Shopgirl

Thanks for linking that piece. The fact that Tim even went on record as saying he still felt blessed and believed Katie deserved to win just...seems really strange. I mean, as someone who owns a business, you would think he would congratulate her while also trying to defend his reputation respectfully (unless he has elsewhere that hasn't come out yet). It seems so bizarre to me - even if it were to be a bold-faced lie, it would still be in his best interest to do so as a designer? Furthermore, he's tainted now. He will literally have "cheated on and disqualified from Ellen's Design Challenge" in his history. Maybe he really is just someone who doesn't care, but the cynical side of me thinks there's likely some kind of non-disclosure thing going on here. Maybe he did it intentionally because he was the plant and guaranteed compensation for taking a fall or maybe because the producers botched this whole thing up so badly they didn't want it getting around that they knew sooner he shouldn't be in the finale or whatever else? I don't know, I just don't see how any of this adds up.

I'm almost wondering now if Tim was the plant the entire time and this was all contrived bs to make it so shocking/talked about. Idk. Something seems really off.

What kind of logic? There's no way they filmed Katie learning only a week later. Both her and her boyfriend's hair was longer.

Lol. I've been debating back and forth with myself which contestant the people editing the show thinks the audience sees as the dark horse. My instinct is they think we think Tim is the clear winner because he got the early praise and Katie keeps "surprising" us with her uniqueness. Unless Ellen's all "surprise I'm too nice to give the win to just one of you yay!"

I didn't understand why Gaspar's was called out for the curved arms either unless they were more curved in person than they appeared on screen. I've sat on many sofas with curved arms. And I don't see how having curved arms was enough not to give him a win based on at least having something that fit in the space and featured technical craftsmanship in its inclusion of the pull out. I can't recall if his was the one the 5'1'' judge complained about, but I didn't understand that complaint either as anything that should be factored in. I'm 5'4'' and can almost never find any couch where my feet hit the floor. Yes, it's extremely frustrating, but even as a non-designer I realize it's because average furniture pieces are made for average heights. It would be just as annoying for someone 5'10'' to sit in something designed toward 5'1''. Carley's is the one I would buy for my own home as I really loved how it looked on screen - reminiscent of something in a coffee shop. But in that particular room, nope, not at all. She was right to be dinged for it. Sent home? Debateable, but inevitable. IMO, she never had much of a chance to make it to the final two. I definitely think it works as an economy desk. Student or small living space. Either for writing/paying bills or laptop. I don't know if the dimensions of it were big enough for corded items that would need all that extra cord space so I'm iffy on where I stand on them. Having them built in vs. having to buy an add-on would be something I would consider before even purchasing a piece and based on my needs I guess. This reminds me of Carley's unpopular opinion about the shelving piece in Ellen's home that was presented as inspiration to the designers. She said something along the lines of just seeing a pole running through the middle of the shelves. So that's kind of interesting to me. Phew! I'm always really self-conscious of how I come across to others, especially when it's all in print.

I respect your opinion and hope you don't think I was trying to debate with you, single you out, or anything of the like :3 Your statement just struck a chord with me and I saw it as a chance for open dialogue about the different ways people describe furniture and how the judges are describing the furniture; I'm not always very articulate though. I just get really passionate about the shoehorning of inanimate items like furniture as better suited to one gender or another especially when the piece uses neutral materials (I see fans and wood as neutral because neither is bound to be owned by one gender and not the other). Similarly, and probably way more subjectively, I do think it was very rude of Christiane, and off putting to potential WayFair customers, to make a blanket statement about women just because of her ideas of what women want or should want in their homes. But like you, that's all just my very personal take and I'm always open to discussion (not heated debate!) with those who disagree. As I stated, psychology is in my wheelhouse and I like getting to understand where others are coming from :) Anyways, I can see how you wouldn't classify his pieces as industrial. I don't always classify pieces in a category that others do and it gets frustrating when others write it off. And with this particular piece, I don't think it actually falls into one strict category anyhow (it's salvage so that makes sense I guess). Now that you've pointed out the man-cave imagery, I totally can see rustic as well in this particular piece since that would be more in line with the stereotypical man-cave aesthetic which harkens back to male lodges. The darkness of the wood and his choice of decor certainly would look right/good in that setting, no argument there!

While on the subject of Katie's pieces, the only thing of Katie's I would buy, personally, was her first piece. It didn't wow me or make me go "wow" as much as the judges, but I'd own it. It was aesthetically pleasing to me and practical. (I didn't get how it was so innovative though? The overall structure was a box.) I can't say that about any of her subsequent pieces. Especially not that armoire that the judges lapped up as though perfection. And that's kind of the only reason I'm making this post: that armoire. I just DON'T get it. At all. Call me crazy, but I'd much rather have her cow table than a fire engine red, imo - eyesore that doesn't even have practical mirrors (I can only imagine it would be like a funhouse + could you actually see your shoes in tiny mirrors so far below your line of vision?). Is there anyone who liked it, or at least understood it, who can actually explain to me why it would make the judges take notice so heavily? For reasons other than the decorative, whimsical aspect of it, of course.

