to read a trash piece. a real designer or “decorator” would know that the product is a reflection of the client’s tastes and needs.
why would you would be so negative, not even snarky in a funny way, just anger and resentment, putting others down will not get you ahead it just makes you sound aweful! shame on you!
I’ve actually praised Blanche’s design skills in many of the images above. If you choose to focus on the negatives, that’s your prerogative.