Jonte and Keyunda were kinda a different scenario. She was the one that submitted him, but she didn’t live there yet, but she is going to as soon as he proposes (which he will, they were so cute together) but it was tricky. I kinda think i shot myself in the foot showing him his dream room first, then taking some of it away. So lets talk first look: (sorry i don’t have good photos, these are just set photos).
Dude. Dark, leather, wood, and kinda designery. When he walked in he just kept saying ‘this is player, this is player’ over and over. It was pretty awesome. He loved it. And i have to say that his sofa really did start to look cool in a way. It has that overstuffed later 70’s thing happening that when styled right, looks interesting. So i painted the walls a darkish grey, painted out the mouldings black (and the beams) and added wooden blinds.
I painted out the already painted out brick to be dark. And the fireplace looked much better, although the stripes were eh. They were fine, but i’m just not the biggest accent wall fan (unless its a perfect niche) so the second i saw them up i was like, ‘yep, thats not staying’.
Before room. I remember thinking that for the first look he’ll like it, but not see enough of his future in it, or its over the top masculine, etc. But he just loved it. So basically i gave him his dream room and then changed it. Kinda mean. This is why sometimes the formula of the show is hard for me to navigate. (you’ll be happy to know that this has changed for season two, see below).
Sources:
The coffee table i bought from Morgan at The Brick House (who is having a sale in LA on May 15th by the way, i’m so excited). She sold it to me for $100. The rug is from Overstock.com and for an 8×10 i think it was under $400 so not bad at all. The bar in the corner was $80 from the Long Beach Flea, the Wassily chairs were rented from a prop house but normally run 3-$500 depending on how good of shape they are in. I was shocked he didn’t like them, they are such dude chairs. But i was glad because they were rentals.
The white lamp is ikea (and yes it was in the first look for the rustic mantique episode), the standing lamp is blueprint, the mid-century side table was a flea market find a while ago (i think i bought it for Ian’s house, actually). The huge photographs are from Etsy by an artist named Debbie Carlos. I totally love them, but didn’t love how they were framed (by our team). I wish the frame was thinner and deeper. I go to a wholesale framer because they are bloody cheap (that was $100 to frame) but they also don’t have the best choices. Again, i liked it, but if it was for me i would have framed it differently. Basically her photos are large scale arial or nature photos and then blown up so they become really abstract. i actually think that i should have only used one, it would have made it more special. They were $50 and $65 each.
That leather chair is incredible. Rosewood and soft grey worn leather. Unbelievably comfortable. And 100% amazing. It was hard to give up, and i was surprised they loved it so much. I got it at the Rose Bowl for $400 i think. THe lamp next to it is Room and Board and the Cloche/dome on the bar is restoration hardware.
Ready for some bad pics? here are you taken at 10pm by my iphone. Nothing irritates me more than posting bad pictures, but its all i got, so sorry:
told you. So that amazing painting back there is from TINI and i need to get the artist info on it. It was $285 and i loved it. Black and white with resin poured on top. The chrome console table was from the Rose Bowl for $200, the black lamp is from Room and Board and i think it was on sale for $200, which is totally overpriced in my opinion (originally it is like over $300 or so). The black plane is from PCC flea market for $60.
Man. This photo is making me mad. Whatever. That shelving unit (which i’ll post tomorrow with the look 2 photos) was pretty rad. From the Rose bowl $400 i think and huge, totally modular, teak, 70’s. They both loved it.
I think that’s it for first look. How do you guys feel about only have one final look for season two? I’m not going to lie, i think its going to be totally great. I’ve shot two episodes like it so far and they have turned out really really great. No more going over the top in a bad way, no more people being kinda disappointed for first look. Everybody is happy because they see themselves in the final look, together. For first season you’ll see a lot of ‘oh my god’s’ for first look and then ‘sighs of relief’ for second. And everybody has turned out happy, truly. But a sigh of relief isn’t exactly what i’m going for, but since they have already been through the process, the excitement is a bit diffused – they know what to expect and are a bit self-consious. Whereas so far the last two reveals have been totally amazing. Jumping up and down and even some happy tears, and everybody has been equally happy – men and women. I love showing how a room can look so different, but yes, sometimes i have struggled with how to make them happy for both looks AND show you guys something new and exciting. This way we build style layer by layer but to one perfect room that is distinctly them, instead of two that have to look different, but still good….it was hard.
What do you think?
OH and the main reason it was done was to free up some time for more tips and secrets. So many styling tips get cut because of time (shooting the first look beauties and the first look reveal/reaction) so now there is a lot more styling bookshelves, flower arranging, styling coffee tables, mantles, mixing patterns, etc. etc. Its way more style oriented. I stand behind the decision 10, 000%.
Do you?