As another poster pointed out, Tim's work isn't really masculine. It's industrial. It's society's ingrained gender stereotypes that cause us to read it as masculine (or even use masculine/feminine as descriptors in general), ignoring that men can lean toward other styles, like the modern and/or mid century options you mentioned, just as much as women can lean toward industrial. You saw Tim's piece as heavy and that makes sense. I saw it as sturdy and good for holding things. Both interpretations work and shouldn't be dependent on a person's gender. I know you're probably asking a rhetorical question about Katie, but I thought I might give some insight into my thought process about why she's difficult for some people's palates. It really could be anything. And my apologies for getting psychological about this. I can't help it. It's in my wheelhouse. -Her being the teacher's pet might be a pet peeve for some people, as it is in my case. -It could be her affected speech alone. Whether or not she'll outgrow it really isn't the point. She's 25. At this point it's a conscious decision to fake something. It's difficult to really trust people who are willing to put on a fake act for attention. It's juvenile and off-putting for a lot of people. Whether those people are being harsh and quick to judge/assume, that could also be argued, but it's still a valid reason to be leary of a person's authenticity. Obviously, if she truly is age stunted, then, yes, it's in bad taste to judge her for it, but we can't tell from a reality show alone. -She could just plain make people feel uncomfortable and that's okay too. Most people judge others based on past experiences with similar people, based on their inner moral compasses, based on natural bias, etc. In Katie's case, maybe somebody knows women with vocal fry in real life and now cringe and judge whenever they hear it because of the formed opinion that the person is fake, attention-seeking, and so on. Or maybe her cutesy, childish demeanor (oversized clothes, the voice, twirling her hair, squirming) makes people feel uncomfortable because they know her age and read it as, for lack of a better terminology at the moment, lolita-ish; it just ticks that part of their inner person and sends up a red flag like "this isn't what I have come to believe is normal behavior." -Or it could be another subjective reason. She looks like somebody they don't like/trust in real life. They just don't like acrylic. They don't think she's shown any proof of being a good designer. The list goes on and on. Does any of that actually change her ability to create good furniture, or at least furniture somebody will like? Obviously not. So that's when it becomes a personal decision. Some people won't look at her pieces any more objectively than the judges who like her do. Others will try their hardest to ignore her and pay attention to her pieces, whether they like them in the end or not. Obviously, the second option is ideal :)

I honestly can't tell anymore if she's just a plant so that the other finalist is the automatic winner while increasing her exposure or if it's all one really elaborate set up to have her "win" and get massive exposure in the magazine and with WF. At this point, it could literally go either way because so much of the show is off kilter that the latter option wouldn't even be that surprising to me. Of course there's always that off chance she really is just lucky (and by lucky I mean happens to have an aesthetic/personality that the judges are gaga over and a penchant for finding an acrylic needle in any haystack) and is legitimately clueless to how fake it all appears to the audience. And I second your opinion that Gaspar should be in the finale.

YES! Thank you. I'm a super girly girl 75% of the time regarding what I find aesthetically pleasing, but I'm also so sick of her stereotyping. The thing is, the average person is pretty diverse when it comes to design or else just doesn't care that much. People go through phases where they want one theme and then a few years later change out for another theme. And I don't think a lot of what Katie has done is particularly "girly" since I don't really equate quirky with "girly" and I know plenty of guys who are into that whole look too (they have rooms that look like Devo threw up on them ahaha). Semi-on-topic - I also find it hilarious that she harps on "feminine" week in and week out and then last week Carley made the most feminine thing she's ever made (arguably?) and it was the item that sent her packing. Then again, the WF woman literally seems to change her opinion based on whichever other judge is talking at the time so, I've pretty much given up any hope of the elimination decisions being handled professionally or even reasonably.

I know everybody's annoyed by Katie's vocal fry, but the blonde judge (from Wayfair?) is what makes this show close to unbearable and, in turn, Katie more annoying to me. For starters, the judge has that mean high school girl vibe about her and screams fake (such as clearly looking at the door prior to Ellen's entrance only to turn around and say she was so surprised...mmhmmm, sure, Jan.) Also, and maybe it's the horrible editing of this show or my determination to find her annoying, it seems like she has such a fangirl crush on Katie while also being set against Carley. The fangirling over Katie has been pretty obvious since the beginning, but I started getting suspicious of her motives towards Carley when she got semi-catty with her about her design choices, outright telling her she should do something else, only to turn around and semi-politely mock her attempts to follow said advice. Then when I was rewatching the judging scene from this last episode, it really did seem like the judge gave Carley praise for her metal work through gritted teeth and then seemed so disheartened to have to give Katie any kind of criticism. Second only to Katie in her favoritism (based on her mannerisms) seems to be Tim so I wouldn't be surprised if those two are the finals. (And I have no favorite in this race so it won't bother me who wins.) Maybe I'm way off base here, but it's just really grating to the nerves when judges don't at least try to be objective (but, hey, I get it, these people are human and pretending to be objective in an arena solely founded on subjectivity isn't easy). Again, it also could be bad editing and/or all intentional to make it seem that way. The greater irony (or is it?) is that the non-elim round came at the same time Katie and Carley were in the bottom two since I agree these things are planned in advance. That all said, I thought both tables were ridiculous and would have made it a double elimination if I were calling the shots, but for practicality reasons at least Katie's table was functional. But honestly, both ladies' tables look exactly like the kind of trendy, homemade, and for lack of a better word, hipster-y stuff I see in my little town's overabundance of salvage shops all the time. I'm sure they'd be bought by somebody, somewhere - even with that weird gap down the middle of Carley's.