Suite Dreams - Top Design Episode 8

It was late March and the field had just been narrowed down to four. This must be the madness they call the Final Four.


Or not.

The designers went to the Viceroy Hotel to meet up with Todd and Linda O'Keefe from Metropolitan Home magazine. Todd gave them their next task: design a luxury hotel suite based on one of the four basic elements: Earth, Air, Water and Fire. They had three days and a budget of $30,000 for furniture, $3,000 for linens, and $1,550 for lumber and supplies.

Matt lucked out. He got Water. His baby blue room with white and translucent accents looked very light and airy. No doubt he was going to win this challenge.


Carisa drew Air. She made it a point not to paint little birds or puffy clouds on her walls. Instead, she and her carpenter Carl constructed large, black screens that mimicked air vents.

I don't know about you but I had this feeling of being trapped inside a ventilation duct. You know, like from a bad episode of The Land of the Giants. I can picture myself huddling behind the sofa hoping the big, giant pussy wouldn't lunge at me. My life story I know, but I digress.


The element of Fire perplexed Goil. He finally settled on a Chinese lantern-inspired sunset running along the back walls.

Andrea also encountered some problems with her Earth element. She already did an earthy room for last week's challenge. But unlike Carisa (who kept giving us bold colors and stripes), Andrea was mindful not to repeat herself.

In the White Room, the judges gave Matt the win (no surprise there). They also liked Carisa's bold statement.


Once again, the judges accused Andrea of having a sad aesthetic. They didn't like her somber color choices.



The judges really appreciated Goil's effort to dress his room this time. But sadly, they had to let him go.

Goil, you should have gone with your first instinct - turning the suite into a disco. After all, the judges could afford to loosen up a bit, don't you think?

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I'm sorry it took so long to do this recap of Episode 8. Our beautiful cat, Serenity (pictured above peering through the vents) passed away last Wednesday. This chocolate brown, long-haired siamese cat has been with us for more than 12-1/2 years. He'll definitely be missed.